Draft:Djamila Bouhired

Djamila Bouhired

Name	Djamila Bouhired
Born	1935 AD
Place of birth	Algeria
Joining the struggle	1954 AD
Arrest and imprisonment	1957 AD
Duration of imprisonment	6 years
Party affiliation	National Liberation Front (Algeria)
Responsibility after release	Presidency of the Women's Union
Currently	Living in Algeria

Djamila Bouhired is one of the prominent figures of the anti-colonial struggle in the mid-20th century who played a significant role in the Algerian Revolution against France. She spent six years in the occupiers' prisons and exile.

Birth

Djamila Bouhired was born and raised in the Casbah city, and she was the only daughter among her parents' seven sons, born to an Algerian father and a Tunisian mother.

Djamila's love for Algeria was greatly influenced by her mother, and love for the homeland was instilled in her from childhood, as her mother constantly reminded her that she was an Algerian citizen, not a French one, and her country was Algeria, not France. Djamila completed her studies due to her interest in fashion design, in addition to classical dance and horseback riding, and then enrolled in a weaving school.

Struggle against Colonialism

During the occupation of Algeria by France, in Algerian schools, students would chant the slogan "France is our mother" during morning ceremonies, except for Djamila Bouhired who shouted: "Algeria is our security," until the school principal pulled her out of the line and punished her, but this did not deter her from patriotic struggle. In such moments, the desire to struggle was born in her. Her brother was also killed in the struggle against colonialism...

Joining the Algerian Revolution

She joined the National Liberation Front (Algeria) in 1954 AD on the eve of her 20th birthday, and subsequently joined guerrilla groups. She was among the first individuals who volunteered to plant mines on roads used by colonialist French forces, and was pursued due to her activities in this field.

Djamila was supposed to be the liaison between the "Mountain Commander" in the National Liberation Movement and "Yacef Saadi," for whom the colonial forces had set a bounty (100,000 francs) for anyone who arrested and handed him over to them.

Arrest and Imprisonment

These braveries led to Djamila Bouhired becoming the first individual pursued by the colonialists; until in 1957, after being shot in the shoulder, which caused severe bleeding, she was arrested, and after being admitted to the hospital, French forces tortured her severely with electric shocks for three days; and she still, in free struggle and resistance, did not reveal the names of her comrades; she remained steadfast and endured torture and pain until she lost consciousness, and when she woke up crying, she shouted: "Algeria, is our mother".

She was in prison for three years and then exiled to France where she stayed for 3 years, and then was released with the rest of her fighting comrades after her country's independence.

Sentenced to Death

When the French colonialists could not extract a confession from this fighter, they sentenced her to death in a show trial in 1957 AD. In this court, she repeated her famous sentence that is recorded in history: "I know that you will sentence me to death, but do not forget that by killing me, you are assassinating freedom in your own country, but you will not prevent the freedom and independence of Algeria." This execution was scheduled to be carried out on March 7, 1958. The death sentence of this legendary fighter led to severe condemnation worldwide, such that the United Nations Human Rights Committee, as a result of receiving millions of postal messages, condemned and strongly rejected this sentence. Consequently, it was decided to postpone the execution of the death sentence, and then this sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.

Release from Prison

Algeria was liberated from French colonialism in 1962, and Djamila Bouhired was finally released after enduring 6 years of imprisonment due to the pressure of world public opinion and the UN Human Rights Committee. She then married the French lawyer "Jacques Vergès," who defended her and her companions during the colonial period, after he converted to Islam. And his name was changed to "Mansour".

After Algerian Independence

Djamila Bouhired, Algerian female fighter

Djamila Bouhired

After independence, Djamila Bouhired took charge of managing the Women's Union of Algeria and resigned from this position due to continuous disagreements with the President of Algeria, "Ahmed Ben Bella," and after two years decided to completely exit the political scene. She still lives hidden until the present time and appears occasionally to prove that she is still a symbol of patriotism and struggle against colonialism.

Bouhired in Literature and Culture

Bouhired is considered a symbol of struggle, love for the homeland, and resistance for a liberated nation. Algerian poets and other poets in Arab lands (Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Sudan, Palestine, and Arabia) have praised her with special delicacy and beauty. More than seventy poems about the fighter Djamilah Bouhired have been written by the most famous poets such as: Badr Shakir al-Sayyab, Nazik al-Malaika, Nizar Qabbani, Ahmad Abd al-Mu'ti Hijazi, Rashid Hussein, Muhammad al-Fayturi, and Hassan Abdullah al-Qurashi, among others. Abdul Rahman al-Sharqawi, who participated in writing the screenplay for Al-Risalah or same as Muhammad Rasul Allah (peace be upon him and his progeny) with Tawfiq al-Hakim and Abdul Hamid Joudah al-Sahhar, has other plays such as The Tragedy of Djamilah in his portfolio, which is about the life of Djamilah Bouhired, the Algerian fighter lady. A film was made for her in Egypt while she was in prison.