PANAF 2 in Algiers: a lesson in tolerance
2009-07-14
After enduring years of religious fundamentalism, Algerians are now celebrating diversity at the second Pan-African Festival.
By Hayam El Hadi for Magharebia in Algiers – 14/07/09
 [Hayam El Hadi] Algerians celebrate Africa's renewal and promise at PANAF 2. |
Forty years after Algeria hosted the first Pan-African Festival – and after suffering through intolerance, bloodshed and religious fundamentalism - the country is focused on renewal with PANAF 2.
The second edition of the continental tribute is being held under the theme "African Renaissance". Through July 20th, visitors will have a chance to discover different cultures at venues in Algiers, Boumerdes, Blida and other locations.
PANAF 2 offers lessons in tolerance and openness towards new horizons.
The opening ceremony set the tone for the entire festival; groups representing many different African countries gave exhibition performances highlighting their traditions.
Young girls from Cameroon, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast paraded through the streets of Algiers in straw skirts. It was a sight that could hardly have been imagined a few years ago, when girls walking around without veils would have incurred the wrath of religious fundamentalists.
The many people who attended the opening parade were treated to a fine spectacle.
"It's beautiful," said Hind, who watched the parade with her husband and two children. "We've learned a lot about the traditions of countries that are on the same continent as us. We knew nothing about them."
"Opening yourself up to others is very important for educating the younger generation," she added. "That's why I brought my two children along. I can see them opening their eyes to what is going on elsewhere. We suffered too much during the years of intolerance, and it's lovely now to be able to see all these people dancing and singing in the street."
Her husband Mohamed added philosophically: "Tolerance begins with accepting the traditions of others. We cannot reject otherness just because it is different. It's that kind of refusal to respect others that led us to years of suffering."
"I want my children to see that there are other ways of living and dressing," he noted. "It doesn't shock me at all to see half-naked girls because this is their tradition. I'm quite shocked at the comments of some people who said they were appalled. What's appalling is rejecting other people because they don't look like us."
A number of shows staged all over the capital and in several provinces throughout the country gave spectators an opportunity to discover singing and dancing that was completely different from what they were used to seeing in Algeria.
Performers from all over Africa regaled audiences with original music and choreography that entertained them all night long.
The people of Algiers found themselves turning into night revellers and watched one show after the other without ever tiring. The whole city bounced along to the beat of African percussion.
Events featured performers from small Senegalese villages to the savannahs of Zimbabwe and Zambia. Well-known African bands such as Magic Système and Big Ali delighted the public.
The event led to the mixing of genres, creating a festive atmosphere. The Algerian National Symphony Orchestra, which performed at the open-air theatre of the Lâadi-Flici cultural centre in Algiers, mixed the sounds of its classical instruments with the rhythms of djembés, derboukas, and kerkabous.
Some visitors were in Algiers for the first PANAF. Saleha, 64, was just 24 in 1969 when the first Pan-African festival in Algiers was held.
"While in 1969 we were given a lesson about the rebirth of Africa, which was recovering from the aftermath of colonialism, today, after years of terrorism, it is a victory over backward ideas that we are celebrating," she said.
"When I see these young women and young men dancing in the street, I tell myself that we can have hope for the future and that in the end, all is not lost forever."
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canada Posted 2009-07-15
Glory to my country! I have returned here after living through 16 years of solitude in Toronto, Canada. I am truly moved. I left Algeria when it was being blown over by attacks and fundamentalism. Now, in 2009, I find Algeria to be 100% different! I will never forget the carnival on 4 July, where tolerance gained some ground in our country - where girls who were not covered up went about town as usual! Why? Because we learned that Islamist fanaticism is a mistake and that if there is someone to be criticised and hated, it was the Islamists themselves. And do not forget the mega fireworks show on 5 July! Ever since, I have not missed a single show. They have been set up almost everywhere in Algiers, beginning at 11:00 PM. I will return to Toronto with a pride that comes from the progress Algeria and its people have made in the last ten years.
BEN Posted 2009-07-15
Music, folklore, parades and colours are always a pleasure to anyone in the Maghreb who wants to get involved. Alas - and I do mean "Alas!" - the organisers and financers of this show, i.e., the Algerian government, could have at least provided an example of openness and tolerance to neighbours so close as ours and, moreover, from the Maghreb by unconditionally opening a border that has been hermetically sealed shut for years for nothing. Would this not be a good example to give the Africans: an Algeria free from the nightmarish conflicts it has created with Morocco over so many years? Oh, how wise and tolerant this would be! How many "religious devotees" have been savagely executed at the altar of stupidity!? This example of tolerance shows that Algeria still has a long way to go before finally looking once and for all to the future and ceasing to be handicapped in terms of a united Maghreb, which possesses solidarity both in prosperity and adversity.
