“The Amazigh World Assembly” writes to the Tunisian President to change the name of the “Arab Maghreb Union”
The head of the World Amazigh Community, Rachid Rakha, at the headquarters of the so-called “General Secretariat of the Arab Maghreb Union” in the capital, Rabat, wrote a letter addressed to the Tunisian President, Kais Saied, demanding that this “ethnic term” be changed to the Great Maghreb Union, which respects the cultural and identity specificity of the countries of the North. Africa.
After the head of the Amazigh body congratulated the new Secretary-General, he explained in his message that “the Union’s headquarters is located in Rabat, the capital of the Kingdom of Morocco, and is automatically subject to Moroccan law. I ask you to advise your diplomatic representative to harmonize the name of the Union with the supreme law of the Kingdom, which replaced in its preamble the term “The Arab Maghreb” with the term “Greater Maghreb”.
Rakha considered that “this term is more an expression of integration and unity and more respectful of the identity of our multiple peoples, especially after the recognition of the original Amazigh language and identity in the Moroccan constitution issued on July 1, 2011 and in the Algerian constitution amended in 2016, waiting for your country, Mauritania and Libya to follow Morocco’s example.” And Algeria, in turn, is redressing this injustice and reconciling with the great history of this hospitable land extending from the Canary Islands to the Red Sea!”
Below is the text of the message:
To Mr. Qais Saeed,
President of the Republic of Tunisia
Subject: A letter of congratulations on the occasion of the appointment of the new Secretary General of the “Union of the Arab Maghreb” ( UMA ) and a request to change its name to the “Union of the Maghreb Maghreb”
Mr president,
First of all, we would like to congratulate you on the appointment of diplomat Tariq Ben Salem as the new Secretary-General of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) for a period of three years, starting from June 1, 2024.
We would like to express to you our regret that this appointment does not raise any hope for the peoples of North Africa, which are called “Tamazgha” in the indigenous Afro-Berber language , nor will it result in any recovery of relations between the five member states. This dead union has been doomed to remain an empty shell since its founding in Marrakesh (the capital of the Almohad Berber Empire that ruled from Mauritania to Libya) on February 17, 1989, as long as it does not work to confront the real challenges of the peoples of North Africa, and does not conform to their true identity and correct their usurped history.
Since the headquarters of the Union is located in Rabat, the capital of the Kingdom of Morocco, and is automatically subject to Moroccan law, I ask you to advise your diplomatic representative to align the name of the Union with the supreme law of the Kingdom, which in its preamble replaced the term “ Arab Maghreb ” with the term “ Greater Maghreb .” It is a term that more expresses integration and unity and is more respectful of the identity of our multiple peoples, especially after the recognition of the original Amazigh language and identity in the Moroccan constitution issued on July 1, 2011 and in the Algerian constitution amended in 2016. We are waiting for your country, Mauritania and Libya to follow the example of Morocco and Algeria, and in turn raise This injustice and reconciliation with the great history of this hospitable land extending from the Canary Islands to the Red Sea!
Mr president,
As I previously indicated, in a message to the foreign ministers of our North African countries[1], we must all think seriously about rebuilding our Maghreb Union on new, more realistic and pragmatic foundations, in harmony with our values, inspired by the African and Amazigh vision, and absolutely categorical. Courageous with the outdated Arab-Islamic ideological considerations that the late Algerian thinker Mohamed Arkoun never stopped criticizing[2]. A new regional union similar to the European Union, based on the ancient history of this continent and deriving its origins from the Amazigh civilization. A union that will be rebuilt in full respect for the contents of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued on December 10, 1948, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples issued on September 13, 2007. A union that makes it its priorities to defend women’s rights, combat all forms of discrimination, and respect ethnic and linguistic diversity, and the diversity of beliefs. Religious and political pluralism.
Why not, a union that upholds the values of humanity and democratic principles similar to the Europeans. If they are proud that the origin of democracy dates back to the establishment of the Greek city of Athens around 800 BC, then we, as North Africans, should be proud of our Amazigh ancestors in Tunisia who were credited with inventing the concept of “democracy” by establishing the “Agora” (Agraw in the Amazigh language) in the city. Carthage under the rule of Queen Alyssa Dido, the founder of Carthaginian civilization, fourteen years before the construction of Athens, in 814 BC.
The North African Regional Union must bet on the establishment of a federal political system, in line with our ambitious political project, the “ Tamazgha Manifesto ,” based on the regions’ right to self-government[3], inspired by our ancient local socio-social institutions related to tribal confederations. A federal system would finally resolve the issue of the Western Moroccan Sahara and the separatist aspirations in the Kabylie region, and in addition put an end to the civil war and tribal conflicts in Libya.
Mr president,
We hope that you share our opinion that Israel, the United States of America, and even the former European colonial powers (France, Spain and Italy) are not the ones obstructing the emergence of this hoped-for union for our countries since the Marrakesh Treaty in 1989, which prevents them from achieving important social, economic and human development, and ensuring social well-being. Peace to all Tamazga peoples. The truth is that those who insist on obstructing this regional integration of the “Great Maghreb” are the Algerian generals, who tried to involve you in the bad adventure of a tripartite union hostile to Morocco!
