The death of Aïcha El Khattabi: daughter of the hero of the Rif, a key region in Moroccanness

The death of Aïcha El Khattabi: daughter of the hero of the Rif, a key region in Moroccanness

The passing away of a person is always sad. But, there are women and men who bring with them a tradition, a history, an idea of ​​life. This is the case of Aïcha El Khattabi, daughter of Abdelkrim El Khattabi, a famous hero of the Rif war.

The Rif conflict was one of the most heroic pages in the history of modern Morocco, and equally little known and studied in the West. Between 1911 and 1926, which saw two European armies (Spanish and French) and the Rif tribes, led by Abdelkrim El Khattabi, pitted against each other. A complex war in which figures who would have influenced European affairs such as Francisco Franco and Philippe Pétain took part.

Equally true, was also the ferocity of this conflict, which on the European side saw the massive use of aircraft and starting from 1924, chemical weapons were used, marking the first widespread use of gas warfare in the era following the First World War . European armies indiscriminately used phosgene, diphosgene, chloropicrin and mustard gas even against civilian populations, markets and rivers.

The Rif question also remained the subject of controversy, especially for detractors of the monarchy. But it is the same daughter of the hero of the Rif who, in an interview, publicly declares that: « If my father created this republic (that of the RIf), it was not to separate it from Morocco, but so that it would not be attached to France, which then it was in the center of Morocco. »

In fact, the Rif has always been at the heart of the Moroccan monarchy. Morocco and all its institutions have always had love for this region and its population as well as all the regions of the Kingdom including its southern provinces which are an integral part of a single, solid and united country, attached to their King.

Today, tired and old Europe does not realize that the world has changed, that it is not possible to approach Morocco or Africa with the same colonial idea as two centuries ago. The world is changing, the center has shifted towards the Arab/Amazing and African world.

Marco Baratto

https://mediterranews.org/2023/09/22/la-morte-di-aicha-el-khattabi-figlia-delleroe-del-rif-una-regione-fondamentale-nella-marocchinita