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| Morocco: Disappearing the Amazigh |
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| JILLIAN C. YORK | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 So it looks like the Moroccan are at it again. Instead of just letting people be who they are, the government is still going on about their naming laws. In other words, if you want to give your child an Amazigh (Berber) name, tough luck. Moroccan human rights groups recently proposed a list of Amazigh names be added to Morocco’s approved list of names, however, the proposal was quickly struck down. Now, realistically, it’s a much smaller percentage of Moroccans who would choose to do so, but the fact of the matter is, Amazigh people are the true Moroccan natives. They are spread throughout the country and beyond. They are urban and rural. And the Moroccan government is trying to tell them that, by naming their child an Amazigh name, they are giving them a name which is “contrary to Moroccan identity.”
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Allal
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Stop arabisation! I am not europeen I am not Arab I am amazigh and I will be ! That's all about it. |
Mohammad ibn Mohammad
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Disastrous Coalition I am afraid that the French-bombs are about to snap, and abuse of hospitality by the kabyles refugees in Morocco aggravates this situation, if we add to that the timidity and the eternal Arab naivety, I fear that we are moving towards a civil war that will certainly cause millions of deaths and it will be worse than the Balkans war. the Algerian army, which is controlled entirely by the kabyles and who is responsible for this situation, they are playing a dangerous game. unless it is a plot involving the Moroccan monarchy and the convenience of the famous Zionist advisers with the firm intention to lead the nation to an ethnic genocide, it is true that France is not at his first experience in this kind of business. Past experience and history speaks volumes about the aims of the Zionist Roman coalition. regarding Kabyle bluff which speculates on the percentage of Berbers compared to Arab, i think I think it would be fair to wake the Romans of their graves in Volubilis and Kartage in order to request the records of their marine workers and masons originating in Turkey and Kurdistan to validate these absurd ramblings. We learned a lot through a sacred report the past 14 centuries about the real perpetrators of this coalition that has always loved not only misrepresent the history of mankind but also the Holy Scriptures, if our Berber friends prefer to eat in Roman Zionist plates and sleep in their beds, it is their right, but not on the roofs of the Arabs. |
omar
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... Les Néerlandais marocains ne peuvent plus donner de nom berbère à leurs enfants selon les autorités marocaines. Ainsi l'identité islamique sera mise en avant. Cette semaine, le gouvernement marocain a envoyé à tous les ambassades et consulats une liste avec les noms interdits. On remarquera que, cette fois-ci, il s'agit de noms berbères. La majeure partie des Marocains aux Pays-Bas est berbère. Ils sont maintenant forcés de donner un nom marocain musulman à leurs nouveau-nés. Le Maroc veut, de cette manière, préserver l'identité marocaine de ses sujets, ainsi que celle des Néerlandais marocain. “Nous interdisons les noms berbères parce qu'ils sont contraire à notre identité et parce qu'ils ouvrent la porte à la diffusion de noms sans signification” déclare Idris Bajdi, haut fonctionnaire des Affaires Intérieures du Maroc. Actuellement, les communes néerlandaises utilisent aussi une liste de noms “approuvés”. Les Néerlandais marocains doivent y choisir un nom lorsqu'ils vont déclarer leur enfant. Les Néerlandais marocains ne sont pas contents de cette nouvelle mesure. Moussa Aynan, conseiller communal PvdA de Haarlem, considère la décision de Rabat comme une provocation. “Le Maroc met en oeuvre une islamisation aveugle du pays, de gens qui n'y habitent plus depuis longtemps et des Européens marocains qui n'y sont même pas nés. En interdisant explicitement des noms berbères séculaires, le Maroc montre clairement quelle identité il veut avoir : arabe. Et les Berbères ne sont pas arabes”. Aynan y a lui-même été confronté lorsqu'il a voulu donner un nom non musulman à ses enfants. Pour les Berbères, la décision est une preuve flagrante que la Maroc veut se débarrasser de la langue et de la culture berbère. Une politique qui, selon les critiques, est déjà à l'oeuvre depuis des années pour arabiser complètement le Maroc. Les militants berbères au Maroc y ont réagit vivement. Dans une déclaration au media arabe Al-Arabiya, le militant Ali Khadawi a déclaré que “que c'était une honte pour le Maroc” et la militante des droits de l'homme Rabeia al Zuheiri parle “d'une large forme de discrimination, de la marginalisation des régions berbères à l'interdiction des noms berbères”. La membre PvdA de la Chambre, Samira Bouchibti, abonde dans ce sens “Nous devons nous débarrasser de cette liste de noms et de cette ingérence. Je veux moi-même pouvoir déterminer de quelle façon je veux appeler mon enfant. C'est de la discrimination”. Pendant une rencontre du PvdA, le dirigeant du parti Wouters Bos a dit que les doubles passeports appartiennent aux Pays-Bas. Bouchibti “Quoique que Wouter Bos dise, il n'a pas de double nationalité obligée et ne sait donc pas ce que cela signifie dans la pratique”. |
Abderrahmane Sakkaki
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... For Titi And Moha: History speaks for itself..People in power set convenient rules to preserve their dominance..On the contrary, when Romans came to Morocco, they found Berbers already organized as a community; war was not necessary..They work together and appointed Juba II to govern Morocco and Algeria (both used to have different names)..Likewise, the Arabs came, and they were treated with respect..Today, we should give the same respect back to Berbers..I think it's fair and legitimate..Amazigh history is rich and peaceful.. Peace Abdel |
Abderrahmane Sakkaki
