Ferhat Mehenni

Ferhat Mehenni, also known as Ferhat Imazighen Imula, is a Kabyle artist, a political activist and the founder and first President of the Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylia. Since 1 June 2010 he has been the President of the Provisional Government of Kabylia, a government in exile that the movement set up in France.[1] He has been a Laureate of the Gusi Peace Prize since 23 July 2013.

Ferhat Mehenni
Photo taken at the gathering of 4 September 2011 on the Plaza of Human Rights in Paris
President of the Kabyle Provisional Government
Assumed office
June 4, 2010
President of the Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie
In office
August 24, 2001 – December 9, 2011
Succeeded byBouaziz Ait Chebib
Personal details
Born (1951-03-05) March 5, 1951
Illoula Oumalou, Tizi Ouzou Province,
Algeria
CitizenshipAlgerian
NationalityKabyle
Political partyRCD (1989-1997)
MAK (2001-present)
Alma materUniversity of Algiers
ProfessionPolitician

In 2012, Mehenni assumed a controversial position by visiting Israel where he voiced his support for and solidarity with Israel, comparing it to Kabylia: "We are in a hostile environment. Both countries share kind of the same path, but Israel already exists – that’s the only difference."[2]

Activism

Mehenni was born on 5 March 1951 in Illoula Oumalou, Tizi Ouzou Province, Algeria. Having graduated from the University of Algiers with a degree in political science, Mehenni made his first steps into the world of music in 1973[3] by winning the Algiers Modern Music Festival's first prize. It was soon after this success that he began his career as a protest singer and political activist. He was notably hostile towards the Algerian government and extremists; this led to him being arrested 13 times, imprisoned for three years, and tortured by government forces.[4] After the Black Spring massacre in Kabylie triggered by the Algerian army killing of a young Kablye man, Massinissa Guermah in detention, he, first, established the MAK, Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylia, a political movement calling for the political autonomy in Kabylia. In 2015, the MAK movement passed over from the large autonomy claim to Self-determination.[5] The assassination of his eldest son (Améziane Mehenni) in 2004 is regarded by some as a punishment to his fight for autonomy. Though others suspect it was a case of mistaken identity and that Ferhat was the real target.[3]

Music
  • Chants berbères de lutte et d'espoir "Berber songs of struggle and hope" (1983)
  • Tuγac n ddkir "Songs of steel, love and liberty" (1994)
  • Tuγac n tmes d waman "Songs of Fire and Water" (1996 and 2001)
  • I Tmurt n Leqvayel "Hymn to Kabylia" (2002)
  • Adekker d usirem "Requiem and Hope" (2004)

Mehenni comes from an oral tradition where the song acts like the newspaper or political speeches in European societies.

Mehenni is primarily a political activist who, living in a society with strong oral traditions, uses music to convey those ideas. It is quite difficult to separate the politician from the singer.

Bibliography

Mehenni is the author of Algérie : La Question Kabyle, published in 2004, in which he explains his ideas about Kabyle nationalism.

References
  1. https://www.kabylie-gouv.org/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. Sharon Udasin; Jan Koscinski (May 27, 2007). "Algeria's Kabylie craves friendship with Israel". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  3. "Dissident watch: Ferhat Mehenni". Middle East Quarterly. March 22, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  4. "Dissident watch: Ferhat Mehenni". Middle East Quarterly. March 22, 2010. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  5. https://www.makabylie.org/
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