The identity: Nowadays, the fact that the world becomes like a small village, people lose their identities without being aware of it. These people are affected either internally or externally. They lose their language, customs, religion… However, the Amazigh people are one of those peoples which are victims of certain factors. Imazighen are pushed to fall in such trap.

Imazighen established for their history in North Africa many centuries before the arrival of any one of Arabs who are domineering Tamazgha. In fact they own their culture which takes its part in the human civilizations. Moreover Imazighen are known for their pursuing freedom and reject submission whatever the cost would be.

In fact the most dangerous influence which touches Imazighen is the Arabs . We, Imazighen, are affected by the Arabs every time and in everywhere in Tamazgha. The deceptive media is a sword which eradicates the roots of Imazighen. Furthermore, mass media, in Morocco or any part of Tamazgha, aim to make Imazighen forget about their identity; they give no chance to Imazighen to express themselves. Although there is a small number of official media, they are dominated by the governing elites.

Arabization is a tool in the hands of the Arabs. They try to arabize Imazighen and erase their identity. In Morocco, eradicating Amazigh identity is well established since the “Independenceâ€?. An impotent institution, “IRCAMâ€?, is created in Morocco to “protectâ€? the Amazigh culture, as they pretend, but in fact it is the opposite. Furthermore, the Arab countries excluded Imazighen from the right of existence in term of identity. To emphasise this destination, they founded the “Arab Leagueâ€? in which they show their conformity to the external powers from which they are scared, like USA which secures the leaders to govern– but according to the white house point of view.

Concerning education, Tamazight has never been taken by the Arabs seriously as a language which should be preserved. For example in Morocco there is a policy claiming that Tamazight is being taught at schools. However, these are just lies to deceive people and make them submissive. As far as I m concerned, there is no teaching of Tamazight in official schools. So how can a non Amazighophone teach Tamazight? Of course it is like a joke! A non Tamazight-speaker teacher said that he is teaching Tamazight to Imazighen, but he does not know what he is saying to his student. Thus there would be no mutual communication. Nevertheless, I do not express my negative feelings towards the Arabs but the fact that a teacher of language doesn t know the language he teaches to a native speakers of that language is a big question. It is good that Tamazight is to become learned in the world. A language is supposed to be learned by all people who are interested in it. But when it comes to teaching, the teacher is to master the language he teaches better than the ones he teaches– not the opposite.

Moreover, migration of the Amazigh people either internally or externally causes Imazighen the loss of their identity. When Imazighen leave their home land, they are supposed to face up a strange language and culture. Thus, they should be immune and aware of that danger.

Amazigh identity is going through its hard times and Imazighen have to make their best to foster it; otherwise, we would unjust the coming Amazigh generations. It is better for the young Imazighen to defend Tamazight– even intellectually.

Written By Radouane HADDADI E-mail: rif_tamourt@hotmail.com
http://www.agraw.com/

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 the Republic of Rif

It was in September 18th 1921, When the Republic of Rif was created and the Rifian declared their independence from the Spanish occupation in the northern part of Morocco. Abdelkarim Al Khattbi, was the man behind the unification of the Rifian tribes, and the leader of the rifian revolution against the Spanish occupation.
The republic was a military and political association of tribes living in the Rif Mountains of northern Morocco. The supreme legislative and executive powers were exercised by the National Assembly, which was headed by the president, or emir, Abd al-Karim. The republic had a five-member government. The local administrative unit was a tribe headed by a kaid and a community council, or jamaah. The kaids were subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Council for Tribal Affairs.
The revenue from special taxes, for example a poll tax and a tax on personal income, was used for the needs of the army. For a long time the Rif Republic successfully fought off Spanish and French troops, defeating them repeatedly. The republic fell on May 27, 1926, under the united onslaught of the Spanish and French armies.
The Rif has been inhabited by the Rifains since prehistoric times. As early as the 11th century BC, the Phoenicians and Carthaginians began to establish trading posts on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, and founded cities such as Tetouan, Melilla and, in 5th century BC, Tangier. After the Third Punic War, Carthage was supplanted by Rome, and the Rif became part of the province of Mauretania. When the latter was divided during the rule of Emperor Claudius, Tangier became the capital of Mauretania Tingitana. In the 5th century AD, the region was raided by the Vandals, and Roman rule came to an end. The region remained under Vandal control until the 6th century AD when the Byzantines reconquered parts of it.
In 710, Salih I ibn Mansur founded the Kingdom of Nekor in the Rif and converted most Berbers to Islam. Arabs then established more cities. By the 15th century, many Spanish Moors were exiled from Spain and most of them lived in the Rif, bringing their culture, Andalusian music, and even establishing Chefchaouen. Since then, the Rif had suffered a lot of battles between Morocco, Spain and Portugal. In 1415, Portugal invaded Ceuta, and in 1490 Spain invaded Melilla. There was period of peace after, but war between Spain and Morocco arose again in 1859 in Tetouan where Morocco was defeated. The Spanish-Moroccan conflicts didn’t end. In the 20th century, under the leadership of Abd el-Krim El-Khattabi, the Moroccan guerrilla leader, The Riffians struggled against Spanish rule and aimed to free Morocco from French and Spanish colonization. Abd el-Krim later established the Republic of the Rif in 1921 which lasted until 1926, reinstating the Spanish protectorate. The region was returned to Morocco after its independence in 1956.
During the reign of Hassan II, stage known as the Years of Lead (in Morocco) Rif people was too repressed while sidelined. Because it is known for the existence of certain political organizations that demanded from a development for the area until the separation of the territory of Morocco.
In 1958-1959 a revolt broke out in the Rif was an uprising in the North African Rif region choked with aerial bombing in the region with napalm, white phosphorous and cluster bombs carried out by an embryonic Moroccan army, led by French officers and the head of which (and overseeing operations) was the then Crown Prince Moulay Hassan (the future Hassan II). The crackdown left a balance of several thousand dead Rif.

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M’barek Oularbi(saghru band)

Born in Mellab, a little village in the of the southeastern region of Morocco, M’barek Oularbi, the front man of the group Saghru, discovers his true passion for arts at a young age: Painting, guitar, composition, animation and poetry. His intelligence, his supporting family and the contact to other artists initiate him to advance.
Due to the influence by artists like , Idir, Bob Dylan and others, he started to compose his first pieces of music. He sang with friends, at school, in the course of cultural activities and finally, at the university.
A few years later, the young artist graduated in French Public Law and science politique and Literature and founded the Saghru Band, a fascinating modern band who then created together with Mallal their own unique style, the Amun Style.
«Your place now is within the stars that continue to shine high in the dark sky…»
The anniversary of the death of the artist Embarak Oarabi.

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historical times, the Berbers expanded south into the Sahara (displacing earlier populations such as the Azer and Bafour), and have in turn been mainly culturally assimilated in much of North Africa by Arabs, particularly following the incursion of the Banu Hilal in the eleventh century.
The areas of North Africa which retained the Berber language and traditions best have been, in general, Morocco, highlands of Algeria (Kabylie, Aurès et cetera) most of which in Roman and Ottoman times remained largely independent. The Ottomans did penetrate the Kabylie area; Turkish influence can be seen in food, clothes and music, and to places the Phoenicians never penetrated, far beyond the coast. These areas have been affected by some of the many invasions of North Africa, most recently that of the French.

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