It is time to close the Institute of Arabization in Rabat and end the policy of institutional Arabization in Morocco!
Morocco cannot claim to promote linguistic equity and identity justice while continuing to host institutions born out of a political and cultural context that turned Arabization into a project to reshape society at the expense of its native language and Amazigh history.
For its critics, the Institute for Studies and Research on Arabization is far from a neutral linguistic institution. It embodies an era of policies that marginalized Amazigh identity, sidelined its symbols, and relegated Morocco’s Amazigh history to the background, as though the country had possessed no language, civilization, or memory before these Arabization policies were implemented.
We refuse to allow the Arabic language to be used as an instrument to erase Amazigh identity or to impose a monolithic linguistic and cultural identity on Moroccans.
Our demand is clear: shut down the Arabization Institute in its current form, end its unilateral Arabization mandate, and redirect language policies and institutions toward genuine equity for all Moroccans. This must be accompanied by the full restoration of the Amazigh language within the state, education system, public administration, and media.
Morocco is not an Arab country by decree or through Arabization, nor does it need an institution to reshape its identity according to an exclusive linguistic vision. Morocco is an Amazigh nation by virtue of its roots, history, land, and memory. Amazigh identity is neither a folkloric legacy nor a secondary component; it is an official national language and the authentic foundation of Moroccan identity.
The era when the Amazigh language was relegated to a mere subject of academic study and historical archiving—excluded from decision-making bodies and language policy-making—is definitively over.
Stop Arabizing institutions at the expense of national identity! Stop marginalizing Amazigh identity in the name of national unity!
We want a state that acknowledges its history, respects its Constitution, and reconciles its institutions with its Amazigh identity.
By Lhoussine Oumouh Chahraoui
Arabic version | French version
