Draft:Legacy of Samia Lakhdari

Samia Lakhdari was an Algerian woman...

Early life

Samia Lakhdari was an Algerian woman born into a middle-class family. Her father was a judge. She lived in the Casbah of Algeria. At a young age, she was befriended by a woman named Drif Zohar. She graduated high school and left for the University of Algeria with her friend Drif Zohar. While at the University, she was elected Vice President of the Senate. In 1956, Samai was selected by Yacef Saadi of the National Liberation Front (FNL) to aid in the Algerian resistance.

Background

Samia Lakhdari grew up and eventually participated in the Algerian Independence movement from the 1940s until 1962, when Algeria officially gained freedom from France. Since France had originally colonized Algeria in 1830, they had justified their actions as humanitarian. The Algerian uprising erupted because of France’s lack of sensitivity towards local culture. France continuously tried to turn a Muslim-backed country into a true French colony, disregarding local culture.^[1] Samia Lakhdari, who was living in Algeria during this time, would do her role in rebelling as a member of the bombing campaign during the Battle of Algiers.

Before Lakhardi was born, France showed ignorance within Algeria by believing the local people wanted to be Frenchmen or Frenchwomen. For the most part, though, most Algerians supported the^[1] anti-colonial movement in Africa. In 1936, France was going to propose a bill that would allow highly educated Muslims the right to vote for their Algerian representation in Parliament, but they would have to consent to some of the French statutes. This Bill was talked about in an article from the Atlantic published in 1956, and it goes on to say, “...that is to say, French citizenship was to be offered, without, requiring the renunciation of Koranic law, to a selective minority of notables…”^[2] This proposal was called the Blum- Viollette Bill of 1936, and it was highly rejected by Algerian locals. Once the bill proposition hit the streets of Algeria, there was a high amount of backlash, with much violence breaking out. Even Algerian Mayors resigned over the bill in the form of a protest. Muslims would rather continue to not get the right to vote than to consent to French standards. Even if some people may have wanted to, the religion of Islam does not align with much of the French social and religious bindings.

Post World War II, which was Samia’s early childhood years, Algeria really separated itself from France. After France fell to the Nazis and North Africa was taken over by Germany, colonial countries like Algeria stepped up and answered the call to duty. They would help fend off the Germans in North Africa as well as divisions fighting in Italy and France.^[3] A large number of veterans and local Algerian people calling for independence were formed. The book Proceedings of the Meeting of the French Colonial Historical Society talks about an independence manifesto that Algerian WW ll veteran Ferhat Abbas proclaims, and it says, “By so doing they would assure not only the liberation of France but also their own political enfranchisement.”^[4] When France needed help they called upon the colonies to help with the war, which they did. The result initially got them nothing. The Algerian people were beginning to get frustrated with France because the manifesto called for Independence after their liberation of North Africa but was declined by the French government. In a time of need, there was no difference between Muslims, Jews, or whites in the eyes of the French. The Algerian people embraced this and helped the mother country out in their time of need. But once things were stable again, France went right back to the same treatment.

In 1948, Algeria passed a law allowing for an Algerian Assembly to give the local population some sort of representation.^[1] The voting would be divided into two sectors, and the candidate would be pulled from a group of college students. A total of 60 representatives from each group would get elected; the caveat was that one white vote was equal to 3 Muslim votes. It was very similar to the ⅗ compromise in the US, with the difference of Muslums still getting to vote.^[2] Although this was far from the end goal of what they were seeking, eventually, more protests would break out due to French officials rigging the election to have pro-French government people put into those seats. In 1954, the FLN (National Liberation Force) was formed to lead a protest against the election results and call to arms movement. Samia Lakhdari, who went to college amongst those who were selected in the assembly^[3], would go on to join the FLN in the movement against the French government two years later.

Battle of Algiers

During the battle of Algeria, Samia had a responsibility to discreetly place the bomb in a cafe and leave undetected. In most instances of war, typically combat-related events are the responsibilities of the man, but in Algeria, women were given more freedoms together.^[4] The FNL recruited women like Samia to bring the battle to the cities because they were able to be discreet and because the French military would not identify them as dangerous. It is important to note that the FNL did not specify gender norms within their regime as people like Drif and Samia were technically on the front lines, handling explosives and being main contributors to the cause.^[5]

The FNL selected women of young ages to act as “Women Freedom Fighters.” This left the women chosen to act in the manner of terrorist action within the Casbah area. They would target establishments that had large populations. On the 3rd of September 1956, Samai Lakhdari, Zohra Drif, and Djamila Bouhired were selected for a mission to bomb three locations.^[6] Samai was to set the bomb at the Cafeteria on Rue Michelet. Zorha Drif set a bomb at the Milk Café, and Djamila Bouhired was in charge of bombing the Air de France building (which did not go off). Two of the three bombs went off that day.

