Open Letter to France Télévisions: The Second Most Spoken Language in France is Not Arabic but Tamazight
To the General Director of France Télévisions,
Azul (Hello),
The documentary entitled “Infrarouge: Mauvaise langue”, broadcast on September 11 on your channel France 2 [1], and directed by Nabil Wakim regarding the transmission of the Arabic language, contains serious errors and unacceptable inaccuracies regarding the community erroneously labeled “Arab” ethnically or “Muslim” religiously in France.
Although the “Muslim” community in France includes about 5.5 million people, making Islam the second religion after Christianity, the majority language of this population is not Arabic, as claimed by this Lebanese journalist from Le Monde, but Tamazight, i.e., the dialects derived from the Amazigh (Berber) language. Darija is part of it due to its syntactical kinship, even though it contains more terms of Arabic or Quranic origin lexically.
It is important to note that the majority of this population, whether of French nationality or immigrants, is of Maghrebi origin and speaks Amazigh dialects. These populations come from Amazigh-speaking regions, particularly from the villages of the Kabyle mountains, the plains of the Souss, the three mountain ranges of the Atlas, and the tribes of the Moroccan Rif.
If Mr. Wakim confesses that after the November 13, 2015 terrorist attacks in France, he self-censored and stopped speaking Arabic to his daughter out of shame or an “inferiority complex,” this is not at all the case for the majority of Amazigh in France (and Europe), who strive to preserve and transmit their human values, cultural identity, and original language, too often ignored by the Ministry of National Education. Even former minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, whose mother tongue is Tamazight from my native Rif region, surprised many in this documentary by stating: “This language (Arabic) continues to be perceived as the Trojan horse of this great replacement, of this fantasized invasion, of this Islamism that scares people… It’s an incredible misunderstanding of the reality of Arabic speakers.” However, she continues to ignore the real identity of the majority of the “Muslim community” and the North African diaspora, of which she herself is part.
In 2016, when she was Minister of National Education, she proposed teaching the Arabic language in public schools. At that time, I sent her a critical letter, asserting that rather than promoting this initiative, it would have been more appropriate to prioritize integrating the Amazigh language to help children of North African origin reconnect with the original values of their millennial identity, founded on tolerance, freedom, and equality, in line with the values of the French Republic. Unfortunately, by imposing Classical Arabic, she was contributing to the alienation of Amazigh citizens of Europe, from the Kabyle mountains, the Souss valley, the Rif mountains, and the Atlas ranges, by continuing a policy of “ideological Arabization,” which has already wreaked havoc in the education system of Morocco and other countries of Tamazgha. This cultural uprooting phenomenon, which began in the countries of origin, continues in the host countries, and, according to a relevant study by Manuel Llamas conducted in the city of Melilla, inevitably leads to the radicalization of some young Muslims [2].
In conclusion, as long as the educational authorities of France (and Europe) do not take seriously the need to integrate the authentic mother tongue of immigrants and citizens of North African origin into schools, namely the Amazigh language, they will continue to exacerbate identity crises and cultural uprooting, as I explained to Spanish deputies on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the tragic and bloody Madrid bombings of March 11, 2004 [3].
Furthermore, as I recently pointed out to Mr. Christophe Lecourtier, the French ambassador to Morocco [4], the “Education 2026” program launched by the French Development Agency (AFD), instead of improving the quality of education and reducing school dropout rates, is likely to reinforce the ideological Arabization policy of early childhood, aggravating identity crises and school failures, and encouraging clandestine migration to Europe, as we have recently seen with these tragic and heartbreaking images of young minors trying to cross the borders of Ceuta and Melilla en masse this Sunday, September 15!
Finally, I feel that the French state, including President Emmanuel Macron [5], persists in “Arabizing” the Amazigh of France and Tamazgha, under the influence of a very small but influential elite, often of Lebanese origin, which continues to view North Africa not as an African region but as an Arab region, as some journalists on France24 do [6]. Historically, the “Christian Arabs of Lebanon” were the originators of “Arab nationalism” as a liberation ideology against Ottoman colonization. Unfortunately, in North Africa, this ideology, defended by the late Gamal Abdel Nasser, turned into a repressive ideology, leading to authoritarian and dictatorial regimes that continue to oppress indigenous peoples, including the Amazigh.
By Rachid Raha, President of the World Amazigh Assembly (www.amamazigh.org)
Notes :
[1]- https://www.france.tv/france-2/infrarouge/6436556-mauvaise-langue.html
[2]- https://amadalamazigh.press.ma/fr/lama-interpelle-lunesco-sur-limportance-de-la-langue-maternelle-dans-la-resolution-de-la-problematique-de-leducation-au-maroc-et-dans-les-pays-de-tamazgha/
[3]- https://amadalamazigh.press.ma/fr/il-y-a-des-maures-sur-la-cote/
[4]- https://amamazigh.org/2024/03/lettres-des-amazighs-a-lambassadeur-de-france-a-propos-de-lecole-marocaine/
[5]- https://amadalamazigh.press.ma/fr/monsieur-emmanuel-macron-president-de-la-republique-francaise-pourquoi-vous-acharnez-a-arabiser-et-a-deraciner-les-amazighs-de-france/
[6]- https://amamazigh.org/2018/06/lama-demande-a-france24-com-de-rectifier-lappellation-du-maghreb-arabe-car-lafrique-du-nord-nest-pas-de-tout-arabe/
