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Algeria

FOCUS: Israel-Palestine War

Freedom Fighters? A Ukrainian Lesson For Israel From The Algerian Revolution

Public sympathy for Hamas terrorists has precedents. Algeria's liberation in the 1960s from French colonial rule is viewed by history as a wholly just cause, despite horrific attacks against civilians. What does the analogy tell us about Israel's current situation?

-Analysis-

KYIV — As of one month ago, Ukraine is no longer the only major conflict on the global stage. The world found itself divided between those who sympathize with and those who criticize the actions of the state of Israel.

In Ukraine, there is substantial support for Israel, with many viewing the conflict between Israel and Hamas as a struggle between civilization and barbarism. The horrific killings of Israeli men, women, children and the elderly on October 7 are considered an unforgivable crime, like so many suffered recently by Ukrainians .

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The rest of the world, instead, has a myriad of differing perspectives. From certain left-wing activists in the West to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan , we hear references to Hamas as a "liberation organization."

Yes, this is public sympathy for terrorists, but it has historical precedents.

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A Future For Timbuktu's Ancient Books? Conservation And Digitalization

Mali's "mysterious city" welcomes a new class of students trained in looking after ancient books. From conservation to digitization of these works, a colossal task awaits them to preserve this endangered heritage and the secrets they contain.

Updated Nov. 13, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.

TIMBUKTU — In the workroom of the Ahmed-Baba Institute of Higher Studies and Islamic Research, time seems to have slowed down. As the dust and the sound of brushes on paper float by, six students hold in their hands one of the most precious heritages of the region.

Ceremoniously, they repeat the same gestures: lifting the pages, one by one, with the tip of a thin wooden spatula, then, with the flat of the brush, ridding the inks and the centuries-old papers of dust.

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This Happened — November 1: A War Begins That Would Change Two Nations

Updated Nov. 1, 2023 at 12:50 p.m.

Starting in 1954, the Algerian War was fought between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front, and ultimately led to Algeria winning its independence in 1962, ending more than a century of French colonial rule.

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This Happened — July 5: Independence Of Algeria

Algeria gained independence from France on this day in 1962.

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food / travel
Marine Béguin

Austrian Croissant? Danish Feta? CouscousGate? Gastronationalism Is Flaring Everywhere

When its comes to food and national pride, there are few things that get people more riled up than debating the rightful origins of a dish or a delicacy. From hummus (for starters) to couscous (main dish) and the pavlova for desserts, we look at gastronomic feuds around the world.

PARIS — Have you ever enjoyed a croissant with coffee on a Paris sidewalk cafe? That's usually the image the French pastry evokes. But while many people think the croissant comes from France , it was actually created in Austria .

The croissant is one of many hotly contested foods claimed by more than one nation. These disputes can sometimes even lead to geopolitical tensions — the world of gastrodiplomacy .

Gastrodiplomacy, writes French daily Libération , often aims to use food to establish a country’s brand identity abroad. From the croissant to couscous, here's an international look at some of the most disputed dishes around the world.

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Economy
Ilyes Zouari*

Why Oil-Rich Algeria Can't Extract Itself From Dire Poverty

Algeria faces a real risk or going bankrupt by 2029. How did it come to this, in one of the world's leading hydrocarbon producers?

-Analysis-

ALGIERS — Algeria's enormous natural-resource wealth is no longer enough to mask the economic reality of the country, which lags far behind its French-speaking Maghreb neighbors, and is likely to experience serious difficulties around 2028.

For the first time since its independence in 1962, Algeria posted the lowest GDP per capita of the three Maghreb countries in 2021, before it was inflated by an exceptional — and brief — rise in hydrocarbon prices the following year.

According to World Bank data, Algeria's GDP per capita stood at $3,691 in 2021, the latest year for which statistics are available, compared with $3,807 for Tunisia and $3,795 for Morocco, which had always occupied last place among the three Maghreb countries since their independence.

By overtaking Algeria, neighboring countries Morocco and Tunisia have achieved a remarkable feat, given their limited natural resources compared with Algeria — one of the world's leading hydrocarbon producers.

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Geopolitics
Ryad Hamadi

The Syrian Rapprochement With The Arab World Is Far From Complete

Despite the official "consensus" by Arab League nations to welcome Syria back to the organization after 12 years of suspension, several key countries were opposed on principal — including key questions still open in North Africa.

