Editing Berbers (section)

=== Political tensions ===
Over the past few decades, political tensions have arisen between some Berber groups (especially the [[Kabyle people|Kabyles]] and [[Rifians]]) and North African governments, partly over linguistic and social issues. For example, in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, giving children Berber names was banned.<ref>{{cite web |title=Amazigh: Morocco Upholds Ban of Traditional Names |url=https://unpo.org/article/19303 |website=Unpo|date=2 November 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Arbaoui |first1=Larbi |title=Morocco lifts the ban on Amazigh names |url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/03/125938/morocco-lifts-the-ban-on-amazigh-names |website=moroccoworldnew}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Zurutuza |first1=Karlos |title=The Amazigh of Libya revive their previously banned language |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/features/amazigh-libya-revive-their-previously-banned-language |website=middleeasteye}}</ref> In Morocco, the Arabic language and Arab culture occupied a superior position in official and social domains. The [[Pan-Arabism|Arabist]] ideology was popular among Moroccan society, as well as within bureaucratic cadres and the political parties.<ref name="Aslan-2015">{{Cite book |last=Aslan |first=Senem |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wTAWBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 |title=Nation Building in Turkey and Morocco |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-05460-8 |pages=111 |language=en}}</ref> The [[History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi|regime of Muammar Gaddafi]] in Libya also banned the teaching of Berber languages, and, in a 2008 [[United States diplomatic cables leak|leaked diplomatic cable]], the Libyan leader warned Berber minorities: "You can call yourselves whatever you want inside your homes – Berbers, Children of Satan, whatever – but you are only Libyans when you leave your homes."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/small-rebel-victory-big-moment-for-persecuted-berber-tribes/article1995361/|title=Small rebel victory big moment for persecuted Berber tribes|work=The Globe and Mail|access-date=2 May 2015|archive-date=25 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925142853/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/small-rebel-victory-big-moment-for-persecuted-berber-tribes/article1995361/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He denied the existence of Berbers as a separate ethnicity, and called them a "product of [[colonialism]]" created by [[Western world|the West]] to divide Libya.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201103200010.html |title=Libya: Gaddafi Rails Against 'No Fly' Attacks and Berbers |date=20 March 2011 |publisher=allAfrica.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/libyan-rebels-seize-western-border-crossing-as-fighting-in-mountains-intensifies/2011/04/21/AFaoxhIE_story.html | title = Libyan rebels seize western border crossing, as fighting in mountains intensifies | newspaper= The Washington Post | date=21 April 2011}}</ref> As a result of the persecution suffered under Gaddafi's rule, many Berbers joined the [[Libyan opposition]] in the [[2011 Libyan civil war]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/world/africa/09berbers.html|title=Amid a Berber Reawakening in Libya, Fears of Revenge|publisher=NYTimes|date=8 August 2011|access-date=1 May 2014}}</ref>

In contrast, many Berber students in Morocco supported [[Nasserism]] and [[Pan-Arabism|Arabism]], rather than [[Berberism]]. Many educated Berbers were attracted to the leftist [[National Union of Popular Forces]] rather than the Berber-based [[Popular Movement (Morocco)|Popular Movement]].<ref name="Aslan-2015" />