Some thoughts on Algerian Opinions
Between 2000 and 2005 Algeria held among the fewest anti-American rallies and protests in the Arab world, according to Gulf Daily News. Morocco hosted the fewest over all, with Bahrain taking the cake with the highest number of anti-American protests per-capita. Algerians tend to have opinions hostile to American foreign policy, but I have never known Americans to be generally “anti-American”. I’ve never heard of Algerians chanting “Death to America” or such phrases. I’m sure such Algerians exist, and there probably were protests of that nature back in the late 80′s and early 90′s, but I think you’re more likely to meet an Algerian that chants “Death to France” or will tell you “Fuck France” than says something overtly anti-American. Algerians also have more to worry about than what America does overseas, quite frankly. Domestic concerns tend to trump pan-Arab or those of Palestine. Those things linger in the back of most peoples’ heads, but Middle Eastern conflicts have never greatly affected the lives of most Algerians (the possible exception being the Soviet war in Afghanistan).
Nevertheless, as a predominantly Arab and Muslim country, Algeria’s politicized classes have their opinions and do voice them. This goes for wages, benefits, healthcare and international relations. Algerians have held a few protests against the Israeli assault on what seems to many to be all of Lebanon. While Israel and the United States may claim that the IDF is strictly attacking Hezb Allah “strongholds” and trying to avoid as many civilian casualties as possible, many Arabs, Algerians included, are not buying it. Aside from the numerous scenes of civilian carnage being reported to them daily by numerous television stations, there is a great suspicion of Israel’s motives that arises anytime Israel launches a military offensive. Add to this traditional Algerian cynicism and one finds that the hearts and minds of Algerians are hard to appease, regardless of who you are.
This weekend there will be protests in the nation’s capitol of Algiers. “American citizens are advised to avoid these demonstrations”, the words of India Daily, not mine. Algerian protests have been rowdy in the last few years, often resulting in the deaths of youths at the hands of the gendarmerie and mass riots. It was unclear from the report as to what groups exactly would be attending the protest, but I would not be surprised to find that it is made up mostly, if not almost entirely, of young unemployed men and male students.
Ali Belhadj: Fashadoo! Give Me Attention!
There always seems to be a reason for Ali Belhadj to come out of his lair just briefly enough to show the world that uncivilized men do still exist. The last time was last summer to “congratulate the mujahedeen in Iraq,” for having kidnaped and murdered two Algerian diplomats in Iraq. As the nation mourned, Belhadj, true to his terrorist roots, pointed and laughed. He was jailed for a short time and then released.
Now he’s done it again. This time by showing his inner crack pot by standing outside the American embassy shouting anti-American/Zionist/war slogans. Lameen Souag at Jazairana summarizes:
Ali Belhadj got arrested for demonstrating in front of the American Embassy with banners saying “Oh rulers of the Arabs, close the embassies of Zionist terrorism” and “Stop the flow of oil to Bush’s bloodthirsty government, and kick the petrol companies out of the land of the 1.5 million martyrs.” He allegedly received a sympathetic reception from the police, who agreed with him on the Lebanon issue (his opinions are scarcely controversial on this point, after all!) but were legally required to prevent unauthorised demonstrations. He was released later that day, and placed under close security observation.
Belhadj sould be locked up for good. He shouldn’t have been released. What the police ought to have done is charge him with treason for the crimes against many, many Algerians over the years, that he has defended and encouraged, toss him into a cell and throw away the key.
But his opinions on this matter are not really all that much out there, they are rather common, popular and, as Lameen notes, not considered controversial by most Algerians. He did break the law though. If had done the same while shouting pro-American or anti-Bouteflika slogans, I’d have been thrown in the pen too, for not having a permit to protest.
Judging from newpaper headlines and the sentiments expressed to me by relatives in Algeria (via telephone and email), I don’t see a major difference in the way Algerians are regarding the conflict from the way that others in the Arab world are.
The major difference in opinion is among Imazighen, Berbers, from what I can tell. I talked to a friend of mine who hails from Tizi-Ouzou, earlier this week, who asked me “Why should Algeria care about the Arabs’ war with the Jews? What’s the point? Let them move to Lebanon if they want to be mad about it!”
Are these sentiments typical? Probably not, but they are widely held among a segment of the Algerian population, especially younger men that come from minority backgrounds. My experience does not lead me to believe that minorities are as involved in the battles of the Arabs. For instance, I have never met an Egyptian Copt who genuninely cared about Palestine, and I have never met an Amazigh man that was all that interested in pan-Arab causes fervently (I have met several women who were though). There is always the question, “What about our country?” There are no Imazighen in Palestine, save for the few Berber Jews that fled Algeria after independence. I think Chaouia Berbers are more likely to give a damn about the Middle East, having more connections to the Arab culture than the Kabyles (the other major Berber group in Algeria), mainly for Islamic reasons. I would expect a similar reaction of indifference from Iraqi Kurds and other non-Arab Middle Eastern minorities. What’s their beef with Israel? But whatever these sentiments, they are minority opinions, and dominated, like the minorities themselves, by more widely held Arab oriented sentiments.
