Algeria

Camus, Albert and the anarchists

Albert Camus

Organise! magazine looks at the life and work of the great existentialist writer Albert Camus.

Born in French Algeria into a poor family in 1913, Camus lost his father in the Battle of the Marne in 1916. He was raised by his mother, who worked as a charlady and was illiterate. Winning a scholarship, Camus eventually began a career as a journalist. As a youth, he was a keen footballer as well as being a member of a theatrical troupe.

Algeria: Mittal steel workers launch wildcat strike

Riot police used against workers in el-Hadjar in 2000

8000 workers at sites across the country have downed tools in protest at management plans to sack 1200 workers.

Workers at Annaba Pont Bouchet, El Hadjar, Hussein Dey, Réghaïa, Blida, Ksar El Boukhari, Oran, El Khroub et Skikda have all joined the strike, shutting the entire company down, from the docks to the foundries nothing is moving. Workers are demanding negotiations between management and the union over the programme of job cuts which is supposed to begin in September.

Algeria: Striking pipeline workers face repression

Two union representatives were arrested last week and the local authorities are moving large numbers of riot police into the area.

570 workers have been striking for five weeks now. It seems as though the local authorities want to provoke a confrontation, as well as sending in more police and arresting the two men they have also issued 'inflammatory statements'. According to Mr Aouadi, a member of the union committee "They have even gone as far as to accuse us of vandalising our equipment, which is false"

Ben Bella on "national liberation"

From; No Middle Ground - San Francisco USA, Fall 1984/Winter, 1985 (original source of interview unknown).

A leading figure in the Algerian Front Liberation Nationale during the struggle against French colonialism, Ben Bella became President of newly independent Algeria in 1962. Here he speaks of his political disillusionment.

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Ben Bella on "national liberation"

Q: What are the main lessons you've learned from your experience?

"Ulach smah" ("No forgiveness") - the Algeria insurrection, 2001

A leaflet distributed in France about the Algerian struggles of 2001. Originating in the Kabylie region, east of Algiers - home to some 5 million Berbers - the revolt spread across the country. Over 120 people are reported to have died in clashes which continued for much of 2001.

From the http://www.endangeredphoenix.com/ website

Translated by: B.M.Combustion; (translating this doesn’t imply agreement with the illusions in the article about democratic rights)

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Algeria 2001

The following text was translated in July 2001:

Mohamed, Sail, 1894-1953

Sail with the Durruti Column, Aragon 1936

A biography of Algerian anarchist, Spanish Civil War fighter and mechanic Sail Mohamed Ameriane ben Amerzaine.

Sail Mohamed
Full name Sail Mohamed Ameriane ben Amerzaine, born 14 October 1894 - Kabylie, Algeria, died April 1953

Sail Mohamed Ameriane ben Amerzaine (pictured above sitting front row centre) was born on 14 October 1894 at Tarbeit-Beni-Ouglis in the Berber region of Kabylie, Algeria.

Victorio, José Siliceo, 1906-1934

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A short biography of widely-respected anarchist militant in pre-war Spain, José Siliceo Victorio.

José Siliceo Victorio
Born 1906 - Bienvenida, Spain, died, 1934 - Oran Algeria

Guigui-Theral, Albert, 1903-19?

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A short biography of Algerian anarchist, mechanic and French Resistance fighter Albert Guigui-Theral.

Albert Guigui-Theral
Born 1903 - Algeria, died later than 1945 - place and date unknown

Born in Algeria, raised in Paris, Guigui-Theral returned to Algeria in 1918, working as a mechanic. As an activist he was involved in the metal workers' strikes and sent to jail for his anarchist propaganda.

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