Home › Authors › Ahmed Ben Bella
Ahmed Ben Bella Quotes
1916–2012
Ahmed Ben Bella (Arabic: أحمد بن بلّة) (25 December 1916 – 11 April 2012) was an Algerian politician, soldier, and socialist revolutionary who served as the first President of Algeria from 1963 to 1965. He is respected for his role in the anti-colonial struggle and was seen by many Arab intellectuals as one of the last original Arab nationalists.
Random Ahmed Ben Bella quote
13 quotes
Revolutions are very complex. Nothing is easy. Few people want to risk their necks.
I was always religious but I feel it more today because our epoch demands it.
The struggle for liberation was terrible. We were bruised and wounded by colonialism.
Far from denying our option, Islam identifies itself with equality in the minds of the masses, and therefore moves towards socialism.
At that time, the fight was for the liberation of Algeria from the French. Now there is a fight to liberate the world from globalization.
We solemnly reply here that our Socialism stems from Islam. We repeat before world opinion that we are not Communist.
Enough of ‘this is mine’ and ‘that is yours.’ Private property must end. The world must change. We need world solidarity. The enormous amounts of petroleum money in the banks must be used for the world, without interest.
Twelve thousand Algerian pilgrims went to Mecca this year. In the past there were no more than 400 a year. Where is the Communism?
I am not a Marxist but I am resolutely of the left. I am an Arab Muslim. I have always supported movements of the left and socialist countries such as Cuba, China, the Soviet Union who drove the anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist battle.
The one-party state is a marvelous instrument for a war of liberation but as a government system, in every country at every latitude, it has revealed the same defects; it represents only one point of view.
We must remember the obstacles of the era. The long walk to independence was not easy. The war did not unfold in a continuous manner. Forceps were required for the delivery. It was very difficult. There were periods that were hard, with abrupt stops and steps forward.
Immediately after independence, I was associated with all those who, in the world, themselves undertook the struggle to liberate their own country. It was thus this phase in the fight for national liberty that I participated completely.
Interview with Silvia Cattori (2006)
Oh, you know, I’m nothing but optimistic: I’ve spent my life in acting. I am not satisfied making speeches, I devote all of my time in acting by means of the organisation North-South. Also, I believe that, sometimes, the forces of hope come from where we least expect them.
Interview with Silvia Cattori (2006)
Topics Ahmed Ben Bella is quoted on
Works