The algerian association for the defence of the arabic language

Some historical milestones AbOUT the struggle of the national language in Algeria

• Algeria was under colonialism for 132 years (from 1830 to 1962). During this period, the Arabic language, the national language, was treated by the French colonialism as a foreign language.

• From 1954 to 1962 is the liberation War. In 1958, General De Gaulle comes back to the French government. One of his objectives is to protect the status of the French language, in the independent Algeria, with the purpose of maintaining the French influence. It is in that scope that the Algerian French speaking government staff were favoured by the colonial administration. This team, with hundred of young Algerians who are poorly trained in the French language in the colonial administration centers, rule Algeria after its liberation.

• Still during 1958, the National Front of Liberation (FLN) in exile in Cairo forms the "Gouvernement Provisoire de la Republique Algerienne" (GPRA) (The Temporary Government of the Republic of Algeria). However, instead of forming the state administration ill the country national language, as did for instance the Vietnamese, this government founds ifs administration based on the French language. By doing so, the GPRA is, in fact, applying a complementary plan to that of General De Gaulle.

• Following the liberation, the outcome is that the French language hegemony remains in all official activities of the country. This is against the national identity, even when the official texts, particularly the constitution, state that Arabic is the national and official language. But most of the texts stay at the theoretical level. The use of the Arabic language is a permanent demand at the national and popular levels. Arabic speaking intelligentsia is struggling for that demand. These struggles lead, particularly in 1970, to a ProgresS in the real use of the Arabic language within the institutions, notably in the education system.

• In the mid 80's, the education in The Primary and secondary schools are entirely converted to Arabic. This is also the case for some universities (Social Sciences Faculty). Science and technology universities still continue to teach in the French language. As for the administration, except for some limited sectors (Justice and information ministries), most of if is still "francisée", using the French language up to now.

• In December 1990, the Popular and National Assembly votes unanimously the law on the general use of the Arabic language. This law aims, particularly, at the arabization of the political, economical and cultural administration and the environment (exhibitions banners, signs etc .. ) as well as the rest of the educational system.

• ln 1991, the elections are canceled and a State High Council (Haut Conseil de l'Etat) is designated to take charge of the country. President Boudiaf, who heads the HCE, appoints a Consultative National Council, CNC, dominated by French speaking lobby, to be in charge of the legislative function. In July 1992 a decree is signed which freezes the law concerning the generalization of the use of the Arabic language.

• In December 1996, the Transitional National Council, which replaced the HCE, voted an order to cancel the July 4th 1992 decree. This order was signed that same month by president Zeroual. The law regarding the generalization of the use of the Arabic language is again applicable. July 5th 1998, is set as date for it to become law.

• At the approach of this date, in June 1998, the French speaking lobby in Algeria and in France launches a violent campaign asking, again, president Zeroual to freeze this law, but does not succeed. Within the new parliament, the majority of political parties (341 deputies out of 380) are in support of the law.

• June 3rd, 1998, the Algerian Association for the Defense of the Arabic Language issues a statement 0n the subject of this campaign and the supporting law for the generalization of the use of the Arabic language. The complete text of the declaration reads as follows:

ALGERIAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE ARABIC LANGUAGE DECLARATION CONCERNING THE LAW ON THE ARABISATION:

''To the approach of the expiration of July 5th deadline, the French speaking society of Algeria mobilized itself against the law on the arabization. This is how its newspapers and political parties have launched a violent campaign against this law.

"The arabisation is rushled" They said. This is what they have been saying invariably for 40 years. Meanwhile, the world has deeply changed. Countries from Southeast Asia such as Vietnam and China truly entered the path of development on the basis of their language and their national culture. In fact, within the current large inquisition on the reason for launching the development process, one thing is sure is that there is no example of countries that has succeeded without this necessary condition. Israel, which is often mentioned as a reference for the French speaking society, has made Hebrew, although a dead language, the language of the state and all activities (economic, social, cultural and scientific), and even, unfortunately, the language of colonization for the Palestinian. But the French speaking lobby of Algeria will always think that the arabisation is not slow enough for them.