Farid Posted 2009-07-17
In response to Ben: First of all, you are not up to date on the matter with the monks, so there is no bother in going over this sad case with you. You speak of "the nightmarish conflicts [Algeria] has created" and, to stretch it even farther, a "wise and tolerant" Morocco. Towards whom is Morocco wise and tolerant? ...with the European, who do not need a visa to go there when the simple Moroccan citizens have nothing! You say that Algeria still has a long road ahead of it. Hearing you speak, since you make a comparison between Algeria and Morocco, it would seem that Morocco has become a rich, industrialised country. With regards to the border, before 1994 this border was indeed open, and it is the fault of your government for it not being that way now because they unjustly made accusation against Algeria and the fault of your citizens for not respecting Algeria in general. So, you can just take responsibility for your mistakes! Moreover, it is not mean to do this: the Unites States keeps its border with Mexico shut. So, you can say that the United States is a country that is not open. It is awesome to keep your borders closed. As for your Maghreb, we do not need it. In fact, since when did our neighbours start speaking about the Maghreb? They are insistent and in a rush to make "the Maghreb." The Algerian leaders have not been fooled.
leila Posted 2009-07-17
You need to just leave the Sahrawi people to live in peace without massacring them, without causing them to die of hunger in miserable refugee camps. You are the only country in Africa that is a coloniser in 2009! Alas! Well, I do understand your side of it: since you yourselves are colonised by Spain in Melilla and in northern Morocco, out of weakness for what you cannot do to your superiors (Spain), you do it to the Sahrawis in their arid land for pleasure.
aili Posted 2009-07-18
In response to Ben: Indeed, I totally agree with you about the border being opened. However, I am just going to refresh your memory a little bit: In 1994, in the month of August, I was in Casablanca when the terrorist bombing took place and the terrible, scandalous hunt of Algerians began. Algerians were forced to go back with their baggage and children because they were being demanded for their entry visas to Morocco. Unfortunately, I neither saw nor heard the press or the population show their indignation at the state of things. Believe me, I am an African, Algerian and person of the Maghreb, and the country and the people that go beyond the Algerians is Morocco and the Moroccans. -Bye
Anonymous Posted 2009-07-18
What if we had a MAC ( Moroccan Algerian Confederation)and possibly include the rest of the Maghreb as in Tunisia Libya and Mauritania. The Constitution of the Moroccan Algerian Confederation. Preamble: We the people of Morocco and Algeria, in order to establish peace and prosperity between the people of Morocco and Algeria in all our borders, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Moroccan Algerian Confederation. Our purpose is to facilitate a mechanism for Moroccans and Algerians to resolve conflicts and grow into the future in a fair and equitable manner. We believe that Moroccans and Algerians are entitled to live peacefully and enjoy freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and self-determination without the need to suppress or intimidate each other. We believe that the Moroccans and Algerians have equal rights and aspirations, deserve equal legal protection, and are entitled to guaranteed human rights and freedoms. We believe that the creation of a mutual confederation is not inconsistent with the unique and exclusive aspiration of either the Moroccans and Algerians. We reject any presumptions or preconceived notions that either Moroccans and Algerians are, by nature or education or any other method, predisposed to violence or the destruction of each other. Our intention is NOT to undermine the Moroccan and Algerian governments or any future agreements between those governments.
Nour-eddine Posted 2009-07-18
We believe that the principles stated above could be achieved through the facilities of a mutual confederation dedicated to fair representation of both the Moroccan and Algerian people and dedicated to achieve consensus through confederation principles.
Malik Posted 2009-07-19
To Ben: They say that the envious die not once, but as often as the envied wins applause. I wonder how many times you are going to die in the next few years, because clearly Algeria is on the roll and it surely does not need the likes of Morocco or the imaginary "Maghreb united" for that matter. Long live Algeria and its proud people.
BEN Posted 2009-07-21
To Anonymous- Morocco has tried everything! Yet, had the Algerian government cared about the future of the people of the Maghreb after the 1995 Barcelona Conference on the Union for the Mediterranean, it would no longer have tried to hinder this union, which is necessitated by globalisation, Europe and the construction of the Union for the Mediterranean. This is a question of the necessary survival of our existence as a viable entity, capable of managing the transformation that risk happening even without us. Let us suppose that Algeria had recognised the Western Sahara was Moroccan, the Sahrawis full, encompassing autonomy would have gained not just a few years of experiences, passing accords and treaties and hold conferences. The image of the Maghreb would have looked different. This union existed during times of combat against colonialism. Oh, how full of hope it was! Alas, the political decisions and orientation of Algeria dictated by the hard fighting the country has gone through has won over the rest. Today, Algeria is healing bit by bit. It is changing. It is joining Morocco in its conception of the future, as it has long repeated it. Should we remain optimistic with so many years lost?
BEN Posted 2009-07-21
To Malik- If I had something to be jealous of, I would be the first to say it. However, the Moroccans are hospitable by nature. When they throw parties, their neighbours are the first ones they invite.
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