ALGIERS — Algerian diplomacy may appear strengthened by the Arab League's recent decision to reintegrate Syria. Yet neighboring Morocco conversely finds itself in an uncomfortable position.

After mirroring Saudi Arabia's position on nearly all regional issues, Morocco was caught off guard when the country decided to support Syria's reintegration.

On May 7 in Cairo, foreign ministers of Arab League nations agreed to welcome Syria back to the organization after 12 years of suspension.

This reinstatement will be subject to certain conditions imposed on Syria, including the return of refugees, facilitating the passage of international humanitarian aid across borders and working on preparations to hold elections.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is expected to attend the Arab summit scheduled in Saudi Arabia on May 19.

The decision was made by consensus, meaning it was accepted by all member countries, including those, like Morocco, who vehemently opposed this option just a few weeks ago.

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Geopolitics
Pierre Haski

France And North Africa: The Whiff Of Neo-Colonialism Has Returned

Whether it’s in Tunis, Algiers or Rabat, France is faced with the near-impossible task of finding its diplomatic footing in countries that were under its colonial rule last century.

-Analysis-

PARIS — It went relatively unnoticed this week, but Algeria has recalled its ambassador to Paris. It's the language of international diplomacy to express a nation's discontent.

The matter at hand is not necessarily grave, and may be resolved quickly, but it shows just how challenging it has been for Franco-Algerian relations to find any semblance of stability, despite constant efforts from both sides.

And it is a reminder that the same problem is shared by the three main countries in northern Africa, albeit for different reasons.

The spark behind this latest Algerian tension is the fate of a woman, Amira Bouraoui, a figure of the Hirak , the democratic movement in Algeria. This gynecologist and activist fled illegally from Algeria to Tunisia, fearing she would be arrested again.

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This Happened

This Happened—January 11: It's Been 25 Years Since The Sidi-Hamed Massacre

The Sidi-Hamed massacre took place on this day in 1998, one of the bloodiest attacks of the Algerian Civil War.

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Economy
Frida Dahmani, Hossam Rabie, Nina Kozlowski, and Rania Hamdi

Ukraine War, North African Food Shortages And Whiff Of A New Arab Spring

Rising tensions in wheat productions, explosion of oil prices, fear of the unknown, could the Ukraine war lead to a popular Arab uprising similar to the one in 2011?

TUNIS — History tells us that in 2010-2011 the rise in prices for raw materials, especially wheat, was one of the main causes of the uprisings that spread across the Arab world.

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Today, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is putting many of the world's economies dependent on wheat imports to the test, notably in North Africa. This prompts the question: Could there be a second “ Arab Spring ?”

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Economy
Jane Herbelin

The "Potato Crisis" At The Heart Of Algeria's Imploding Economy

Prices have tripled on the staple product, as farmers and the government blame each other while ordinary Algerians struggle to put food on the table. It's yet another crisis between economics and politics in the troubled North African nation.

Algeria is facing a multifaceted crisis, one of the most serious since the North African country gained independence in 1962. Boiling social and economic unrest has combined with continuing political demands that began with the Hirak uprising of 2019 that called for the end to the decades-long rule of Abdelaziz Bouteflika .

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Society
Frédéric Bobin

Finding Freedom In The Pages Of An Algerian Bookstore

The Librairie du Tiers monde, which has functioned as an important intellectual spot in Algeria since its founding in 1964, continues to have an open and critical outlook on the country, even at a time when power represses dissidents.

ALGIERS — There are books prominently piled on the tables: Aux Sources du Hirak; Libertés, Dignité, Algérianité, Avant et Pendant le Hirak, Hirak, Enjeux Politiques et Dynamiques Sociales … The Hirak, an Algerian "anti-system" movement that began in February 2019, may be suppressed on the streets, but it continues to be written and read about, making its way to the bookshop through cracks in the authoritarian regimes.

After Algerian voters massively rejected the June 12 legislative vote — an election that many believe was steered by the government —, the demand for freedom has gone from the voting booths to the bookstores. One of them is always full to the brim: La Librairie du Tiers Monde (The Third World Bookstore), and ranks among the most important places in Algiers's intellectual life.

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