The law on the arabisation, also, they say, is the non respect of minority rights, it is "the linguistic exclusion." These euphemisms are generally used to defend the interest of the French speaking minority. But what kind of minority? In this case, it concerns a minority whose practice has been precisely that of the linguistic exclusion against a whole people and its language at all levels, including that of the state administration.

Therefore this does not concern a minority in the democratic sense, but of a minority in the sense of dictatorship of a minority. One shall remember that there has been a war of liberation for this subject.

The French speaking lobby in Algeria

As always, each time that it concerns arabisation, the French speaking lobby becomes a fiery defender of the amazighite and the berberite. But the opinion is not duped. It is known that some political parties, that currently claim their berberite, have no other objective than being the French speaking political parties through the sensitivity and the political and cultural affinities of their leadership.

In what sense the attachment to berberite would imply that of the French language and the hostility to the arabisation? This is not logical because the Berber community needs the Arabic language as a hyphen with the entire of the nation.

If the French speaking lobby wears the mask of the berberite, this is not by attachment to this cause, but simply because it knows that the Berber language cannot be, currently, a danger for its interest because, on the contrary of the Arabic language, it can not replace the French language in the administrative and economic activities.

In brief, the arguments against the arabisation are always the same. Each argument, in fact, is a confession of the true nature of the French speaking society of Algeria and on the reality of its objectives: to defend its social and economic hegemony, notably in the administration of the state.

The purpose of the campaign against the use of the Arabic language lead by the political parties and the French speaking media is to create fear, to dramatize the situation and to put pressure on the state to stop the implementation of the law. A leader of a French speaking party even came to say, "the country will breakdown starting July 5th". An obscene statement in the current situation, when aware of its causes and when it comes from the mouth of a political party leader who is the one really in "breakdown" since decades.

Recent1y again, the French speaking lobby, sure about itself, has asked for the removal of the government chief mission in charge of the arabisation. In fact, the word "Arabisation" is inappropriate because there is nothing to arabise in Algeria other than ... the French speaking society.

The question of the Arabic language has been transformed into the "Arabisation" question only to the extent that French speaking minority who has monopolized means of the administration of the state and the economic life, by excluding on the way, the Algerian people, and this is precisely, one of the causes of the current situation.

The problem of the French speaking society is that it will not have any future here as long as it is being entirely linked to the French language. There lies its problem, but this becomes that of the country since its hegemony may create a cultural disaster and therefore social one for Algeria. Indeed, the French culture is one thing and the French speaking culture of Algeria is another. It has not offered and does not offer other perspectives than that of a second hand culture, a servile culture of cultural alienation and intellectual mediocrity, a sub-culture of a servant trying hardly to imitate his master. In fact, one of the indices and even the measure of this mediocrity is the decline and the hate shown by the French speaking lobby of Algeria toward the Arabic language. As a matter of fact you need to have a certain intellectual level to appreciate other languages as well as other cultures, and to understand their human dimension. If arabisation is then a question of dignity, for a country that had already suffered a lot for it, it is also a necessity of the cultural and economic progress, which can not be made without the contribution of the people of this country or outside of its language. It is therefore also a democratic necessity.

The Algerian French speaking media have always served as a boom box for the campaign against the law on the arabisation. This is evident since nowhere else can be seen the true link between the cultural interest and the financial interest.

French speaking newspapers represents the first French speaking enterprise of the country. Their existence is directly linked to the domination of the French language and to the interest of the French speaking society. Some of these newspapers have made a colossal fortune on this basis. This has nothing to do with the market law of the country where the big majority of the population is educated in Arabic. To the contrary, they owe there privileged situation to the bureaucratic mechanisms and to the involvement of the whole Algerian French speaking society (and even elsewhere) to serve them through control at his access: banking loans, advertisement income. ..etc ... They also owe it to the active role they played in the suppression of many of property titles in the Arabic language, and therefore of all competition.

When it comes to the campaign against arabisation, some French speaking newspapers have crossed the limits that even the colonialism had never dared to cross. The newspaper ‘EI Watan’ has qualified the law on the arabisation of ‘nefarious law’ and the generalization of the Arabic language as ‘disastrous’ for Algeria. The freedom of opinion is one thing, but the defamation, the non respect of each Algerian citizen’s dignity and notably of his freedom, his right to use his language and to seeing it used in the administration of his country is another.