Ahmed Rissouni, former president of what is called “The International Union of Muslim Scholars”, returns once again to his favorite exercise: stoking discord, legitimizing confrontation, and distributing certificates of “national purity” according to the needs of the Moroccan palace.
The man who once called for a “holy war” against Algeria and a “march on Tindouf” now appears under a new guise—but with an even more dangerous discourse, saturated with insinuations and falsehoods designed to inflame an entire region.
In a lengthy article, he proclaims that the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic has been “definitively buried” by a decision of the UN Security Council—as if the United Nations had suddenly renounced the principle of self-determination.
Rissouni forgets—or pretends to forget—that the UN has never recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, and that the conflict remains officially listed as a decolonization issue.
This is not analysis; it is propaganda disguised as religious commentary.
Algeria Is Not the Scapegoat for Morocco’s Underdevelopment
According to Rissouni, the Sahrawi question is an “Algerian creation.”
This ignores the fact that Sahrawi claims predate Algeria’s independence; that the first tensions erupted when Morocco sought to expand at the expense of populations who already saw themselves as a distinct people; and that the international community, for fifty years, has recognized two parties to the conflict: Morocco and the Polisario Front.
The reality is simple: liberation movements are not imported, and a people does not rise for independence because a neighbor wills it.
Rissouni does not read history; he repeats what he is told.
The Moral Double Standard: When Normalization Is “Legitimate” If Moroccan, but “Treason” If It Comes from Elsewhere
Where Rissouni’s discourse becomes utterly indefensible is in its blatant hypocrisy regarding Israel.
He vehemently denounces the alleged proximity between the MAK movement and Tel Aviv, yet remains completely silent on the following realities:
- Morocco has signed a comprehensive military and security agreement with Israel;
- Morocco has opened its airspace to Israeli aircraft;
- Morocco now cooperates with Israel in intelligence;
- Morocco has used Israeli technologies—including Pegasus—to spy in the region, including on Algeria;
- Morocco has made Tel Aviv a strategic partner in its policy against Algeria.
Thus, one question imposes itself:
If dialogue with Israel is treason, how do we qualify a state that has made Israel an official military ally?
The Kabyles: Not a “Threat,” but an Essential Component of Algeria
Rissouni instrumentalizes the Kabyle question as a regional scarecrow, attempting to suggest that Algeria is on the brink of fragmentation.
And before Rissouni lectures Algerians, let him recall that Morocco itself faces multiple regional protest movements—in the Rif, in the Atlas—without Algeria ever exploiting these fractures.
Algeria Does Not Aggress… But Algeria Does Not Allow Aggression
Rissouni’s past diatribes, calling for a “march on Tindouf,” betray a dangerous, almost adolescent contempt for military realities.
Algeria has never attacked a neighboring country, but it has always defended its territory with exceptional constancy.
The National People’s Army does not obey preachers. It obeys sovereignty.
And those who wish to test the solidity of that sovereignty would do well to reread history: Algeria has never bowed—neither to colonial occupiers, nor to terrorism, nor to foreign interference.
Who Truly Threatens Maghreb Unity? Algeria or the State That Opened the Door to Israel?
In truth, the greatest breach in Maghreb unity comes neither from the Sahrawis, nor from the Kabyles, nor from anyone in Algeria: it comes from Moroccan normalization—and from the militarization of that normalization against a neighboring country.
Conclusion: Before Denouncing “Fitna” Elsewhere, Rissouni Should Look to His Own House
He attacks the Kabyles, the Sahrawis, Algeria—but remains silent before the gravest drift: the strategic alliance between Rabat and Tel Aviv, which has turned the Maghreb into a zone of direct Israeli influence.
Algeria does not need lessons in patriotism from a preacher who blesses the palace’s geopolitics. It remains a nation standing tall, sovereign, confident in itself and its choices—a nation that never lets threats pass, but never answers provocation with haste.
Faced with cries, injunctions, and political fictions, Algeria remains faithful to its line: dignity, independence, constancy.
By Belgacem Merbah
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