Editing Berbers (section)

=== Modern history ===
{{further|Arabized Berber|Berberism}}
[[File:Maroc Atlas Imlil Luc Viatour 4.jpg|thumb|Berber village in the [[High Atlas]] mountains of Morocco]]
The Kabylians were independent of outside control during the period of [[Ottoman Empire]] rule in North Africa. They lived primarily in three states or confederations: the [[Kingdom of Ait Abbas]], [[Kingdom of Kuku]], and the principality of Aït Jubar.<ref name="Brill">[https://books.google.com/books?id=7CP7fYghBFQC&pg=PA600 ''E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936''], Volume 4, publié par M. Th. Houtsma, Page 600</ref> The Kingdom of Ait Abbas was a Berber state of North Africa, controlling Lesser Kabylie and its surroundings from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth century. It is referred to in the Spanish historiography as {{lang|es|reino de Labes}};<ref>''Afrique barbaresque dans la littérature française aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles (l')''. Par Guy Turbet-Delof. page 25</ref> sometimes more commonly referred to by its ruling family, the Mokrani, in Berber {{lang|ber-Latn|At Muqran}} ({{langx|ar|أولاد مقران}} {{lang|ar-Latn|Ouled Moqrane}}). Its capital was the [[Kalâa of Ait Abbas]], an impregnable citadel in the [[Bibans|Biban]] mountain range.

The most serious [[Mokrani Revolt|native revolt]] against colonial power in [[French Algeria]] since the time of [[Abdelkader al-Jazairi|Abd al-Qadir]] broke out in 1871 in the Kabylie and spread through much of Algeria. By April 1871, 250 tribes had risen, or nearly a third of Algeria's population.<ref>Bernard Droz, «Insurrection de 1871: la révolte de Mokrani», dans Jeannine Verdès-Leroux (dir.), ''L'Algérie et la France'', Paris, Robert Laffont 2009, {{p.|474–475}} {{isbn|978-2-221-10946-5}}</ref> In the aftermath of this revolt and until 1892, the [[Kabyle myth]], which supposed a variety of stereotypes based on a binary between Arabs and Kabyle people, reached its climax.<ref name="marnia">Lazreg, Marnia. “The Reproduction of Colonial Ideology: The Case of the Kabyle Berbers.” Arab Studies Quarterly, vol. 5, no. 4, 1983, pp. 380–95. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41857696. Accessed 31 August 2022.</ref><ref name="oup">{{cite book|author=|title=Islam in the West|year=2018|publisher=OUP India |isbn=978-0-19-909366-3|pages=250}}</ref>

In 1902, the French penetrated the [[Hoggar Mountains]] and defeated [[Kel Ahaggar|Ahaggar Tuareg]] in the battle of [[Tit, Tamanrasset|Tit]].

[[File:Abd el-Krim TIME 1925.jpg|thumb|[[Abd el-Krim]] featured in the magazine ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' in 1925]]

In 1912, [[Treaty Between France and Spain Regarding Morocco|Morocco was divided]] into French and Spanish zones.<ref>Miller, S. (2013). France and Spain in Morocco. In A History of Modern Morocco (pp. 88–119). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{doi|10.1017/CBO9781139045834.008}}</ref> The [[Rifians|Rif Berbers]] rebelled, led by [[Abd el-Krim]], a former officer of the Spanish administration. In July 1921, the Spanish army in northeastern Morocco, under [[Manuel Fernández Silvestre|Manuel Silvestre]], were routed by the forces of Abd el-Krim, in what became known in Spain as the [[Disaster of Annual]]. The Spaniards may have lost up to 22,000&nbsp;soldiers at Annual and in subsequent fighting.<ref>David S. Woolman, page 96 "Rebels in the Rif", Stanford University Press</ref>

During the [[Algerian War]] (1954–1962), the [[National Liberation Front (Algeria)|FLN]] and [[National Liberation Army (Algeria)|ALN]]'s reorganisation of the country created, for the first time, a unified Kabyle administrative territory, [[Provinces of Algeria#1954-1962|wilaya III]], being as it was at the centre of the anti-colonial struggle.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/a-la-une/article/2004/07/05/veillee-d-armes-en-kabylie_371616_3208.html|title=Veillée d'armes en Kabylie|last=Stora|first=Benjamin|date=5 July 2004|work=Le Monde.fr|access-date=22 March 2017|language=fr|issn=1950-6244}}</ref> From the moment of Algerian independence, tensions developed between Kabyle leaders and the central government.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Émeutes et Mouvements sociaux au Maghreb|last1=Le Saout|first1=Didier|last2=Rollinde|first2=Marguerite|publisher=Karthala|year=1999|isbn=978-2-865-37998-9|pages=46}}</ref>

