By Moh Ayth Said

Kabylians  have made certain social or popular practices their traditions — some are more interesting than others — that help keep our collective consciousness and memory  alive.  However, there is only one that needs to be improved, enriched, or revised. These latter are indeed  national celebrations to pay tribute to our illustrious men and women who are no longer with us. This is obviously a praiseworthy gesture and proof of the nation’s recognition of its most deserving sons and daughters . While it is important  to remember the Kabylians who have left us, it is equally good, if not better, to remember our living men and women who continue to serve the nation in all areas: cultural, sporting, economic, research, political, etc.

It is indeed this principle that inspired and motivated me to write about a fascinating man, with his many features, and it would be no exaggeration to say that he is a man of exceptional talent.

This man who leaves no one indifferent is none other than  Mr. Ferhat Mehenni, the current president of MAK-ANAVAD, whom independence activists describe as the father of the Kabylian nation.

I have repeatedly felt an irresistible urge to react to all the slander he is subjected to, and the numerous futile attempts to discredit him by attaching to his personality human flaws that only his enemies resort to, by using an  abject lexical arsenal,  overflowing with filthy adjectives.

I do this today not to defend him ,because he doesn’t need that,  but to present him to  those who don’t know him at all, or  to better introduce him  to those who know him too well or too poorly, but are unable to say anything great about him.

Indeed, the campaigns of denigration and insults orchestrated by his enemies or political opponents are interpreted positively by the Kabylian self-determination activists.. 

Instead of opposing him an adequate retort  and dignified political response as needed. His Algerian enemies, supported by certain Kabylian agents, are using ” unconventional methods ” to damage his reputation and force him to abandon his struggle. Thus, all the propaganda of denigration, defamation, and lies spread by the media  arsenal of Algerian colonialism fails   to destabilize this man who seems to be taunting them by saying “despite your colossal resources, I am the iron pot and you are the clay pot”.

All the artillery deployed to discredit, demonize, bring him down, or at least force him to renounce his political ideals, has been thwarted by a steely shell that only genius leaders know how to exploit, rendering it futile and disarmingly ineffective. This ability to withstand these “coordinated attacks from both his enemies and friends” makes him a man who inspires interest and profound respect. Many others would have capsized and foundered on the banks of fleeting frustration and the quays of irreversible disappointment, sinking definitively into the foul-smelling waters of the Algerian political swamp.

One wonders if “this human being ” doesn’t draw his moral strength from this seemingly unequal duel, which he directs and maneuvers at his own discretion to find the best angle of attack in order to unleash the fatal blow that disarms his enemies.

The politics of this boxer of the arenas or the  resistance fighter by songs is  both science and art. He seems to find his happiness in combining these two traits of his personality.

It is undeniable that he is a man of great challenges, not to mention ” beautiful risks, ” confronting the most pessimistic predictions for the causes he has always defended and won, such as the school boycott. Like the Alaskan salmon, it does not hesitate to swim upstream. Going against the grain to reach his target, he dares to say or do what none of the great Kabylian men had the courage to whisper even in private.

His courage is matched only by his conviction, which he dedicates to his people, striving to liberate them from the alienation and planned annihilation orchestrated by various colonizers. 

He is described as an enlightened visionary, endowed with an innate charisma that makes him adamant in defending his people. He cannot give up  a tiny  of the interests of Kabylia, which he defends using all his energy, everywhere and at all times. It is extremely difficult to define the outlines of his personality, but it is absolutely certain that he is a man of intellectual integrity,  proven, with unwavering conviction and unparalleled confidence.

To paint a portrait of Mass Asselway is an exercise that demands considerable insight and rigor, because in reality, one cannot possess all the elements of appreciation that encompass every facet of his psychological profile. First, he is an ordinary man like everyone else; then , he is a talented artist who missed out on a great international career; and finally, he is a skillful  politician, but also very skillful.

Let’s start by getting to know Ferhat Mehenni the ordinary man :

Ferhat Mehenni is an ordinary man, but with a few singular characteristics,  his closest friends might contest if our judgment proves too lenient. FerhatMehenni is an affable man and overflows with modesty, contrary to the image some try to impose on him. He is extremely  generous towards others and demonstrates uncommon altruism. He abhors behavior driven by greed and avarice. He is one of those who will share or offer their meal to those who are hungriest. To sum up this ordinary man who is  Ferhat Mehenni, one could not find a better formula than this original one which describes him in a very beautiful way: ” A body in a heart”. 

Ferhat Mehenni, the artist:

In this aspect, like our greatest artists , he contributed greatly to Kabylian culture and was one of the first, along with Djamel Allem, Idir, Nour  Eddine Chenoud and the Abranis  to introduce a modern touch to Kabylian music with a more impactful and daring political text during the seventies.

