User:SADECK

UNIVERSAL ETHICS

We may ask what is behind the spelling of a name? The answer is similar to the frequent frictions between the Persians(Iranians) and the Arabs about the naming of the Gulf (Persian Gulf ,known as such for centuries). All Arab states refer to it as the Arab Gulf (Al-Kaleej al-earabee). Saddam Hussein arabized the toponyms of Iraki Kurdistan. Morroco arabized the patronyms of its citizens(Hichem El-Guerroudj was arabized from Aggerouj meaning treasure in Berber). Algeria did the same with both.

In undemocratic police states citizens have no right of redress. The justice system is under the whims and control of the rulers. It is abundantly clear the rule of law and freedom of expression are illusory. State violence is implemented at levels as soon as there any form of critic or contradiction/opposition to the proclamations of the established dogma and governance.

Schools and all establishments of education including the media are apparatuses of conditioning and brain-washing of the young minds and the population at large.

The result of such prolonged actions by the powerful means states have at their disposal is the creation or social-engineering of individual who conform and act according to the prescriptions and disinformation drip-fed to them. Bigotism, obsurantism and fanaticism are norms. As a result objectivity and rationality have been barred. The consequences led to a horrific eruption of feverish and violent expressions of hatred against anything that contrary to arabo-islamism. ALgeria went through a civil war. And it is yet to recover. The causes are still there. Morroco is sliding towards the same condition albeit in a less explosive way.

What stands in the way of the arabo-islamic bulldozer? The small sections of the population that are modern,universal in outlook and hopeful of democracy taking root within their society and the indigenous communities who never lost their values and characteristics despite being muslim. Islam has been adapted and moulded to the social and cultural conditions of these non arab speaking populations. Hence, they resent the sudden intrusion of a new ideology born out of the frustration of tin-pot dictators of the middle-east rotten to the core. Over 30 million people in North Africa speak Berber(Tamazight) and yet they are denied their basic human rights to live with dignity. They are oppressed and repressed the moment they raise the issue of their language and culture. What do you want with your antiquated dialects when you have the privilege of learning the language of the Prophet Muhamed, of the Holy Koran and God who spoke through the archangel Gabriel to transmit the verses of the Koran? In the countries called of islam, even agnostics,atheists and non-believers in islam are like the rest of the population muslim by default. For fear for their lives those who object adopt a low profile. Some, a minority though, rebel. Kabyles in Algeria for historical reasons express their dissent. They were at the forefront of the struggle for independence to which they paid a heavy tribute. Nationalist movements were born in France within migrant kabyle workers in close proximity to trade union circles and left leaning organisations.

At independence, Kabylia was in tatters. Its population depleted by the war, it is no secret but it is never spoken of: Kabyles made up the majority of the victims and combattants for Algeria's independence. The financial burden was supported by contributions/taxes by the kabylian migrant workers( Ali Haroun, lawyer and former treasurer and of the Federation of France of the NLF(FLN) testified to that). The algerian troops based along inside the frontiers of Tunisia and Morroco, fresh and never taking part in the war for the liberation of Algeria armed by Arab nationalist Nasser and aided by Tunisia, Morroco and paradoxically France(the ousted power) forced their way with heavy armaments to take power in a putsch on ALgeria's accession to independence. Since then the same ruling oligarchy is at the helm in return for the support of Egypt and the Arab League, Algeria's ruling puppets kow-tow to pan-arabo-islamism.

I refer you to links dealing with Kabyles and Kabylia to understand the importance of historic factors in the comprehension of cultural and identity issues problematic due to the absence of democracy and the rule of law.

Furthermore, let me remind you without delving in the post-independence democratic struggle for a democratic civil society and a representatice and accountable system of governance, Kabyles loom large.

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Again, I skip more recent and continued struggle for a progressive, secular and democratic society...I reiterate the impaortance of perception.

John, Stephen,Paul, Mark, Michael, Joseph, David...are semitic/hebraic names; are you going to trancribe in Hebrew? Their corresponding prononciations: Jean, Gianni, Gionno, Sean, Shaun....are you going to display them too?

Let's be reasonable...

Zidane is French ! He plays for France. His family is of Algerian origin.

I suspect, that in view of the fact that Zidane's family and himself putting proudly forward their Kabyle identity which the media often reports( read Andrew Hussey's article in the Sunday Observer 04 April2004) must have disturbed the Arab nationalists who try to put in straight-jackets all that does chime with their discourse. Hence, this ridiculous insidious attempts at affiliating by name connotations Zidane to the Arab nationalists 'phagocytes' of identities.

Please do us a favour, if you are in search of authorities in the field of ethnicity, history, berber linguistics and afro-asiatic languages, I can be of assistance.

NB:. It's a moot point: Berber chronologically precedes arabic( a sub-set of semitic languages) within the afro-asiatic family of languages, ie.: the root commonality of words(archaic etymology) found expression and usage in Berber before it branched out to arabic(a younger ramification) by a few thousand years. This is another topic, the same goes for the old Berber(amazigh) TIFINAGH script recently adopted by Morroco.

Some decency ,please...

.Sadeck or shall I spell my name Sadeq. Sadiq, SAddek,Siddiq ,Saddiq, Sediq...and which pronounciations? There are dozens of them. I noticed other semitic/arab sounding names have not been transliterated into arabic or hebraic scripts. Unless, the assumption is anyone from North Africa is automatically an Arab and his name has to conform to the normative canons of arabic spelling and pronoucing. No allowances for the realities of divergences and idiosyncracies and adaptation/evolution according to time, culture, distance, geographic linguistic peculiarities etc... Let's not despair!