Soon after gaining independence in the middle of the twentieth century, the countries of North Africa established [[Arabic]] as their [[official language]], replacing French, Spanish, and Italian; although the shift from European colonial languages to Arabic for official purposes continues even to this day. As a result, most Berbers had to study and know Arabic, and had no opportunities until the twenty-first century to use their [[First language|mother tongue]] at school or university. This may have accelerated the existing process of Arabization of Berbers, especially in already bilingual areas, such as among the Chaouis of Algeria. Tamazight is now taught in Aurès since the march led by {{ill|Salim Yezza|fr}} in 2004.

While [[Berberism]] had its roots before the independence of these countries, it was limited to the Berber elite. It only began to succeed among the greater populace when North African states replaced their European colonial languages with Arabic and identified exclusively as Arabian nations, downplaying or ignoring the existence and the social specificity of Berbers. However, Berberism's distribution remains uneven. In response to its demands, Morocco and Algeria have both modified their policies, with Algeria redefining itself constitutionally as an "Arab, Berber, Muslim nation".

There is an identity-related debate about the persecution of Berbers by the Arab-dominated regimes of North Africa through both [[Pan-Arabism]] and Islamism,<ref>{{cite web |title=Official request for an autonomy status for Kabylia |url=http://kabylia.info:80/observer/spip.php?article123 |website=Kabylia Observer |access-date=26 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220231928/http://kabylia.info/observer/spip.php?article123 |archive-date=20 February 2009 |date=28 June 2004 |url-status=dead }}</ref> their issue of identity is due to the pan-Arabist ideology of former Egyptian president, [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]]. Some activists have claimed that "[i]t is time—long past overdue—to confront the racist arabization of the Amazigh lands."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kabylia.info/arabization|date=9 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111042413/http://www.kabylia.info/arabization|url-status=dead|title=Arabization|archive-date=11 January 2010}}</ref>
[[File:Nuit Debout - Paris - Kabyles - 48 mars 08.jpg|thumb|left|Demonstration of [[Kabyle people|Kabyles]] in Paris, April 2016]]
The [[Black Spring (Algeria)|Black Spring]] was a series of violent disturbances and political demonstrations by Kabyle activists in the Kabylie region of Algeria in 2001. In the [[2011 Libyan civil war]], Berbers in the [[Nafusa Mountains]] were quick to revolt against the Gaddafi regime. The mountains became a stronghold of the rebel movement, and were a focal point of the conflict, with much [[2011 Nafusa Mountains Campaign|fighting]] occurring between rebels and loyalists for control of the region.<ref name="Berber speakers"/> The [[Tuareg rebellion (2012)|Tuareg Rebellion of 2012]] was waged against the Malian government by rebels with the goal of attaining independence for the northern region of Mali, known as [[Azawad]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17635437|title=Mali Tuareg rebels declare independence in the north|date=6 April 2012|work=BBC News|archive-date=30 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030104410/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17635437|url-status=live}}</ref> Since late 2016, [[Hirak Rif|massive riots]] have spread across Moroccan Berber communities in the Rif region. Another escalation took place in May 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/scores-arrested-connection-morocco-rif-protests-170530184329431.html|title=Scores arrested in connection with Morocco Rif protests|website=www.aljazeera.com|date=30 May 2017}}</ref>

In Morocco, after the constitutional reforms of 2011, Berber has become an official language, and is now taught as a compulsory language in all schools regardless of the area or the ethnicity. In 2016, Algeria followed suit and changed the status of Berber from "national" to "official" language.

Although [[Berberists]] who openly show their political orientations rarely reach high positions, Berbers have reached high positions in the social and political hierarchies across the Maghreb. Examples are the former president of Algeria, [[Liamine Zeroual]]; the former prime minister of Morocco, [[Driss Jettou]]; and [[Khalida Toumi]], a feminist and Berberist militant, who has been nominated as head of the Ministry of Communication in Algeria.