Algeria jails historian who called Amazigh identity a 'French-Zionist' construct
Algeria has imprisoned a prominent historian after he claimed that the Amazigh identity was a "French-Zionist" construct on Emirati TV.
Mohamed Amine Belghit was remanded in custody after making the comments against the Algerian minority group last week, with the state prosecutor saying he had undermined the "unity" of the country.
The Prosecutor's Office of the Dar El Beida court said in a statement on Saturday that Belghit had been arrested for: "The crime of undermining national unity by an act targeting national unity with the aim of undermining the symbols of the nation and the republic, the offense of undermining the integrity of national unity, and the offense of disseminating hate speech and discrimination."
Belghit, a university professor who is known for making provocative public comments, had been speaking on Sky News Arabia when he declared that "the Amazigh language is an ideological project of French-Zionist creation".
"There is no such thing as Amazigh culture. There is no such thing as Amazighness," he said.
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His comments, which spread quickly online, provoked outcry in Algeria, which recognised the Tamazight language as a national language in 2016.
State television called the broadcast "a new form of venom, filth, indecency and insults against Algerians" while the High Commission for Amazighness said "isolated parties" were trying to destabilise Algeria.
The national news outlet also said the UAE had "crossed all red lines" with the broadcast and denounced the country as an 'artificial mini-state".
Algeria's Sahel neighbours withdraw ambassadors after shooting down of Malian drone Read More »
Amazighs, who are also sometimes known as Berbers, are an ethnic group scattered across Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Libya whose roots in the region predate the Arab conquest of North Africa.
They are believed to account for about 20 percent of Algeria's 44 million population.
Amazigh culture and language have historically been suppressed by the Algerian government, but following pressure from protesters and campaigners, there has been increasing recognition of the minority's rights and identity in the country.
"Yennayer," the Amazigh New Year, was added to the list of national holidays in 2017.
The controversy has come against the backdrop of mounting tensions between Algeria and the UAE.
The UAE and Algeria's other regional rival, Morocco, both agreed to recognise Israel in 2021, a move that was strongly criticised by the Algerian government.
Authorities have also attacked the UAE's involvement in a range of regional conflicts, including the wars in Sudan and Libya, and have suspected the UAE of seeking to destabilise neighbouring Tunisia after the 2011 democratic revolution.
'Wherever there are conflicts, the state's money is present in Mali, Libya, Sudan,' President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said in March 2024.
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