Colonial Curse

2025-01-21

TANGIER - When fishmonger Mohsin Fikri is crushed in a rubbish truck, the Riffins have had enough. They demand that their region finally be developed after decades of backwardness: they want more jobs, better healthcare and, most importantly, recognition of their historic struggle against colonisation.

In the process, they also receive support from the Riffin diaspora. In the social movement that emerges after Mohsin Fikri's death, the 20th-century freedom fighter Abdelkrim al-Khattabi is a major inspiration. In the 1920s he almost successfully fought Spanish and French colonisation, and after World War II he stood up for the liberation of the entire Maghreb: Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

When Morocco finally regains its independence in 1956, it has negative consequences for the Rif. Repressive policies emerge and the economy is unstable. As the demand for guest workers in Western Europe rises, many Riffins leave for the north in the hope of a better future. But history lives on, even hundreds of kilometres away.

This work is the result of years of research. The author studied the history of relations between Moroccan power and the Rif from the pre-colonial era to the present. To do so, he travelled abroad several times, searched archives and visited prominent activists, families and researchers.

Image: © Jean Du Taillis, Bibliothèque nationale de France