Algeria

Country: Algeria

Moroccan Amazigh demonstrate in front of the Moroccan parliament in Rabat on 23 April 2017 to denounce the death of a member of their community during recent clashes at the university of Marrakesh (photo: Reuters/Stringer)

Morocco′s Amazigh

The long road to recognition

Morocco′s Amazigh captured a historic achievement in 2011 when constitutional measures following the country′s February 20th protests officially recognised the Amazigh culture and language. But six years on, many Amazigh are dissatisfied with the reform process and continue to complain of discrimination. By Matthew GreeneMore

Mohammed Khair-Eddine: An intimate look at Berber culture Reform in Morocco: Plagued by inertia Ethnic conflict in Algeria: A struggle for power and recognition

The post-Bouteflika era – cartoon by Hisham Baba Ahmed (source: ″El Watan″, 15.05.2016)

Algerian cartoonists at the cutting edge

Licensed to draw

In a country like Algeria, where press freedoms are restricted, cartoonists with their subtle criticism of the regime often have a far more subversive impact than mere words.More

Interview with the cartoonist Khalil: "There is nothing that can justify this sort of violence"Fighting Islamic State with satire and black humour: Terribly funny Alsatoor, Libya′s caricaturist: The pen is mightier

Abdallah Djaballah, leader of the Islamist FJD in front of party headquarters in Algeria (photo: AFP)

Algeria′s Islamists

Grasping at straws

Algeria′s myriad Islamist parties are either barred from the elections or internally divided over whether to support the government or join the opposition, limiting their chances of success. An analysis by Riccardo FabianiMore

Parliamentary elections in Algeria: It's hardly democracy Unrest in Algeria: Shaking the social foundations Conflict between Arabs and Berbers in Algeria: A social minefield

Men reading political party campaign posters on Martyrs′ Square in Algiers on 9 April 2017 (photo: Getty Images/AFP)

Parliamentary elections in Algeria

It's hardly democracy

The parliamentary elections in Algeria on 4 May 2017 mark a political watershed. Even though the outcome of the elections is not expected to hold any big surprises, this time the regime’s credibility really is on the line. By Isabel SchaferMore

Unrest in Algeria: Shaking the social foundations President Bouteflika and Algeria′s future: The sick man of the Mediterranean The Maghreb: Why does the Algerian regime fear Rachad?

Unemployed men protest in front of the Ministry of Labour in Algiers (photo: dpa/picture-alliance)

Algeria′s disillusioned majority

Desperately seeking voters

Algeria's upcoming parliamentary poll is failing to spark the interest of the populace. Few have any hope that the discredited political class will provide solutions to the country′s pervasive social malaise. At the same time, a handful of dedicated civil society campaigns are focusing on initiating change at grassroots level. Sofian Philip Naceur reports from Algiers and OranMore

Parliamentary elections in Algeria: The corrupt, the apathetic and the disaffected Unrest in Algeria: Shaking the social foundations Conflict between Arabs and Berbers in Algeria: A social minefield Le Hic Facebook page

Egyptian author Kamal Ruhayyim (source: Twitter)

Book review: Kamal Ruhayyim′s ″Menorahs and Minarets″

The unchangeable past

A haze of nostalgia pervades ″Menorahs and Minarets″ (2017), the third and final novel in an ambitious trilogy by Egyptian author Kamal Ruhayyim. All three books have now been ably translated into English by Sarah Enany. Marcia Lynx Qualey has the detailsMore

Remembering Naguib Mahfouz: ″A wave of light on an infinite ocean of darkness″ Interview with the Egyptian author Youssef Rakha: "Taken together, these things would make up home..."Book review: Basma Abdel Aziz′s ″The Queue″: Disturbingly prescient

Director of "Tahqiq fel djenna" Merzak Allouache and lead Salima Abada (source: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin)

Merzak Allouache′s ″Tahqiq fel djenna″

Seventy two grapes

In his film ″Tahqiq fel Djenna″ (Investigating Paradise), which was awarded the Panorama 2017 prize at this year′s Berlinale, Merzak Allouache investigates the sexualised idea of Paradise as spread by Salafist preachers. By Rene Wildangel

″Cinema Clubs″ in Egypt: Rediscovering the silver screen Karama-Gaza Human Rights Film Festival: Roll out the red carpet!Nabil Ayouch's Film ''God's Horses'': Ostracised and Forgotten

Public protests against the Algerian government′s economic policy under President Bouteflika (photo: FAROUK BATICHE/AFP/Getty Images)

Unrest in Algeria

Shaking the social foundations

Algeria′s austerity measures are driving protests among its previously acquiescent middle class and the state is hardening its stance against such unrest. An analysis by Idriss JebariMore

President Bouteflika and Algeria′s future: The sick man of the Mediterranean Anti-fracking protests in Algeria: Revolution rising up from the desert?Citizenship law reform in Algeria: The tug-of-war over identity

