Sunday,
March 14th,1999
at 2:00 pm sharp
Speaker and debate
YASMINE BELKACEM,
Veteran of Algerian Revolution,
Activist for Women's Rights.
Coffee, Tea, Pastries served.
FREE ($2 donation welcome)
BCC Services Center, 4805 EdgeMoor Lane, Bethesda, MD (Metro: Bethesda)
Contact: (202) 232-0063 |
Hurricane Yasmine
By Abdelaziz Rebatchi
Taking advantage of the presence of a Mudjahida in the
US (New York) here for medical reasons, AAAGW invited Yasmine Belkacem to give a
presentation on her role as a Mudjahida during the Algerian Revolution War and
specifically as a militant woman.
All present members expected a classic academic presentation but they were not counting
on the fiery personality of a lady who received the Algerian National Order of Merit. She
engaged in a question-answer debate and controlled it to the end. The audience was
"nicely shocked" by her down to earth style and bent over backwards to treat her
as a war and relief fund hero.
Indeed, Yasmine lost the use of her legs during the war when she was but fifteen,
during her first military mission. She recounted with deep emotion how her right arm was
saved by a French military surgeon over the direction of another French surgeon who wanted
her arm amputated, and how she looked for and finally managed to find him before meeting
him in Marseilles, France, in 1994, in order to thank him.
She also went in great detail, explaining how she is now helping the innocent orphans
and widows using funds and relief supplies collected by her from friends and disbursing
them personally and directly to the victims of the regrettable events back home, braving
dangerous situations and moving with the help of an armchair. At times forceful, other
times witty and charming, she would describe all the events that were of importance to her
with an astonishing sense of reality that left the audience speechless. When she felt she
said everything she needed to say, she proceeded to end the debate just as she started it.
Hurricane Yasmine was over. Great thanks to the organizers, who allowed such an event to
happen, mostly Souhail and Nadjia who were in charge of the event. |
