MOROCCO BERBERS: A PLEA FOR INTERNATIONAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RABAT 001857

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2018
TAGS: PHUM MO PREL
SUBJECT: MOROCCO BERBERS: A PLEA FOR INTERNATIONAL
ENGAGEMENT

REF: RABAT 1394

Classified By: Classified by Political Counselor Craig Karp for reasons
1.4 (b) and (d)

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Summary
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1. (C) Berber (Amazight) activists want greater recognition
and clout, a majority of Morocco's population Berbers are
among its poorest citizens although there has been an
expansion of Berber cultural rights, including in schools and
media. Growing frustration among Berber youth may lead to
violence. Activists seek "Berberization" of the system to
reverse centuries of Arab "cultural genocide. More radical
elements, however, call for a Pan-North African Berber
Republic. The Government of Morocco (GOM) recently outlawed
the only registered Amazight party on constitutional grounds
two and a half years after it was formed. Activists pleaded
for USG support for their movement, arguing that it would
counter-balance, violent "Arab" Salafism. End summary.

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Pan Berberism or Anti-Arabism?
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2. (C) Lahcen Oulhaj Dean of the School of Law, Economics,
and Social Sciences at Mohammed V University, is a close
friend and former college classmate of the king. Despite his
impeccable establishment credentials, Oulhaj is a rabid
Berber nationalist. He, and several other Berber
interlocutors, envision a Berber republic, freed from "Arabic
influence," stretching across North Africa from Egypt's
western borders to the Canary Islands. Kamel Said, a leader
in the International Amazight Congress (IAC),and
international Berber umbrella group, said that the IAC is
working to improve links and create a coordinated strategy
for self determination among Berber movements in different
countries.


3. (C) Oulhaj stressed the need to separate North Africa from
Arabs who &oppose civilization.8 He argued that at the
beginning of the twentieth century, in order to counter the
influence of the Ottoman Empire, the British and the French
helped foster Arab nationalism. Oulhaj pleaded for the U.S.
to help develop Berber nationalism in order to counter
"Arab-rooted" extremist threats in the world. He concluded,
&We need to weaken the Arabs. We are not Arabs, but have
been convinced that we are. We need to rediscover our
history.8

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"Closer to Washington than Riyadh"
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4. (C) Several Berber (Amazight) activists separately told us
that they see a firm distinction between Amazight and Arab
culture, saying that they are a potential ally of the USG.
Canadian trained mathematics professor Mohammed Oudadess
concurred, saying that the U.S. should not assume that the
Amazight movement is guided by the same anti-Western
philosophy as pan-Arabism or political Islam. "We are
closer, philosophically and geographically, to Washington,
than we are to Riyadh and Teheran. We are your natural
allies" he said.

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Peaceful Now, but Extremism a Danger
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5. (C) A variety of interlocutors spoke of their worry over
what they saw as growing anger among Amazight youth.
Although generally and historically a movement of moderation,
they said that frustration and impatience among Berber youth
was growing - and crossing borders. They encouraged the USG
to engage on Amazight issues and with the Amazight community
across North Africa to head off any potential drifts towards
extremism, violence, or a the creation of a "gradual network
of uprising" between countries with large Berber populations.
Kamel Said pointed to clashes in early 2007 between Berber
students and "Arabists" in universities around the country,
saying that unless a political release valve is found,
discontent will spill "out of campuses and onto streets." He
expressed a desire to avoid the type of wide-spread Berber
riots Algeria experienced in 2001 in the Kabiliye region.


RABAT 00001857 002 OF 003


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A Majority Living as a Minority
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6. (U) Berbers account for between 60 and 90 percent of
Morocco's population of 35 million (depending on sources) and
between 35 and 50 percent of Moroccans are believed to speak
some form of Tamazight (Berber) as a mother tongue. Although
they are represented in the upper levels of academic,
financial and political structures (and the King is half
Berber),Berber territory, centered in the central mountain
ranges and desert fringes, is among the poorest and least
developed in Morocco. Rates of illiteracy in Berber
communities sometimes reach as high as 50 percent, and levels
among Berber women top 60 percent in some areas. Many
students who grow up speaking Berber as their native tongue
drop out of school when introduced to Arabic curricula and
Arabic speaking teachers.


7. (C) The activists explained that after independence, the
Moroccan government consolidated power by stressing the unity
of Arabic heritage, while King Hassan II pursued a policy
designed to keep the countryside poor, uneducated and docile.
The mostly rural Berbers found no place in this new order.
This has fueled a consistent theme of disenfranchisement and
dissatisfaction with Arabization and the existing Moroccan
power structure within the Berber movement. Mohammed
Oudadess told of his brother's year-long struggle to get his
daughter's Berber name approved by Moroccan authorities in

2003. "This is a small thing," he said, "but it means we are
not at home in our own country."