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... Hi again: I am a linguist and I see beauty in every language..here attached, wou will find how precious the Amazigh language is..And this language is spoken in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libia, Egypt,Maly, Niger and Faso.. http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tifinagh.htm enjoy Abdel |
Abderrahmane Sakkaki
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President like all comments of this article because you see different views, not necessarily accurate but very telling..The Arabs came as merchants then stayed for good. Berbers did not reject the Arabic culture; on the contrary, they embraced it..France did the same thing; they came as a "protector" then decided to stay..The author is trying to make a simple point: let's give Berbers their fundamental rights, one of which is to celebrate their identity (at least)..Today, we are one country but we should not forget who opened the door first and welcome the Arabs with open heart and warm hospitality..Why is the government so afraid of these people? after all they are the natives.. not fair at all.. Peace Abdel |
Abderrahmane Sakkaki
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... Dear readers: as you noticed, this simple article has created a controversy among us, suggesting how fragile we can be..If we go back in History, France did the same thing: they instigate violence among tribes and regions (REGIONALISM)..The purpose is simple: divide to conquer..Today, Morocco is so complex as far as sociology goes..if we keep bickering over trivial issues, we remain divided and ultimately our fundamental rights are dismissed..We may be different, which is supposed to be our strength, but we are all Moroccan..The overture to different cultures is a positive step toward embracing your patriots and accepting their identity..We can all get what we want as long as we stay united..this concept is achievable but remains an enormous challenge.. peace Abdel |
Abderrahmane Sakkaki
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president I apologize to the writer of this article because we are free to accept ideas or not..she opted to express her opinions based on some resources we are not familiar with..These resources could be unreliable ..I don't believe that 80% of Moroccan speak Berber ;however, I wish I learned Amazigh language because Amazigh is a rich culture and equally a recognized history..I agree with the writer that we should give our kids the name we want as slong as it is not "tarrou", "9anfoud", "zbil" or some deragotary names..We should give this lady a lot of credit; without her arguments, we would not be here discussing this topic..To explore other dimensions of this subject, each one of you should do some research about the history of Morocco, before l'Adarissa..We need a unified Morocco, based on freedom, equality and peace.. Peace Abdel |
Abderrahmane Sakkaki
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... the writer of this article is an instigator and not someone who is looking for freedom of giving his kids a berber name..I do agree you should give your kids a suitable name as long as these names are not provocative or trying to create a rift between Amazigh and the rest of the country..So my mother is a pure Fassi and my father is originally Rifian..So who am I?? Today, Morocco is a melting pot and I agree with you that people should celebrate their culture and equally give their kids the names associated with it..Amazigh is a rich culture, ultimately peaceful.. peace Abderrahmane |
raho
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azul flawn ...! out of religions , with all respect to religions , but i do not need one ! the bad news is that there is not religions , and the good news we dont need it !im proud to be amazigh free in my country , even if others make a jok of me that im amazigh , but is reality i been amazigh and im now and always will be , my second name , my -kbila name - and my language that i practice since i start to listen and talk , but is truth arabs come from yaman and other county arabs and is true they kill my family just to convert to islam and one of my g-fathers i have prouve sultan kill him and hang his head on the wall of fes to make him example to thers who dos not accept islam ,and they took the best ! ghanaim ! so arabs are murdred my family by islam , now i have right to say that im amazigh and im not muslim or roman chrestian or black alboukhari! i am AMAZIGH |
Tasa
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Mr. My Dear friends, We should not forget our history. When the Arabs Came to Morocco through "alfotouhat" they kicked all the Berbers to the mountains and they took the best land in the country. You can put your head in the sand if you want but this is reality. Berbers have never been treated with respect, I remember when I was a kid being a Berber means you are second class citizen. Arabism does not belong in Morocco, so if you are so proud of being an Arab just take your book and get the hell out. |
reda
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mr york please find yourself another country to divide..this one won t be simply because we are all moroccans,almost entirely moslems and proud decendants of tarik bnou ziyad a berber that led the arab,berber,african armies to spread it s culture and religion in southern europe..the numbers you gave about percentages are simply wrong because for most cases the intermarriage between arabs and berbers leaves no room for divisive statistics..you are starting to sound exactly likme the "analysts " that talk about shia and sunni in iraq... |
reda
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mr york mr york how nice of you to give us your opinion about moroccan internal affairs...(i assume you are an american and i hope i m not wrong looking at your name..otherwise you should let us know if you are moroccan or not)...how about making a comment about the genoicide ofthe people of gaza and iraq...let s not go far..how about the navajos apaches and other native american peoples reduced to living in reservations...?or worse being on the margin of their country s society..what s left of them anyway... |
Najib
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... Oh great !! What am I going to tell my son who I gave an Amazigh name...? Sorry son, your name is not recognized in Morocco. Thank God he is an American Citizen. |
