Жәмила Бухиред: Алжир еркіндігі үшін күрескен қаһарман әйел

Algerian militant

Djamila Bouhired (جميلة بوحيرد, born c. 1935) is an Algerian militant, nationalist and revolutionary having attended a French school in Algeria. She would go on in her youth to join the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) while a student activist. There she worked as a liaison officer and personal assistant of FLN commander Yacef Saadi in Algiers.

Djamila Bouherid was born in a middle class family in colonial Algeria. When she was still a student in a French school, she discovered her revolutionary spirit. When all the French students repeated every morning "France is our mother", Bouhired would stand up and scream "Algeria is our mother!" She was then punished for this by the principal. From this time, Bouhired was drawn to the revolutionary cause. Her brothers having already been involved with the underground nationalist struggle, Bouhired was quick to join and her profile would quickly rise in stature. During the revolution she worked as a liaison agent for the commander Saadi Yacef. In April 1957, before a large planned demonstration in the Casbah, she was captured by the French and tortured for information about that demonstration. She did not divulge any information under torture and reportedly repeated "Algeria is our mother" while being tortured. Despite all of this extreme torture, Bouhired maintains that she did not confess to any wrongdoing or reveal any confidential information about the FLN. According to Bouhired, the torture went on for a total of 17 days. In July 1957 she was tried for allegedly bombing a cafe, alongside another Algerian rebel, Djamila Bouazza, aged 19. She became chairwoman of the Algerian Women Association in independent Algeria, and was constantly at odds with then Algerian President Ahmed Ben Bella. Bouhired was one of the many women fighting for emancipation and equality in the newly independent Algeria. However, economic downfall and exponential population growth caused a rise in Islamic fundamentalism, which coupled with new laws allowing for a multi party political system ultimately resulted in civil war. Equality for women was not a priority of the government throughout this period in Algerian history. Nonetheless, Bouhired will forever be known for her work not just for Algerian independence, but also for women's rights in Algeria.

She was one of the trio of FLN female bombers depicted in the 1966 film The Battle of Algiers. She was also depicted in the film Jamila, the Algerian (1958) by Egyptian director Youssef Chahine and in Terror's Advocate, a documentary film about Jacques Vergès. There is a song dedicated to her in Indonesian.