Algeria: My Trip to Algiers

This is my fifth trip to Algiers. In the previous times the visit was limited to the west. I got acquainted with the capital, wandered into Oran, then went to Mistanhane, to Tlemcen in the far west, and I visited a happy city on the outskirts of the desert. Of course, the purpose of the visit was a cultural one: participation in seminars and intellectual meetings. This time it was the visit to eastern Algeria, the destination being precisely the city of Constantine, which is now the subject of a celebration and theatre, the fact that it was chosen as the capital of Arab Culture for the year 2015. An intellectual workshop of activities, forums and seminars in the various fields of literary, artistic, philosophical and scientific culture, which it is hoped will not be limited to the elite society, so that it will resonate among the people and its impact on the city's society and in Algerian society in general.                                                                                                                                                                                       

Constantine is a city of unparalleled

The cultural elites, whose societies speak for themselves, have no relevance to the living reality, to their challenges and transformations, to break out of their isolation and to emerge from their arrogant Bruges, in order to interact with the wider and broader society. There is no promotion, reform and development in any country, unless the fields and circles are open to each other to share and circulate their experiences in what is a public matter for all citizens, in their respective fields of competence and field of work.                                                                                                                                                                                       

In Constantine, in the forum of the Algerian Philosophical Society, I participated in the role of cultural communication in the renewal of contemporary Arab thought, which was the focus of my intervention, beyond the two-Arab and the west. In the Forum are engaged in philosophy and human sciences, Algerians are the majority, Arabs without a country, all academics and writers, and for all its productions and works. After the end of the forum, I had other tasks, which belonged to me alone, in four cities. I first went to Qalma, accompanied by Dr. Abd al-Halim, and I had two meetings with students and professors at the University Auditorium, in which they presented me with their affliction, the head of the philosophy department of the Faculty of Humanities. I do not forget the poet Mohammad Khasha who opened the first meeting with a beautiful word about me, which made me comment by saying the most beautiful poetry is his lie. Then I went to the city of Sejeev,                                                                                                                                                                                        

I also had two meetings at the University auditorium with professors and students. Then I had a visit to the city of Pajai, where the mission was to participate in the intellectual Forum held at its university on the human sciences crisis. My intervention was titled "Today's Philosopher's Wager". I had to go to the city of Biskra, which is also located on the gates of the desert, so you found me saying, after all the trouble I've endured before arrival: it must be a lot of sugar. The mission was to lecture at the Cultural Forum, where I was introduced by Professor Ahmed Delpani. In all these activities, the focus was on the issues and issues that concern my profession and occupation, my identity and my mission.                                                                                                                                                                                       

After these moves I went back to the capital of Constantine culture, echoing the poet's words: What Love is only for the first beloved. I ended my visit by participating in the International colloquium held by the University of Constantine on the role of human and social sciences in the conception of a future Arab society. The title of my intervention was "philosophers ' illusions about the community ".                                                                                                                                                                                       

After all, I had to go back to the capital, to meet Dr. Abdulaziz Yusuf, head of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Algiers 2, and I did not leave, without a meeting at the Faculty of Humanities, I addressed the summary of my interventions on the problems of truth, identity, freedom and human being.

* * * Despite all these activities, I have prepared only one written paper, in advance, is my first intervention at the Constantine Junction. What followed was a meeting or a lecture, which was impromptu or quickly prepared for him, by writing a plan containing the main ideas that I was trying to speak to the audience.                                                                                                                                                                                       

It is my habit, in the cities I visit for the first time, to address the audience, in intellectual forums, by saying, "You know the war of the" person ", through its texts. What you see right now before you talk to you, is on the other's war, the living personality. And don't be surprised if you find a difference between the two. What one writes quietly and calmly, and after a careful look, differs from what he says orally at a seminar or on a screen, where he must not read a text or a written paper, but speak directly, live, by summarizing what he has written or prepared and improving his presentation. The one may be reconciled, as it may fail. There are those who are proficient in writing and who are not proficient in talking. On the contrary.                                                                                                                                                                                        

In this visit, which lasted more than three weeks, I had the opportunity to know of a country that was not present in the cities of Algeria, which is a continent in terms of its immense breadth, its diversity and its natural, geographical, human and societal richness. If Algeria is the capital of the country, every city is the capital of its jurisdiction and region, east and west, north and south. Each city has its own nature and flavor, and has its own merits and personality. Every city has its heritage and its historical depth. Each city has its own natural family landscapes and magnificent monuments. It is famous for its Roman amphitheater, which still retains its first body, but is also famous, especially its natural fountains, where the water is boiling and bubble from the ground, feeding the nearby bathrooms. The plains, meadows and forests attracted me, which made me regret the green Lebanon, which the people of greed, tshairh and corruption are working on to mow their green spaces. The beachfront, which is built on the shoulder of a towering mountain, is a tourist site that is less favourable if it is exploited. With regard to its famous sugar, it is a city with a heritage depth and the corner of al-Osman at its school, mosque and library of all the works of science and art. In addition, it was a magnet for writers and authors during the French colonization.                                                                                                                                                                                       
This is the same as other Algerian cities, each with its own flags and symbols, who were born or passed, or who have taken refuge between its people, old and recent, from St. Augustine to the philosopher Jacques Dredd, from the philosopher Ibn Beja Governorate to the Mark Ibn Khaldoun, and from the novelist Cervantes to the land of Kamui. From Prince Abdul Qadir to Ibn Badin.
Of course, no city is like the other, just as no one looks like anyone else, even if the names are similar. This is a shining guide, sometimes not heeded, on the richness of identity. It is true that the name (Algeria) is one as in every country. But in the person you combine things with it they scatter as Ibn Arabi said. That is the game of the difference and the plural, or the equation of plurality and unity: who is proficient in the management of its relationship with the other, individual or group, for friendship and socialisation, or partnership and exchange. Those who are not proficient create a problem for themselves and ruin their relationship with their partners or peers.

But to Constantine is another matter. This city is unique, especially in terms of its location and topography, since it was built on two towering rocky blocs, separated by abyssal valleys. This is known for its outstanding bridges, ancient and modern, stone and cement, fixed or animated, and the last of these bridges had the highest build, in the past year, to be the longest and the highest among them. It is therefore one of the most prominent archaeological and urban monuments in the city. In talking with the Algerians I was wondering why Constantine has been embracing since the foot of this site and at this high altitude and danger. Of course the security worker attends. He was the one who pushed the Chinese emperors to build their Great wall. Perhaps the same reason why he stood behind the building of Constantine is like a zodiac constructed. But with the invention of planes and rockets, no fence or tower is back. The most useful day is mastering the language of deliberation.