Agwilal
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Glad that i live in a free Country as Amazigh Azul, (Salam), I have a 4 and a half years old son named "ITRI" which means Star in Tamazight. Glad that I happened to be here otherwise i would have been in trouble in my Own country...! Glad that I live in a free Country as Amazigh. Tanemmirt (Merci) |
kalid moussaoui
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Non-issue The law that states that we have to choose a name from an approved official list is an inheritance or a relic from the Napoleon code. Along with Morocco, all European countries have such laws justified by religion or nationalism. In practicality, everybody knows somebody with non approved Arab name (Bouchta,Aiada)Berber name(Hada,Yto).I don't understand why an idiotic bureaucrat would choose to deny an official extension of that list. In the daily life, when you go to the Daaira to declare your new born, they just register whatever name you submit without any question asked.We're all plain Moroccans. |
FDB
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Fill me in It has always been puzzling to me why certain names would be restricted in any country. If someone is aware of the arguments made for the case, please share. I am very curious to find out. |
JayJay
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... Could you please let us know where you got your stats from. The issue that the article discusses is not the real issue here. The real issue is the fact that Moroccans have to choose from a pre-approved list of names...But I guess we would not be reading about that here, would we |
Titi
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... Did you really read what I wrote? I don't know what you meant by it but the "Someone like me" has no problem with you calling you kids whatever you want, they're your kids. |
henri le fonda
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Not please Frist: the principale of Minorities do not exist in Morocco my friend, this message is for you and for all that think this way. morocco is a mix of coltures, and amazigh shluh of swasa or arabs are Moroccan first that set. and Berber are not a minority berber people are more that 15 millions and the rest is a mix between arabs and berber , so you can't really find who is who, without forgetting the mix with balck africans |
Moha
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... Titi Why does this article bothers you so much? Your points are very callous, The names of all my grand parents are no longer in use and they were not particularly Amazigh (some of them were), so yes they disappeared because there was and there is a trend to make Morocco more middle eastern than it actually is. If i choose to name my children as my great grand father i think i should have the right not to be told by someone like you that i'm choosing the name just because i want to revive the Amazigh cultural movement. As for the banning of parties based on ethnicity and religion. Well that's not really the case in Morocco Since the PJD is a party based on religion and there are 3 other more Islamic. Plus i don't think that a party named "the Arab democratic movement" would bother as much as a party that has Amazigh on its name, and you should be able to recognize this at least if you lived in Worocco. Why is it that way you ask? Simply, because, yes there are a lot of Moroccans who are ashamed of who they are and their origins and try as hard as they can to be Arab-Muslim and no other way. They need to understand that we're simply Moroccan with all the ethnic mixture that this implies and we don't need to try to be more middle eastern or use this official Arabic language just to please some dead Nasserist ideology. Enough hypocrisy enough B.S from official authorities |
Titi
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... My comments are as follows: 1- let's start from the end... "Once there are no more Tanasts, Shadens, or Numidias" !!! there wasn't to start with... those names did disappear for a while, a long while, then they reappeared, following the appearance of the Amazigh Cultural Mouvement, which seems to contradict the very last words of your article: "Or will the history of the Amazigh simply be erased?" (Drama, Drama, Drama).. 2- "Once all Amazigh political parties have been banned for good"!!! They are banned in Morocco!!! and so are all parties based on race, ethnicity or religion, and you know what? I couldn't agree more, political parties should be based on ideas and principles that sum up to a vision and a project for the whole society, not based on whether you call water "alma" or "aymanou" 3- I think that it is very unfortunate (if unintentional) that the article mentions Algeria without emphasizing that the Moroccan Amazigh have far more rights in Morocco than in any other country in the region, they enjoy more presence in the media, in schools, and in the academic and cultural arenas. I assume such words couldn’t fit in an article that starts with "So it looks like the Moroccan are at it again" 4- The Amazigh, like any other minority in Morocco, should be able to name their as they chose to, because this is their god given right, not because” Amazigh people are the true Moroccan natives”, you know, this line of reasoning that spans centuries and millennia is exactely what got the middle east where it is? 5- By the way, since you seem to be so good with the numbers and the facts, If 80% of Moroccans are originally Amazigh, aren’t they, by the same token, also true? Would they have then, given their truthiness, the right to oppress the other amazigh? Now I am not going to tell that I have “Amazigh friends” because I don’t check or care. I know I have some in my family and that my sons will be half amazigh. I know also that the bigger problem is not what is on the list but rather why is there a list to start with. The fact of the matter is that the list was meant to avoid some politically charged names, like... saddam in the early nineties.. and the amazigh names were just “collateral damage”, and believe me, I’ve seen worse. |
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