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Political Berberism
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8. (C) On November 25, the Ministry of Interior issued a
statement declaring the Amazight Democratic Party (ADP),as
an ethnically based party, constitutionally illegal. The
Ministry of Justice then filed a legal request to void the
ADP's registration. This led to a series of protests outside
of Parliament. The ADP appealed and the case, originally
slated for December 13, was delayed until January 17.
During a late night meeting on December 9 with ADP President
Ahmed Adghirni and activist Said Bajji, they told poloff that
said that the movement is all inclusive and does not restrict
membership to Berbers. Adghirni said that he hoped to
improve ties with the diplomatic community and warned poloff
against believing "propaganda" which paints Berbers as
separatists. He said that Berbers form the majority of the
population in Morocco, "so what would we separate from?"


9. (C) During an earlier October 20 conference in Meknes
activists told emboffs they are trying to build an
alternative Amazight political party in the next two years.
They produced two programmatic documents (which they gave to
poloff) over an 18 month consultation process that will form
their party's platform. Fundamental tenets include regional
economic autonomy and a constitutional amendment making
Berber an official language on par with Arabic and French.
They admitted, however, to a disconnection between the Berber
political intelligentsia and the vast majority of Amazight
living in poverty in the mountain regions.


10. (SBU) Mohammed Oudadess felt that the Mouvement Populaire
(MP),was as corrupt and ineffective as the other parties.
The MP, which targeted Berber voters in main stream
Berber-associated elections did not do as well as expected,
although it is the third largest party and ended up in the
opposition. He complained that it would only serve to siphon
votes from true Amazight candidates in future elections.
Kamel Said added that the MP was a palace creature. Mohammed
Ajaaja said that low Amazight turnout in the September
elections was due to a deliberate boycott, not simple
disenchantment. &If we had participated we would have
validated a broken system,8 he scoffed. The ADP chose not
to campaign and publicly called for an Amazight boycott.
(Note: Despite such calls, participation rates in some Berber
areas were higher than elsewhere. End note.)

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Religion, Culture, and Education
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11. (C) On the subject of religion, Oudadess noted that,
although most Amazight in Morocco are Muslim, it is not out

RABAT 00001857 003 OF 003


of deep belief. Dr. Yousef Agouri, an Amazight activist and
neurosurgeon from Meknes, told poloff that Moroccans are
Muslim by law, not choice, and that if Berbers had the
liberty to decide, they might not choose to remain so. He
said that originally, the Amazight were spiritualists and
animists who counted significant numbers of Jews and
Christians among their population before the Arabization of
Morocco. Former USFP politician and editor of the now
defunct Berber language review "Tifawit" Mohammed Ajaaja said
that he is Amazight first, and that religion is secondary.


12. (C) All Berber interlocutors emphasized their belief that
the "Arabization" of Morocco amounted to a continuing
cultural genocide. Agouri, complained that despite the
government's expanding program to teach Tamazight in primary
schools, there was no formal mechanism for mainstreaming
native Tamazight speakers into the broader school system.

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A Desire for Media Access
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13. (SBU) There are three Amazight newspapers but, Mohammed
Oudadess said, as a result of their refusal to accept
government financial support (and because a large portion of
the Amazight population is illiterate),they have not been
able to flourish. Irhaz Mimoun, an engineer, former USFP
politician and Berber activist, griped about a lack of access
to media. He pointed out that despite widely publicizing the
October 20 conference through press releases and phone calls,
not a single representative of the non-Amazight media
attended. Oudadess encouraged the Voice of America and the
USG to produce programs and public affairs materials in
Tamazight.

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Next Steps
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14. (SBU) Activists requested USG assistance in creating a
literacy program focused on Berber areas. The IAC would like
to organize an informational meeting on Amazight issues in
New York or Washington for U.S. legislators and other
policy-makers. They are in touch with Amazight leaders in
Algeria, Libya, Tunis, and Mauritania.

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Comment
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15. (C) While "political Berberism" is not yet an influential
force, its intellectual leaders are savvy and appear to
coordinate their message. Our interlocutors were from the
upper levels of Moroccan economic and political society, and
thus were not representative of the vast majority of the
Berber populace. They were remarkable, however, for their
blunt, even radical, rejection of the existing order in favor
of a "Berberized" Morocco. It is not clear, however, whether
their pointed comments over growing anger among Berber youth
was designed to appeal to USG concerns over instability or
reflected actual ground truth. We do believe, that Berber
issues will become increasingly visible despite GOM
concessions on education and media. End comment.


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Jackson