Like other singers and lyricists, he knew how to exploit the one and only means of expression that was song to alert, communicate, and raise awareness for the Kabylian  people about the plundering of their rights and the danger of their fatal identity alienation. This artistic advocacy, implemented during concerts in universities  or on  music records, did not dodge the vigilance of the dictatorship’s guardians . To avenge the affront inflicted by this young ” bad boy” known as “I mazighen  Imula” to the most bloodthirsty regime on the planet,  the latter did not hesitate to send him to prison twelve (12) times and subjected him to atrocious physical torture.

During the seventies  and eighties, the life of Ferhat Mehenni  alternated between supervised release and prison.

Despite all the suffering he endured, which could have broken his spirit and led him to abandon his “subversive activities,” his determination only grew stronger. He could have, at that time,  taken advantage of pressure he sustained,  and  therefore signed his political surrender in order to live in the comfort and luxury.

 To discuss Ferhat Mehenni ‘s artistic career without mentioning his poetry would be a mistake, because his lyrics , as well as songs written by others during the dark years, contain a dose of prophecy that current events have demonstrated today . The song “a3atar,” composed in the 80s, which speaks of Islamism, is a perfect example.

The themes addressed by Ferhat Mehenni ‘s poetry cover only freedom, human rights, and the tragedy experienced by the Kabylian  people. From  a journalist ‘s question, ” Why unlike other singers, have you never sung about love at some point in your career?”. Ferhat Mehenni answered this spontaneous and touching reply : “The only love I have ever declared is that of my Kabylia.”

To conclude this chapter, Ferhat Mehenni  is about to finalize a symphonic music work which he will make available to the public  incessantly, in order, as he said, to raise Kabylia music to a global level and take its place among the greatest nations with a rich musical heritage.

During his artistic life, he shone through his commitment to Amazigh culture, ensuring it did not succumb to the deadly lethargy decreed by the Arab-Baathist regime of the time. It also revealed Ferhat Mehenni’s  intrinsic qualities of a combative and courageous activist.

The first and earliest demonstrations  he carried out against the Algerian racist regime, shaped this active militant into a most brilliant politician. It is during this phase of his long struggle for democracy and the Amazigh people  that the cursor must be pointed on the political chessboard to understand the path of this eminent political actor, who is at the origin  of the gains of Tamazight and the changes that will probably happen in favor of Kabylia. 

Ferhat Mehenni, the politician:

I admit that it is not easy to analyze the actions, gestures, and speeches of Mass Asselway for the sole reason that the smoothness of his speeches seems innocuous and accessible to the average citizen.

Nonetheless, it is  difficult  to grasp the profound meaning of his message. In fact, he  is the opposite of prolific rhetoricians who engage in “literary exhibitionism”  that captivates  some  frivolous Algerians.

This communication technique  has proven its effectiveness, as it facilitates  forwarding the message to people; unlike speeches full of pompous words, chosen more for the sake of displaying  “science of these authors”, with the aim of feeding their narcissistic pride rather than producing relevant and useful political analyses . 

Ferhat Mehenni is the complete opposite of these politicians ; he stands out for his spontaneous modesty. When he evokes the events of 1980, of which he was one of the organizers, he does so with humility, unlike some who have in fact made it a business opportunity to the point of attributing to them the status of “former  war veteran ” — allusion to the FLN fighters during Algerian’s war against French occupation.

Speaking about the Amazigh Spring episode, he did so for the sake of history as a witness of his generation and not to gain any advantage, since he even underscored in one of his speeches that it must now be admitted “that the young people of the Black Spring” of 2001 have more merit than those of “tafsut Imazighen.”

The Algerian colonial regime labels and  blames the president of the provisional Kabylian  government for all the world’s miseries experienced by the people of Algeria, even attributing to him the global Covid- 19 pandemic or global warming, but it will be absolutely absurd in any circumstances  to accuse him of violence.

Ferhat Mehenni is a man of peace who brilliantly thwarted Algiers ‘ plan to force him to use violence in order to convince foreign powers that he is the leader of a terrorist organization, thus justifying and legitimizing brutal  repression  against MAK’s activists.  

All the sordid maneuvers of this regime have been thwarted by the truth of  facts, as in the case of the assassination of JSK player Ebossé and the murder of tourist Gourdel, carried out by the Algerian security  services in order to  tarnish Kabylia, and portray it as a  territory infested with terrorists that needs to be cleansed to reassure foreign chancelleries that the country has become an expert in  fighting terrorism .

He has often said that we are the last “doves” in this political conflict with Algeria and he has warned that if Algiers continues its repression against Kabylia, a generation of young Kabylians will inevitably opt for another method in order to settle accounts with this autistic colonial regime.

Happy 75 years birthday Mr. President, and best wishes.