Mahfoud Bennoune. Photo: family album
Where are the Muslims who speak out? That is the question always heard after any given jihadist atrocity. The reality is that on the frontlines, inside Muslim majority societies, many intellectuals and activists – if not yet enough - have been risking their lives to denounce fundamentalist violence. But their words are rarely heard in the West. This open letter written by Algerian anthropologist Mahfoud Bennoune inside Algeria in 1995 during the height of the “dark decade” of jihadist violence fearlessly took the terrorists and their apologists to task. Sadly, the text remains all too relevant in today’s world. 1995 Algeria speaks to 2016 Pakistan or Iraq. openDemocracy republishes this piece today to mark what would have been Dr. Bennoune’s 80th birthday and as a reminder of all those who resist.
