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Algerian Activists Struggle Amid Confusion on Social Networks
By J. DAVID GOODMAN
So far, the popular uprisings that ousted authoritarian leaders in Tunisia and Libya have not spread to Algeria, which lies just to the west of both countries but has so far remained a large area of relative calm for most of the revolutionary Arab spring, summer and fall.
The latest call on social media — for a wave of protests on Sept. 17 — went largely unheeded, The Associated Press reported over the weekend, prompting some in the country to new rounds of speculation about why economic and political grievances have not coalesced around a larger movement.
“The political changes in the world have not brought the expected results, notably democracy,” Mohand Berkouk, the director of the Center for Strategic and Scientific Research in Algiers, told The A.P., highlighting the violence in Yemen and Syria and the continuing political uncertainty in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya.
“These examples of instability do not motivate the Algerians, who, it must be strongly emphasized, have already suffered two decades of violence and terrorist atrocities,” Mr. Berkouk said. More than 100,000 people died in fighting between Islamists and the government in the 1990s.
Some activists described the lack of turnout last week as merely a delay, while others pointed to what they described as a campaign of confusion online before the planned day of demonstrations.
An article for the French- and Arabic-language news site the Nation dissected some of the back-and-forth on revolutionary and counterrevolutionary Facebook pages. At least one Facebook page calling for protest became the site of heated debate over the protest.
The article quotes one Algerian journalist who posted his doubts about the origins of the protest call on the social network:
Who sent out this call for the pseudo “17 of September March”? A mystery. Those in power have been denouncing something that hasn’t even been identified…mmmmm, smells like manipulation.
Some criticized the Monday report by The A.P. for not acknowledging the climate of suspicion that surrounded the call to protest as a possible reason for its lack of success.
How can you write this story about Sept. 17 in Algeria w/o mentioning that most ppl thought it was a set-up?
While sustained, large-scale street protests calling for political change have not materialized, Amira Al Hussaini for Global Voices, writes that some Algerian soccer fans are incorporating rhythmic protest chants at local matches.
The above chant, according to a translation by Ms. Hussaini, accuses President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his interior minister of inflating terrorist threats in the country in order to secure re-election: “Bouteflika wants another term, and Zerhouni is doing everything to make that happen, including staging bomb attacks and blaming Al Qaeda for them.”
Algeria, along with its neighbors in North Africa, is seeking to contain Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the regional arm of the terror network, which has been blamed for attacks. Reuters reported Monday that the military chiefs from Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger were meeting to coordinate their fight against the group.
Another video, also posted by an Algerian Twitter user, Baki 7our, captures fans chanting about economic hardship and class struggle, Ms. Hussaini writes.
By J. DAVID GOODMAN
So far, the popular uprisings that ousted authoritarian leaders in Tunisia and Libya have not spread to Algeria, which lies just to the west of both countries but has so far remained a large area of relative calm for most of the revolutionary Arab spring, summer and fall.
The latest call on social media — for a wave of protests on Sept. 17 — went largely unheeded, The Associated Press reported over the weekend, prompting some in the country to new rounds of speculation about why economic and political grievances have not coalesced around a larger movement.
“The political changes in the world have not brought the expected results, notably democracy,” Mohand Berkouk, the director of the Center for Strategic and Scientific Research in Algiers, told The A.P., highlighting the violence in Yemen and Syria and the continuing political uncertainty in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya.
“These examples of instability do not motivate the Algerians, who, it must be strongly emphasized, have already suffered two decades of violence and terrorist atrocities,” Mr. Berkouk said. More than 100,000 people died in fighting between Islamists and the government in the 1990s.
Some activists described the lack of turnout last week as merely a delay, while others pointed to what they described as a campaign of confusion online before the planned day of demonstrations.
An article for the French- and Arabic-language news site the Nation dissected some of the back-and-forth on revolutionary and counterrevolutionary Facebook pages. At least one Facebook page calling for protest became the site of heated debate over the protest.
The article quotes one Algerian journalist who posted his doubts about the origins of the protest call on the social network:
Who sent out this call for the pseudo “17 of September March”? A mystery. Those in power have been denouncing something that hasn’t even been identified…mmmmm, smells like manipulation.
Some criticized the Monday report by The A.P. for not acknowledging the climate of suspicion that surrounded the call to protest as a possible reason for its lack of success.
How can you write this story about Sept. 17 in Algeria w/o mentioning that most ppl thought it was a set-up?
While sustained, large-scale street protests calling for political change have not materialized, Amira Al Hussaini for Global Voices, writes that some Algerian soccer fans are incorporating rhythmic protest chants at local matches.
The above chant, according to a translation by Ms. Hussaini, accuses President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his interior minister of inflating terrorist threats in the country in order to secure re-election: “Bouteflika wants another term, and Zerhouni is doing everything to make that happen, including staging bomb attacks and blaming Al Qaeda for them.”
Algeria, along with its neighbors in North Africa, is seeking to contain Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the regional arm of the terror network, which has been blamed for attacks. Reuters reported Monday that the military chiefs from Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger were meeting to coordinate their fight against the group.
Another video, also posted by an Algerian Twitter user, Baki 7our, captures fans chanting about economic hardship and class struggle, Ms. Hussaini writes.
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