The bombings of September 30^th thrust the women of Algeria into playing a more significant role in the liberation of Algeria. Samia, along with her other FNL bombers, dressed in European-style clothing to move undetected by the French troops.^[7] When asked about the experience, an Algerian woman commented, “has an impression of being improperly dressed, even of being naked.” This was big for getting arms and bombs around Algeria because the French checkpoints would not think anything of them.

The film The Battle of the Algiers shows the significant actions the Algerians took to gain their independence from France.^[8] Samai is shown in the movie coloring her hair and cutting it to look more European. The women in the sense of the three bombs were also dressed in summer dresses and put on makeup. This was unlike traditional Muslim women in Algeria. In the part of the movie where Samai goes through the checkpoint, a young French soldier asks her about going to the beach and asks if she wants him to go with her. This pays tribute to the effort she put into concealing her Algerian appearance.

Women in Conflict and Post War

Samia Lakhdari, along with her other female constituents, would all go on to be arrested by the French military in 1957, but not for the bombings. Samia would be arrested for wearing Europeanized clothing and acting in a westernized manner.^[9] This is counterintuitive because prior to the war, France was doing everything it could to try and help westernize Algeria and keep control of it. Once Samia was arrested, there is not a lot of information on her imprisonment, but the background of how nationalist women were treated in prison is documented as borderline torturous.^[10] In order to get information about the ongoing war, the French military would use methods of torture and rape.^[11] These inhumane actions that other FNL women who were captured are difficult to discuss, so it is unknown if Samia went through this kind of imprisonment, but through prior testimony, there is enough evidence to draw a line between Samia’s imprisonment and French treatment that there could have been similar actions done to her.

Samai and her recruiter, Yacif Saadi, were eventually captured by the French military against the resistance in 1957.^[12] After Algeria gained its independence, Samai married and moved to Tunisia. She became a school teacher before passing away in 2012.^[13]

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^{[1], [ 2]} Harms, Robert W. Africa in global history: With sources. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2018.

^[3] Mortimer, Mildred P. Women fight, women write. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2018.

^[4] Heggoy, Alf Andrew. “On the Evolution of Algerian Women.” African Studies Review 17, no. 2 (1974): 449–56.

^{[5], [11]} Mortimer, Mildred. “Looking Back on a Nation’s Struggle: Women’s Reflections on the Algerian War of Liberation.” Modern & Contemporary France 31, no. 1 (2023): 59–74. doi:10.1080/09639489.2022.2128316.

^[6] Alexandra Magearu, “Subaltern Aurality: Listening to Algerian Women’s Voices in Assia Dejebar’s Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade.” Women’sStudies 50, no.4 2021. 295-316

^[7] Akrish Adhikari, “Oramentalism in French Empire.” The Comparatist 46, no.1 (2022) 101-123

^[8] Zahia Samil Salhi, “Between ‘Porte-Parole’ and ‘Porte- Memoire: Assia Djebar’s Cinematic Voice in the Maghreb.” International Journal of Freancophone Studies,15, no.1 (2012) 53-77

^[9] Perego, Elizabeth. “The Veil Or a Brothers Life: French Manipulations of Muslims Women’s Images during the Algerian War, 1945-62.” The Journal of North African Studies 20, no.3(2015): 349-373.

^[10] Wilson, Siona. “Severed Images: Women, the Algerian War of Independence and the Mobile Documentary Idea.” International Journal of Francophone Studies 21, no. 3 (October 1, 2018): 233–54. https://doi.org/10.1386/ijfs.21.3-4.233_1.

^[12] Jim Dingeman, “You Cannot Continually Inflict” An Interview with Saadi Yacef (Framework 49, no.2, 2008) 48-64

^[13] Dingeman, “You Cannot Continually Inflict” An Interview with Saadi Yacef 48-64

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^[1] Rahal , Malika. “The Algerian War: Cause Célèbre of Anticolonialism - JSTOR Daily.” Jstor, June 29, 2022.

^[2] Luethy, Herbert. “Algeria in Revolt.” The Atlantic, May 27, 2022.

^[3] “The Overseas Soldiers in the Second World War.” The overseas soldiers in the Second World War | Chemins de mémoire. Accessed March 9, 2024.

^[4] Tucker, Spencer C. “FERHAT ABBAS AND THE ALGERIAN MANIFESTO OF 1943.” Proceedings of the Meeting of the French Colonial Historical Society 4 (1979): 221–32.

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^[1] Clancy-Smith, Julia. “Islam and the French Empire in North Africa.” OUP Academic, September 4, 2014. https://academic.oup.com/book/12020/chapter/161301167.