As a young student in the elementary school, I questioned why Kabyle language was not thought in school and I was told to never talk about that subject again. As I was growing up, I saw Kabyle spring 1980, assassination of Kabyle elites, the black spring and many other events in between.

One thing seems to repeat itself cross generations within Kabyle people, is their inability to unite for their common good. This inability dates back at least since the national movement of North African Star (Etoile du Nord Africaine – ENA). The common pattern that has been coming back cross generations is the Kabyles have chosen to side with their enemies instead of settling their differences between them.

The question is why.

I will try to shed some light and explain this Kabyle phenomena.

Kabyle people are hard workers, passionate about freedom and absolute equality. There are still to be found among them the vestiges of arts and sciences, of the spirit of conquest, of the capacity for self-government, which if developed, would make them again a great nation.

The Kabyle population is a very democratic, independent and passionate about liberty. That independence drives jealousy within Kabyles families and groups. In modern nations, these are ingredients to build a great nation, but for the Kabyle people, these qualities represent weaknesses. When disagreement surges between Kabyle groups, the groups side with enemies to defeat each other. In the rest of the world, that strategy was used in medieval era and that mentality has long been gone but is still alive in Kabylie.

To name a few examples,

• The North African Start (ENA) was composed of Kabyle and one arab. They named an arab to lead the organization.
• Berber crisis of 1949 showed a massive fracture between the Kabyles
• During the war against the French, the Kabyle factions of Ramdane Abane and Belkacem Krim sided with the same enemy to defeat each other.
• After the independence, when Algeria attacked Kabylie in 1963, the Moroccan Ben Bella created a distraction is the west of Algeria where Morocco attacked the south west of Tindouf. The Kabyle army went to save Algeria when the Algerian troops were killing the Kabyles.
• In 1980s, the MCB was infiltrated by elements of the Algerian regime to weaken it. Lounaouci, Benyounes, Toumi, El Hadi Ould Ali, Said Sadi and many others. The MCB finished by being dislocated and it is now dead.
• In 1982, Algerian regime sponsored a group of Kabyles to weaken the strongest grace root organization in Kabylie represented by the FFS. That group was lead by Said Sadi, Ould El Hadi, Toumi, Lounaouci, Benyounes and many others.
• In 1990, the RCD of Said Sadi sided with Algerian despot regime when Hocine Ait Ahmed sided with the moderate Islamists.
• Today, the regime and the islamists form an alliance when the Kabyles find themselves on the sideline as the big Losers.

Fast-forward, the Kabyle movement for auto-determination, MAK, was born after the black spring in 2001 and it seems to follow the same pattern of division. The current leaders of MAK are unable to organize themselves to build a real movement that can defend Kabyle’s interests. After 17 years of existence, the MAK has nothing to show for and still functions in arbitrary fashion where talented elements are being drained from the organization.

The idea of the self-determination and independence is well rooted in Kabyle population but the division within the Kabyle leaders and their alliance with the same enemy is repeating the pattern again. The Algerian regime found no resitance on its conquest to destroy Kabylie.

The Kabyle celebrities like Idir care more about money then their ancestral country well being. The regime used Idir to insult the Kabyle and this artist had absolutely no scruples to execute his new pimp orders. Before Idir, it Ait menguelet and the history continues to repeat itself. During a discussion that took place with Said Bouteflika to approve Idir venue to Algeria. The Arab who made the peach referred to Idir as the “useful idiot”.

The question:

The main question we ask is why these Kabyles side with the enemy?

The answer:

In modern terms, this is called espionage and there is absolutely no consequence taken against them. So they fell free to promote their self image, sell their dignity to profit from standing against their family, friends, their country survival.

The main reason is the weakness of the Kabyle organization including MAK-ANAVAD and the new political organizations URK and RPK.

As I travel around the world, I see communities and populations get organized to defend their common interest. You see them protest and raise their voice to talk about their issues and petition, challenge the authorities to protect their communities.

Many Kabyles around the world are part of communities and wanted to help and apply similar strategies they learned in their countries of residence. Some of them tried to do interesting projects and found themselves pushed aside, intimidated and threatened by the same so called “militants” of the Kabyle cause including the singer Idir who who relayed the messages of intimidation to some Kabyle chief executives.

The MAK is now 17 years old and it still does not have a structure. It does not have any legal structure or legal association in any country.

There is not even one legal organization that represent the MAK-ANAVAD. A group of people come together to form an association and they give it some bloated name like “Coordination du MAK d’Amerique du Nord”. This organization is an arbitrary and has no legal existence therefore cannot be held accountable. This will drive any Kabyle who knows how the world works away from this type of organization. It is also not representative. It may represent some people from Montreal but it is not representative of north America. The same applies in France and the rest of world.

Recently, some “ambassadors” were named. Legally this does not hold water in both diplomatically and organizationally. From the point of view of diplomacy, Kabylie has not setup a foreign affairs department or ministry. There is no defined diplomacy, strategy or road map. From point of view of operational and organizational structure, how are the diplomatic representations going to be financed?

Established countries hire experts in diplomacy to lobby for the interest of their respective countries, Kabyle GPK named people with no experience in diplomacy or lobbying powered with no strategy, no funds, no competence and communication skills to represent Kabylie. With this behavior, how can GPK attract a real diplomat?

Never less, the hope is with MAK ANAVAD if the projects focus on the basics. The objectives need strategy and a good discipline which I believe lacks with MAK-ANAVAD, URK and RPK. Of course the ultimate objective is the independence of Kabylie. So, what is the strategy? A strategy is just a plan to achieve the objectives and good strategy attracts allies and deters the opponents. To name very few basic initiatives that must be addressed in the strategy:

The objective can be laid out into stages.

Stage 1:

• Build political and marketing messages and arguments that people can understand
• Enhance the skills and experience of the Kabyle resources

1. • Organize the base militants into efficient groups
   • Organize training of the militants to learn the practice of politics
   • Fit the current resources with their competences
   • Setup a support mechanisms for the militants

• Setup legal and transparent financial network
• Setup a cell to address the barriers and obstacle that militants find in their way and learn how to effectively respond to resistance.

Stage 2:

• Organize the Kabyle population around well formed militants in stage 1.

• • The organization of the population must focus on addressing their problems and how to improve their lives.
  • Elect people representatives in their communities

• Start collecting funds into financial structure that were setup in Stage 1

• • From the populations
  • Seek grants from NGOs and other organizations

• Build Kabyle media

Stage 3:

• With the adherence of the population, a parliament can be elected to better address the population issues.
• Pass laws to address the issue of espionage et treason and consequences.

• • Define what espionage and treason mean in case of kabylie
  • Define legislation to clearly define the laws to handle the treason and espionage

With the adherence of the population and the consequences of treason well known, people will think twice before they side with the enemy.