Rallies In Tizi Ouzou And Aokas

Rallies In Tizi Ouzou And Aokas

The Tizi Ouzou rally, which took place August 3 at the symbolic Matoub Lounes traffic circle[4] at on the western outskirts of the city, was peaceful and nonviolent. Some of the participants held sandwiches, and others held bottles of water, and everybody aimed to emphasize their right to not fast and also to denounce the security services' harassment of non-fasters. While the rally took place in full view of several plainclothes policemen, there was no police intervention.

The Tizi Ouzou rally included speeches by several political militants, among them Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylia (MAK) president Bouaziz Ait Chebib, and Hocine Azem, senior official at the World Amazigh Congress (CMA). These two speakers reminded the crowd that "this initiative started with the aim of stopping the disregard of the values of tolerance and of the harmonious coexistence of all the opinions and faiths existing in Kabylia from time immemorial."[5] They also denounced "the persecution of those who do not want to fast, whose crime, according to them, is only failing to comply with the precepts of a religion which is increasingly falling under the control of the followers of radical obscurantism, who despise the kind of tolerant Islam which is practiced by the citizens of Kabylia."[6]

The Aokas rally, held the same day, aimed to denounce "the inquisition" and "Salafism." The protesters, some of whom were Christians from Kabylia and others who were MAK militants, held banners stating "No to Islamism, no to Salafism, no to the Inquisition" and "Punish those who stole billions, not those who do not fast."[7]