Album review: Cigdem Aslan's ″A Thousand Cranes″

Tugging at your heartstrings

Cigdem Aslan's newest release, ″A Thousand Cranes″ on the Asphalt Tango Records label, harks back to a period when music and cultures came together in a celebration of life. By Richard MarcusMore

Album review: Trygve Seim′s ″Rumi Songs″: Musical wanderlust Album review: ″Sandaraa″ by Sandaraa: Fusion in the truest sense New music from Pakistan: A captivating mix of sounds

Voting in the Algerian parliament (photo: Getty Images/AFP/F. Batiche)

Citizenship law reform in Algeria

The tug-of-war over identity

In July of this year the Algerian cabinet passed a controversial law allowing only those with ″exclusive Algerian nationality″ to hold high office. Report by Federica Zoja More

President Bouteflika and Algeria′s future: The sick man of the Mediterranean The Maghreb: Why does the Algerian regime fear Rachad? Conflict between Arabs and Berbers in Algeria: A social minefield

Algerian author Yasmina Khadra, otherwise known as Mohammed Mousselehoul (photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)

Book review: Yasmina Khadra′s ″The Angels Die″

A quixotic narrative

In ″The Angels Die″, released this August, the perils of boxing intersect with the precarious arena of colonial politics. Broached with the reflections of a convicted fighter awaiting the guillotine, celebrated Algerian-Francophone author Yasmina Khadra brings to life a psychological exploration of Algeria′s 20th century interwar period. By Sherif DhaimishMore

Yasmina Khadra: "The Sirens of Bagdad": The logic of terrorism Interview with the Algerian Novelist Yasmina Khadra: "There is a life after defeat"Interview with Yasmina Khadra: "The Arab world is not just a postcard with dunes and caravans"

Whirling dervishes (photo: Deutsche Welle)

Sufism

Lifting the lid

Many Western devotees of Sufism view it as a more liberal brand of Islam. That is a misunderstanding. An essay by Stefan WeidnerMore

Interview with Mevlevi sheikh Kabir Helminski: Sufism and the power to transform Sufis in Afghanistan: The forgotten mystics of the Hindu Kush Combating violent extremism: Could Sufi Islam be the cure-all?

Woman and child rescued off the Libyan coast (photo: Getty Images/G. Bouys)

Migration pact with Africa

The EU′s paper tiger

The EU claims that the migration pact with Africa is a completely new initiative. Rather than reshaping patterns of migration, however, Europe′s desperate politics of symbolism would merely seem to focus on stemming the flow. By Ludger Schadomsky More

Europe′s response to the refugee crisis: "Ugly, feckless and dysfunctional"Egypt's people-smuggling mafia: Where crossings cost but lives are cheap Turkey and the refugee deal: False friends forever World Refugee Day 2016

Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/E. Laurent)

Boualem Sansal′s novel ″2084: The End of the World″

Tyranny of sorts

In his latest novel, Boualem Sansal, attacks the religious tyranny of Islam, yet fails to comment on the West′s hypocrisy with relation to the fallout of colonialism or recent political involvement. By Iman HumaydanMore

German Peace Prize for Boualem Sansal: A Good, cowardly choice Interview with the Algerian writer Boualem Sansal: "Take Islam back from the Islamists!"Boualem Sansal on Arab-Islamic identity: The Islamists will govern undemocratically

Algerian author and journalist Kamel Daoud (photo: AFP/Getty Images/B. Langlois)

The Algerian writer Kamel Daoud

Who is the Arab man?

He has written about Albert Camus, the New Year’s Eve assaults in Cologne and the Arab man. He has had a ″fatwa″ issued against him and been accused of Islamophobia. At Germany's top literature festival, ″Lit.Cologne″, however, he was the man of the moment. By Sarah Judith HofmannMore

Book review: Kamel Daoud's "The Meursault Investigation": To kill an Arab New Year′s Eve assaults on women: The Cologne outcry Interview with Yasmina Khadra: "The Algerian regime is pulling all the strings"

Historical map of Tripolitania under the Karamanli dynasty (source: Wikipedia)

Libya

Miss Tully′s ″Narrative of a Ten-Year Residence at Tripoli in Africa″

In 1816, a collection of letters written by the sister-in-law of the British Consul in Tripoli was published as Narrative of a Ten Year Residence at Tripoli in Africa. Between 1783 and 1793 Miss Tully wrote over 100 epistles, painting an incredibly vivid picture of life on the Barbary Coast. A review by Sherif DhaimishMore

Libya's rich legacy Book review: ″The New Waw: Saharan Oasis″ by Ibrahim al-Koni: Cultivating the strange "Translating Libya": Non-political stories of love and hardship Libya: A sanctuary for radicals and militants