I was very happy to meet my Algerian Amazigh brothers and sisters last year in
New Jersey during ACAA's annual celebration of Tafsut n Imazighen. I was
thrilled by the fact that it only took a little effort from us to understand
each other. As I said in my address during this celebration, we are one people
and we are bound by the great feeling of belonging to a culture we are highly
proud of. Yes, we are one and it is only a matter of time before we unite. Our
unity will be our driving force. We share the same language and culture, a
culture that is still alive despite centuries of oppression and negligence. I
have a good feeling about this because I always thought that a culture that
survived every invasion in the human history is capable of continuing to live
and can prosper. We, Imazighen, need to work very hard at saving and promoting
our culture. Our task is tremendous and needs support from everyone! In the
Atlas mountains of Morocco, for example, Imazighen are fighting to keep their
traditions alive despite the very harsh conditions they live in. One of my
dreams is to go back to my father's village, Ait Saleh (Tineffidine), in
Demnate, build a school and hire teachers that would teach our kids their
language and culture and make them feel proud of who they are. Meanwhile, as I
said in my address in Tafsut n Imazighen, we have to come down to the plains
and claim our rights in that land. The denigration of our legitimate rights by
the so-called Arab nationalists and their natural allies, the fundamentalists,
should not be a surprise to us because both believe that the revival of
Tamazight is a negation of Arabic. This false political rhetoric should be
demystified and should not at all divert us from pursuing our goals. The D-day
for Imazighen will come to reclaim their identity and to be treated on an
equal basis. We should not for any reason whatsoever give up our fight for
justice. To conclude, I will reference The Moroccan Professor Mohamed Chafiq
who said: "Tamazight has the right and the possibilities to take advantage of
its immense potentialities because it remained alive despite all the hurdles
that it encountered during its long existence, and it is ready now to
prosper". Finally I will say few words in Tamazight to our readers, especially
to those who speak Tacelhit.
Ayatma d yesatma: Hat yane an ga, hat nmel an nga yane yan was. Ga yatag
irgazen d tisednan, ga yatag arraw n Mazigh, arraw iqurn. Awer n mil a nedj
awd yan ay negh Tamazight acku tga awal negh, nrat at ga awal n tighri,
awal n ugharas, awal nu myara, awal n tmezgida, awal n ughemis.
Iwaar ughrasad, walayini ixasa-yagh a gis neddu, acku ira aghi selkem s
tamunt. Yan was, Iqbayliyen, Icawiyen, Imzaben, Imucagh, Icelhiyen, Irifiyen,
Imazighen n Atlas alemmas, d Imazighen anda ma llan maln ad mun ar sawaln yan
wawal, ar aqran yan Iles. Naghat a yaytma di satma, ku yan ku adghar nnes. Hat
temeqit s temeqit as it ngu wasif. Adrar n Djerdjera d wedrar n Atlas meln ad
mun yan was s yan ugharas imequren. Ar asand udjigh-kun g l hna. At tamghur
Tamazight, ad dern Imazighen.
Translation
Brothers and sisters: We were united in the past but fate separated us. We
hope to reunite in the near future. Let us be heroes and heroines. Let us be
the proud and the tough people of Mazigh. We will never let anyone take from
us our language because it is our mother tongue. We want our language to be
the language of the people, education, administration, the media, and the
language of every aspect of our lives. The way to achieving our goals is a
long and tough journey, but we shall take it for it will ultimately lead
us to unity. One day, Iqbayliyen, Icawiyen, Imzaben, Imucagh, Icelhiyen,
Irifiyen, Imazighen of the middle Atlas, and all Imazighen, wherever they may
be, will be united, speak the same language, and study and work together.
Brothers and sisters, let us fight, each one in his or her place, with his
or her means. As the Amazigh proverb says: Drop by drop, the river will
flood. One day, the mountains of Djurdjura and the mountains of the Atlas will
be connected through a highway and their people brought together. Until that
day, I wish you well and long live Tamazight and Imazighen.
About the author
Ahmed Elasser was born in 1963 in Demnate, Morocco. After he received his
Baccalaureat in 1980, he joined Mohammadia School of Engineering in Rabat.
He worked for a year as an Electrical engineer in a company in Ourzazate, then
transferred to the School of Engineering of Casablanca where he worked as
a Laboratory Engineer for six years (1986-1992). In 1992, he joined
Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, in New York, to work on his master's and PhD
degrees in Electric Power Engineering and Power Electronics.