We must remember that your country, Tunisia, was the first country south of the Mediterranean to sign an association agreement with the European Union in 1995, followed later by Morocco and Algeria, which states: “ Encouraging Maghreb integration by promoting exchange and cooperation within the Maghreb bloc.” And between it and the European Union and its member states ”[4].
Despite this agreement, which falls within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Barcelona process that was launched in 1995, Maghreb integration faces many obstacles due to these corrupt Algerian generals, who strongly cling to the transcendent Arab-Islamic ideology, and insist on creating a small “Arab” separatist state in The Moroccan Sahara, for no other reason than to continue their “dirty war” against the Moroccans, whom they consider Berbers, since their defeat in the Sand War in 1963[5]. To perpetuate their stay in power, the Algerian generals resorted to the scarecrow of the external (Moroccan) enemy and the internal enemy, represented by the Berbers of the Kabylie region, the Mozab and other Amazigh-speaking populations!
Mr president,
Remembering the famous saying of the African Amazigh leader Masinissa, “Africa is for the Africans,” we ask you to recognize the African and Amazigh origins of Tunisia by all means, not because we are Amazigh, but because that is in the highest interest of Tunisia, which will be faithful to its history, its civilization, and its sovereign identity, even though we are disappointed. From the post-revolution constitution, which considers Tunisia an “Arab” country, even though the majority of Tunisians are ultimately Arabized Amazigh, including a minority that challenged the “Arab” conquerors and still maintains its ancient Amazigh language in the south.
Be aware that the name “Arab Maghreb”, since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the democratic revolutions of the People’s Spring (erroneously called the “Arab Spring”), which began with the Jasmine Revolution on December 17, 2010, has greatly offended the feelings, identity, pride and dignity of millions of indigenous citizens in North Africa, as well as There is no objection to replacing it with the term “Greater Maghreb”. We must realize that recent archaeological discoveries and genetic anthropology data confirm that North Africa is not Arab at all. Rather, we should be proud that our continent bears an Amazigh name, “Africa,” which was used to call your country Tunisia before the invasion of the Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Ottomans and Europeans. The results of archaeological excavations carried out by Professor Abdel Wahed Ben Nasr and Professor Jean-Jacques Leblanc from the Max Planck Institute for Advanced Anthropology in Germany, around the skull of “Adrar Ighoud” (in Arabic, Jebel Ighoud), which was revealed in 2017, confirmed today that “human Adrar Ighoud” is the oldest ancestor of Homo sapiens, dating back to about 315 thousand years before present. Tamazga is now considered the cradle of humanity[6] and is the origin of all human peoples, whether they are Arabs, Iranians, Turks, Indians, Chinese or other Asian, European, American, Australian and African peoples! Among the African peoples, of course, there are the “free” Berbers in all North African countries, whether Berber-speaking or Arabic-speaking, who descend from their common ancestor, the “Man of Gafsa,” who lived in southern Tunisia between 10,000 and 7,000 years ago, and who was the origin of “Al-Qabsian Civilization”[7].
Mr president,
Finally, we call on your spirit of openness, your sense of responsibility and your historical duty in order to employ all your influence and diplomacy to persuade the “Algerian generals” and the rest of the leaders of the Tamazgha countries to reconcile with our ancient common history. By quoting the words of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, after the Amazigh New Year was declared an official holiday in Morocco on May 3, 2023, we can clearly confirm that: “ Amazigh is a major component of the authentic Maghreb identity, rich in its many tributaries, and a common asset for all Maghreb people without exception .”
Please accept, Mr. President, the highest expressions of appreciation and respect.
Rashid ra kha
President of the Amazigh World Assembly
Referrals:
[1]- https://amadalamazigh.press.ma/%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%b1%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a9-%d8%a5%d9 %84%d9%89-%d9%88%d8%b2%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ae%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8 %ac%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%ae%d8%a7-%d9%8a%d8%b7%d8%a7/
[2]- www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5IV6Y3S05g
[3]- https://amamazigh.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AMA_MANIFESTE-DE-TAMAZGHA_5-langues.pdf
[4]- https://amadalamazigh.press.ma/%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AC%D9% 85%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9% 85%D8%A7%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%BA%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%B9%D9%88-%D8%A7%D9%84/
[5]- https://amadalamazigh.press.ma/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%ac%d9%85%d8%b9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8% b9%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%b2%d9%8a%d8%ba %d9%8a-%d9%8a%d8%b7%d9%84%d8%a8-%d9%85%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%b9%d8%af%d8%a9/
[6]- https://amadalamazigh.press.ma/pdf/Origines.pdf
[7]- https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1535233/politique/avec-la-civilisation-capsienne-la-tunisie-se-penche-sur-son-passe-prehistorique/