Where is the Algerian Niff

A friend of mine remarked, “You have a lot of Algerian friends haven’t you?”

Stunned by this statement I wondered: is there something wrong with having friends from your own country?

She argues it is essential for integration to immerse oneself in the culture of the host country in order to grasp the true meaning of the local culture, traditions and mindset, improve the language and feel at home.

I personally have finished my integration phase in early 2004 if not earlier, thereafter I started meeting fellow Algerians at work or through other friends or social networking circles and for me that is not trying to “stick to my own” but a rich and valuable addition to the array of nationalities in my friends list.

Why is this new trend I am noticing, knowing or hanging out with fellow Algerians is considered “ghettoism” or self inflicted segregation. Not all Algerians in the UK hang out in Finsbury park, they don’t all have 3 credit cards with 3 different names, 3 passports with 3 different colours stacked under the mattress, an Algerian passport that expired in 1999 and stories for the grandchildren about crossing 2 seas on a barge, evidently, or there will be no Algerians reading this blog.

“I want to end up with an Algerian, I even have plans to move back to Algeria”

This was considered the statement of the year, male friends understand and are probably relieved that I want one of theirs or maybe they’re indifferent, girlfriends with few exceptions are astounded and do not understand why I want to move back to Algeria and even less why I want to end up with an Algerian, as though my choice was inferior  and  will interfere with our friendship, will make me beneath them somehow because they choose a Lebanese or Palestinian because it’s the new trend, I feel our friendship questioned because of my poor choice and low standards.

“Why are you talking in Arabic, we only speak in French” says my friends sister who’s visiting from Algeria, I say visiting but I mean taking up residency although a 4 months visit is relatively short for Algerians, the average visit is between 6 to 12 months.  After a surprised exchanged look with my friend, didn’t know what to say, a few stunned silent seconds later I muttered “we miss speaking in Arabic I guess” and French has lost its appeal with us, apart from the few words that we just cannot find synonyms for in Arabic, like “ca va” and such..  why should I speak in French to my fellow Algerians in England? I would rather speak in English. English is more neutral a language for Algerians here in the UK, speaking French makes people uncomfortable, not all Algerians master the French language and this is quite a complex ridden area as it brings back into the equation the correlation between the social status and the use of the French language.

“I feel am working for an Arab bank” my French colleague said, listening to my phone conversation in Arabic. If I was speaking in Spanish would he have had the feeling of working for a Spanish bank? highly unlikely. If I speak in Arabic, French colleagues look at me as though I infringed a law, an unspoken law, my French-Algerian colleagues laugh awkwardly and prompt me to whisper as though we’re plotting something against the universe.

Why such discomfiture around Arabic? Is it due to the fact it is the language of the Quran? And thus the language of Islamist Terrorists? We all already know that anybody reading in Arabic on the train is considered suspect, God forbid you write in Arabic, that is clearly witchcraft.

The stigma attached to the Arabic language is such that it deters people from using it in public. What's next?

This islamophobia, arabophibia or xenophobia, is pushing people to deny or hide their origins, religions and culture, so in effect it hinders integration.

I am Algerian, Muslim and I speak Arabic, it also happens that I speak French and English, I might change continents, countries and passports but I will never change who I am. A true Algerian and proud of it.

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 Algerian Niff – niff is arabic for nose, the Algerian niff implies the Algerian pride