50 years down, when is the UP?
Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Evian Accords to end the eight-year war of Independence that the Algerians started in November 1954 to oust the French after over 100 years...
View ArticleIsrael and the Wall of Silence
Three unconnected events deserve our attention as they reveal yet again the absurdity of the Israeli defense mechanisms and their isolation from reality. These are about a poem, a Big Brother...
View ArticleHe had acted alone
"He had acted alone". This is what we always hear when a white Western man commits a crime such as the one committed by the American soldier who went on a shooting rampage leaving 16 Afghan children...
View ArticleDemystifying Islam, Can TV help?
While surfing the net recently, I came across some articles about TV programs on Islam and Muslims in the West. I found two of these TV shows particularly interesting, especially against the backdrop...
View ArticleThe neighbours
As summer is in the air, people start thinking about holiday destinations. As usual, when searching the net for holiday packages, the Algerian is faced with very limited if any choices in his own...
View ArticleThe Final Countdown
A few months ago, The FT published a series of articles on a new source of energy which will take the Western world by storm. It is shale gas: an unconventional source of energy, a gas that is...
View ArticleChadli est mort
For those of you familiar with Fellag’s comedy, he said in one of his stand-up acts that in Algeria, we would have to interpret documentaries to find out about what is happening in the political scene....
View ArticleIt is so third world but I love it
I know the wedding season in Algeria is over or nearing a closure, but it is never late nor out of context to talk about weddings in Algeria. In recent years, there has been a tendency to formalize...
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Memoirs of Little Aicha: Summer Camp in Algeria
Going to children Summer Camp or Colonie de Vacanceswas a rite of passage for Algerian children, a way to taste freedom, and explore new places, away from the overprotective eyes of parents.Like many...
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Memoirs of Little Aicha: Summer Camp in France
After experiencing the camp life in Algeria, the free-spirited little moi decided to cruise the Mediterranean, and witness at first-hand how the poor French kids spent their summers.One happy summer...
View ArticleStop the bashing!
Today, I decided to pick up on a a posting by an Algerian blogger on Algerian women. On Patriots on Fire, a post entitled “Algerian women serve no purpose” was recently published, which amongst other...
View ArticleThe land of Timgad…The home of the mud
In an article published in World Finance on urbanization 2.0, Dan Lewis, a Director of the Economic Research Council, states that Today’s municipal planners dream wistfully of Timgad, a perfectly...
View ArticleThe Open Door
A friend of mine has lent me an interesting collection of short stories written by kids whose ages range from 8 to 18. The stories selected were winners of a writing contest on the theme “The Open...
View ArticleBack in life
As I have disappeared from the blogging scene for nearly a year, I thought I would write a word or two to explain the reason behind the absence to the one or two readers who visit this page.Well, I...
View ArticleBlack or White
When strolling around Algerian cities in recent year, a new phenomenon becomes apparent to the observer, the ever increasing presence of the colour black among women. The little black dress has always...
View ArticleMarried! Keep away from me!
Marriage and men are a recurring theme in some excellent blogs run by single Algerian females. Patriots on Fire also has some posts dealing with the problem of marriage in Algeria, and in a post...
View ArticleMrs La Blanche
Mr Le Blanc, according to Gad Elmaleh, is this guy whom the universe conspires to make his life as smooth as silk. When he eats all the components in his sandwich enter into a pact and decide to do...
View ArticleRamdhan Z'man
As someone living in nostalgia, I keep trying to convince myself that many things used to be better before. One of them is Ramadhan. As a kid, I used to get so excited about this month and await its...
View ArticleHow green is your grass?
We are told that the grass is greener where we are not. Just like the color of the sea which gets bluer the further away you move from the shores, the grass seems greener the further away you drift...
View ArticleBack in Blighty
"You must be mad!”. This is how friends and family greeted my decision to return to England after leaving it some years ago. Four cities and three countries later, I find myself in the town that I...
View ArticleBeauty and The Beast
In 2008, when the world’s eyes were turned to a new kid in the block, giving a victory speech in one of the most historic passings of power in recent history, thousands of miles away, another history...
View ArticleThe good, the bad and the ugly
As humanity finds itself in unchartered waters trying to steer away from an invisible enemy, our interconnectedness as human beings has never been more apparent. We are living at a time when a pandemic...
View ArticleSome clarity in murky waters
With lockdowns and death of social life, I have taken to Twitter to vent off my frustration with the way the British government has been handling the Covid-19 pandemic. But, as my screen time increased...
View ArticleWestern Sahara: What's in it for us?
It is not my intention to present all the details of the conflict, but since it is one of the main reasons halting the unification of the countries of the Maghreb, I believe that it deserves some...
View ArticlePainful Wonderings
As I took my seat on the train this morning, I looked out of the window in the hope of catching a glimpse of the sun. Not to my surprise, the heavens were still adamant that it was non grata on their...
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