Algeria
Content about workers' struggles and events in Algeria.
Letters from Algeria: the situation after the uprising - The Red Menace
Accounts of a participant in the 1988 uprising against austerity measures in Algeria.
These letters were received by our comrades at Le Brise Glace (The Ice Breaker). We are publishing them because they give an interesting eye-witness account of the situation before and immediately after last year’s uprising in Algeria. The reference to ‘Chadli’ is to the president, ChadIi Benjedid.
Hello,
No forgiveness: Algeria 2001
In June 2001 Algeria experienced almost an insurrection which progressively spread throughout the whole country. There was nothing in the media about this, so this text, with the title “Ulach smah” (“No forgiveness”), was translated from the French in July 2001 as a contribution to breaking the silence.
The photo on the left is of a riot in Algeria at this time.
[b]At this very moment Algeria is experiencing almost an insurrection which is progressively spreading throughout the whole country.
Camus, Albert and the anarchists
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
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
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.
Guigui-Theral, Albert, 1903-19?
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.
