I was surprised during my present visit to the Moroccan capital Rabat to the presence of a new language on street shop signs. I later learned that the letters alongside Arabic are in the Amazigh language which has become an official language in morocco as of  2011.   The Amazigh people say that they are the original inhabitants of north Africa. They have lived in a geographical area that cover 10 million square kilometers spanning fro the Canary Islands to Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, Libya and Siwa oasis in Egypt as well as a few other locations in the African continent.   This year the Amazigh celebrated their 2965 new year on the 12 of January. According to the Amazigh traditional their history goes back to 950 years before Christ when the Amazigh King Shishnaq overcame the Egyptian Pharoh Ramsis III which took place on the 12th of January some thirty centuries ago.   Amazigh people have held on to their language which they have carried from one generation to the other despite oppression, discrimination and rejection to their mother tongue. From the moment that they join school or work they are denied to speak in their language. Teachers don’t know Amazigh and have not tried to understand it or deal with it and neither has the local societies accepted them and their language. The fight for recognition of the Amazigh language has come a long way. In 2011 the Moroccan constitution was amended to recognize it as an official language. Since then the implementation has been slow, but more and more one can now see the language prominently displayed in street signs and posters alongside Arabic and French.   Dealing with the Amazigh people and their rights have differed from one north African country to another. While the former Libyan dictator Muamar Qaddafi totally forbad any use of the language, the Algerian government was the first to introduce reforms and constitutional amendments recognizing their culture and language.   The big question remains, how does Arab nationalism deal with this and other ethnicities that exist in the Arab region. Does the recognition of an official language other than Arabic lessen the dream of every Arab to one day accomplish Arab unity?   Amazigh youth feel that the constitutional change in Morocco that recognized them and their language has come after a long struggle which was climaxed by the “democratic spring.” They refer this way to the 2011 popular uprisings that began in Tunis with the aim of liberating people from dictatorship and oppression, and calling for democracy, work and an honorable life. While the constitution was amended in Morocco, reform is going at a very slow pace. As a result you hear in public meetings and official communiqués phrases such as “transitional democracy” and “gradual democracy” as a way to slow down the desire of democracy advocates wishing a much faster pace in political participation at all levels and for all peoples. Some might think that the recognition of the Amazigh language to be a small thing, but for the affected people it represents a sea change in the struggle towards recognizing their culture, origins and their rights. As such this is a reform step of those who have struggle for reform, democracy and political power sharing. While this step doesn’t reflect the conclusion of this important struggle, it will certainly represent the beginning of a serious effort towards genuine reform. لقراءة الأصل بالعربي الرجاء