4 January 2021 by Hamza Hamouchene , Selma Oumari
(CC - Wikimedia)
Covid-19 has been a blessing to the ruling classes in Algeria. However, the popular Hirak movement has not said its last word yet.
In 2020, the Algerian uprising embarked on its second year and despite the immense difficulties and challenges encountered in the first year, the movement has not disappeared. We are in a situation of relative equilibrium in the balance Balance End of year statement of a company’s assets (what the company possesses) and liabilities (what it owes). In other words, the assets provide information about how the funds collected by the company have been used; and the liabilities, about the origins of those funds. of forces on the ground. The Hirak (movement) could not topple the regime, and the latter could not exhaust the movement. Due to the global health crisis caused by Covid-19, the Hirak decided to halt its weekly protests and marches in mid-March.
But the amazing energy and dynamic created by this magnificent revolution has not disappeared. In fact, it metamorphosed into health campaigns and solidarity actions with the needy and most vulnerable in society during these difficult times. We have seen several initiatives of cleaning up and disinfecting public spaces, caravans of solidarity to Blida, which is the epicenter of the pandemic in the country, campaigns to raise awareness about the disease, and other creative actions to keep the Hirak’s flame alive.
Meanwhile, the authoritarian and reactionary regime is doubling down on its actions to suppress and repress journalists and activists. Many activists are being judicially harassed, and several journalists have been jailed since the start of the lockdown. Dozens of protestors, political activists, and journalists are currently in jail, many of whom were arrested for social media posts and charged with “threatening the integrity of national territory.” The regime has also introduced a new penal code in order to further its crackdown on basic freedoms. The amendments stifle dissent further and criminalize certain actions that are deemed to “undermine state security and national unity,” accusations that have been levelled at many activists and journalists of the Hirak for well over a year. According to the new penal code, activists could also spend three years in jail for “propagating false information,” and be punished for “receiving foreign funding.” Moreover, the regime continues tightening restrictions on online media by blocking access to several dissenting sites, such as Radio M, Maghreb Emergent, and Interlignes.
Covid-19 has been a blessing to the ruling classes in Algeria. However, the popular movement has not said its last word yet. These times of confinement and temporary truce must be taken as a moment of collective reflection and learning about the achievements as well as the shortcomings and mistakes of the popular uprising. The system will not yield Yield The income return on an investment. This refers to the interest or dividends received from a security and is usually expressed annually as a percentage based on the investment’s cost, its current market value or its face value. easily. For this reason, the balance of forces must be shifted significantly toward the masses by maintaining the resistance (acts of civil disobedience that don’t endanger people’s health and lives in the exceptional times of Covid-19 or preparations for actions post-pandemic) to force the regime to give way to people’s demands for radical democratic change, and the enshrinement of individual and collective rights and freedoms. There is no doubt that the Hirak will resume after this pandemic subsides, because the same conditions that gave rise to it are still present if not exacerbated by the current health crisis (a crisis that reveals the dire state of the public health sector that has been hollowed by decades of underfunding and mismanagement), as well as the crumbling oil prices (currently fluctuating between $20 and $30 a barrel).
To consolidate itself, the Hirak needs to realize other gains and victories and this can be done through:
In this context, evocative of the calm before the storm, Algerians will not dig their own graves by halting their revolution halfway. If the reactionary Algerian regime thinks that it can bury the Hirak during the pandemic, it knows little of the revolutionary youth, who are like seeds waiting to grow again, hopefully with more vigor and energy. The struggle for democratization will be long and will go on.
This is an edited excerpt from “The Algerian revolution: the struggle for decolonization continues” by Hamza Hamouchene and Selma Oumari, from a new book: A Region in Revolt: Mapping the recent uprisings in North Africa and West Asia, a co-publication between Daraja Press and the Transnational Institute (TNI). The collection consists of five chapters reflecting on and analyzing the five uprisings that took place in North Africa and West Asia during 2018-2020 including Algeria, Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran. The book is available to purchase on Daraja Press’ website at a discounted price and to download on a Pay What You Can (PWYC) basis (An Arabic version of the book will also soon follow). |
Source: Africa is a country
is an Algerian campaigner, writer, researcher and a founding member of Algeria Solidarity Campaign (ASC), and Environmental Justice North Africa (EJNA), London-based organisations campaigning for peaceful democratic change in Algeria and for environmental and climate justice in North Africa respectively.
He also works for Platform where he researches British energy interests in Algeria.
Hamza has authored two publications for platform titled: “Reinforcing dictatorships: British gas grab and human rights abuses in Algeria” and “The coming revolution in North Africa: the struggle for climate justice”.
He previously worked for Global Justice Now on issues of climate, food and trade justice.
His writings appeared in the Guardian, Counterpunch, New Internationalist, Red Pepper, Jadaliyya, openDemocracy, Pambazuka, El Watan, Maghreb Emergent and Huffington Post. He has been interviewed by BBC Arabic, Al Jazeera, France 24, RFI amongst others.
Hamza has a PhD in environmental carcinogenesis at the Institute of Cancer Research, University of London.
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is French-Algerian and is based in Paris. She is a member of the New Anticapitalist Party and involved in anti-racist struggles and international solidarity.