ALGERIAN PATRIOTS - ENGLISH

In recent months, some have rushed to label what is unfolding between Algeria and Morocco as “ fitna ,” as though merely naming realities, exposing threats, or defending national security were in itself a dangerous deviation worthy of reproach. Yet this accusation is, in truth, the very essence of fitna. For fitna, in its deepest political and moral sense, does not lie in the word that illuminates, but in the silence that conceals. It is not born from denouncing falsehood, but from normalizing it. It does not grow out of vigilance, but out of deliberate blindness draped in the illusion of wisdom. Fitna is not the act of speaking the truth, but the act of burying it. To portray every warning about the threats facing Algeria as an incitement to discord is to criminalize clarity itself. It is to reduce fitna to the realm of speech while absolving conduct—even when that conduct directly destabilizes the region. History, and Algeria’s history in particular, teaches that silence in the f...

AFCON 2025 will remain one of the most controversial editions in the recent history of African football — not for its spectacle, but for the blatant inequality in the treatment of participants: an Algeria heavily sanctioned, and a host nation, Morocco, consistently spared. The facts are clear, documented, and stubborn: CAF chose its target. 1. Algeria hit with exemplary — and disproportionate — sanctions Following the Algeria–Nigeria quarter-final on January 10, 2026, CAF imposed an unprecedented avalanche of penalties on the Algerian Football Federation: Luca Zidane suspended for two matches (AFCON 2027 qualifiers) Rafik Belghali suspended for four matches , including two with a suspended ban Total fines of around 100,000 USD , including: multiple yellow cards (5,000 USD), inappropriate behaviour by players and officials (25,000 USD), use of flares (5,000 USD), throwing objects (5,000 USD), security breaches (10,000 USD), offensive gestures by supporters (50,000 USD). Such cumul...

The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations , hosted by Morocco at the cost of billions, was supposed to mark the kingdom’s definitive entry into the circle of major global sporting powers. Instead, it will be remembered as one of the most controversial editions—not for its level of play, but for what it revealed: the exposure of an institutionalized cheating system, planned long in advance, executed behind the scenes of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and ultimately thwarted on the field by what many have called, not without irony, a form of poetic justice. Morocco’s defeat in the final against Senegal (1–0, on January 18, 2026) does not erase the scandal; it sheds light on it. A CAN under suspicion from the first whistle Throughout the tournament, the Moroccan team benefited from refereeing decisions that were unanimously contested. From the group stage match against Mali, then against Tanzania in the round of 16 and Cameroon in the quarterfinals, clear penalties against Morocco we...

What began as a fleeting on-field gesture by Algerian international Mohamed Amoura following Algeria’s 1–0 victory over the Democratic Republic of Congo in the AFCON round of 16 quickly escalated into a symbolic and political controversy, inflated far beyond its original sporting context. In the aftermath of qualification, Amoura performed a gesture interpreted as mockery toward a Congolese supporter in the stands. Within hours, the incident was stripped of its emotional and situational context and recast as an affront to a deeply rooted historical symbol. From Sporting Banter to Historical Symbolism The supporter in question, Michel Nkuka Mboladinga , has become an iconic figure of this AFCON for his silent embodiment of Patrice Lumumba , the martyred Congolese independence leader and one of Africa’s most powerful anti-colonial symbols. Elegantly dressed in the colors of the Congolese flag , Nkuka stands motionless throughout matches in a posture replicating the statue overlooking ...

Shortly before 2 a.m., Caracas was jolted awake by a series of explosions followed by the sound of low‑flying aircraft. Images and eyewitness accounts reported smoke near military installations—particularly around La Carlota —as well as power outages in several districts of the capital. Early news dispatches confirmed at least seven blasts and prolonged overflights above the city. During this same timeframe, international media pinpointed impacts and plumes of smoke around major installations (La Carlota and Fuerte Tiuna), while the Venezuelan executive denounced a “military aggression” targeting civilian and military sites in Caracas and in the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira, declaring a state of emergency. Videos circulating online showed helicopters attributed to U.S. special operations forces ( 160th SOAR , MH‑47 and possibly MH‑60 ) flying at very low altitude over the capital, in what appeared to be a raid‑type operation—penetration, extraction, and close air support. ...

It has now become clear that, for Morocco, football is no longer merely a sport: it has been elevated into a national doctrine , a pillar of identity serving a political narrative. What should have remained the ordinary organization of a continental competition has turned into a politico‑media ritual , where each match must demonstrate a form of symbolic superiority, and every result is interpreted as proof of national prowess. Within this inflated narrative, football becomes the alpha and the omega : an instrument of economic promotion, a mask covering social fragilities, a diplomatic lever, and, above all, a symbolic weapon directed at a neighbor constantly present in the discourse: Algeria , even when it is not involved. The recent article published by Hespress illustrates this drift with striking clarity. Beneath the surface of sporting celebration, one finds an excessive fixation on Algeria , fueled by anxious anticipation of reactions that, in reality, do not exist. According to...

The recent article published by Hespress , portraying the so-called “precision strikes” of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces against the Polisario Front , reads less like strategic analysis than military communication masquerading as journalism. Beneath its technical vocabulary and self-congratulatory tone lies a carefully crafted narrative designed to normalize a political impasse, sanitize legally questionable practices, and equate technological superiority with legitimacy. Rewriting Responsibility The article opens with the familiar claim that Morocco is exercising “restraint and wisdom” in response to Polisario “low-intensity provocations.” This framing deliberately obscures a fundamental fact acknowledged in official UN reports : it was Morocco’s military intervention at Guerguerat in November 2020 that effectively ended the 1991 ceasefire . Since then, the conflict has not been “frozen” but has entered a phase of sustained low-intensity warfare , for which Rabat bears primary...

When former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing declared in a televised interview that “the tragedy of Algeria is that it has never had a president of Houari Boumediene’s caliber since his death”, it was neither sentimental nostalgia nor belated flattery. The significance of this statement lies precisely in the fact that Giscard had been a political adversary of Boumediene, representing a country whose interests were directly challenged by Algeria’s sovereign policies in the 1970s. In this context, Giscard’s acknowledgment becomes a strategic recognition: Boumediene was not merely a head of state; he embodied a nation with clear will, strategic vision, and the capacity to unsettle established international balances. In other words, Algeria at the time was led by a statesman capable of thinking historically, acting decisively, and navigating the complex logic of power. Forty-seven years after his death on December 27, 1978, this absence continues to weigh heavily on the Algerian s...

On the occasion of the Africa Cup of Nations held in Morocco , the media discourse close to the Moroccan authorities witnessed a clear escalation, characterized by fabricated narratives, staged media scenes, and a series of provocations against Algeria . This strategy—aimed at politically exploiting a sporting event—reveals a fragile social and political backdrop that the authorities are visibly attempting to conceal and divert public attention away from. Unacceptable Provocations In addition to speeches and media narratives, this tournament was marked by two widely discussed incidents: In several Moroccan cities , Algerian flags were displayed upside down , turning what should have been a simple protocol gesture into a highly symbolic message. In an already sensitive political context, this act was interpreted as a deliberate provocation directed at Algeria. During the opening ceremony, the Algerian flag was the only flag that was not visible (the camera angle did not allow our nati...