Hassiba Ben Bouali - Algerian Hero - حسيبة بن بوعلي البطلة الجزائريّة

 الشهيدة حسيبة بن بوعلي

حسيبة بن بوعلي من مواليد جانفي 1938، بمدينة الشلف، نشأت في عائلة ميسورة الحال، زاولت تعليمها الإبتدائي بمسقط رأسها. وبعد إنتقال عائلتها إلى العاصمة سنة 1948 واصلت تعليمها هناك، وإنضمت إلى ثانوية عمر راسم (حاليا)، وإمتازت بذكائها الحاد، ومن خلال رحلاتها داخل الوطن ضمن صفوف الكشافة الجزائرية اطلعت على أوضاع الشعب السيئة.
مع مطلع سنة 1955 إنضمت إلى صفوف الثورة التحريرية وهي في سنّ السابعة عشر كمساعدة إجتماعية، ولكن نشاطها الفعال برز سنة 1956 حين أصبحت عنصرا نشيطا في فوج الفدائيين المكلفين بصنع ونقل القنابل. 

وأستغلت وظيفتها بمستشفى مصطفى باشا للحصول على مواد كيمياوية تساعد في صنع المتفجرات، وكان لها - رفقة زملائها- دور كبير في إشعال فتيل معركة الجزائر خاصة بعد إلتحاقها نهائيا بالمجاهدين بحي القصبة ومغادرتها البيت العائلي نهائيا في أكتوبر 1956 بعد إكتشاف أمرها.
وامام رفض حسيبة و زملاءها تسليم انفسهم قام الجيش الفرنسي بنسف المبنى الذي كان يأويها رفقة 3 من رفقاءها فأستشهد الاربعة رحمهم الله و جميع الشهداء.

وتستشهد البطلة بعد 3 سنوات من محاربة الاستعمار. هذا جزء من ثمن حرية سلبت مدة زمنية فاقت القرن و الربع القرن, ذاق خلالها الشعب الجزائري ويلات الاستعمار الفرنسي,
حرية كان ثمنها مليون و نصف المليون من الشهداء في ثورة دامت سبع سنوات و نصف برهن خلالها الجزائريون على أن
الحرية تؤخذ و لا تعطى, و أن ما أخذ بالقوة لا يسترد الا بالقوة.

English

First Biography

1938 - 1957

Algerian nationalist.

Hassiba Ben Bouali was born in the city of El Asnam (today Chlef) and moved with her family to Algiers in 1947. She was studying at the University of Algiers when she became involved in the Algerian nationalist movement against French rule and participated in the student strikes of 1956. Ben Bouali quickly joined the National Liberation Front (FLN) and became the liaison officer of Ali La Pointe, deputy chief of military operations in the urban zone of Algiers. After a series of bombings in 1956 and 1957, the French army launched a security (offensive) operation often referred to as the Battle of Algiers. Hassiba Ben Bouali died on 8 October 1957, with Ali La Pointe, in the explosion of the house where she was surrounded by the French paratroopers in the oldest part of the Algerian capital (the Casbah). Along with some other young women, Ben Bouali is considered a key figure in the Algerian struggle against French colonialism. Her name was given to the university in her native town.

Second Biography

Female hero of the Algerian independence war

Her Life: 

Born on January 18th, 1938 in Al Asnam (now Chlef), where Hassiba Ben Bouali began her primary schooling, she continued her education in Ayn Zerga school in Algiers, where her parents had settled in 1947. She received the certificate of primary education in 1950 and entered the lycée Pasteur (now Omar Racim), where she studied until second year.

Many of the testimonials present her as an enlightened teenager, very curious and sensitive too. Thus, Muslim scouting was a great chance for her to go on marvellous hikes through the country and discover the deplorable living conditions of the Algerian peasantry. The display of injustice deeply revolted her.

Hassiba Ben Bouali dreamed of becoming a nurse, but she could only work in a social office, where she would complete her vision of the situation of Algerian people. Her awareness led her to campaigning, which started from the age of sixteen years of age, within the General Union of Algerian Muslim Students.

Therefore, Hassiba became increasingly involved in the nationalist struggle, and, around the end of 1956, she joined other young girls as one of the Fedayeen (volunteers) who distinguished themselves during the Battle of Algiers. It was thus part of a group responsible of making bombs and dropping them off at places of operation.

But the French inquiry services eventually collected information on this group. The Sweatshop manufacturing bombs was immediately investigated and many arrests took place. Hassiba Ben Bouali was then obliged to leave home and go to the Kasbah, fortress of the revolution, which was gridded by the colonial soldiery. It is at this time that repression escalated in Algiers. The French authorities wanted to end the FLN's urban networks, which sowed panic among the settlers.

In February 1957, Larbi Ben M'hidi, head of the autonomous zone of Algiers, was arrested and murdered. Other arrests took place the following months. On October the 8th, 1957, Hassiba Ben Bouali was in a cache at 5, Abderames street, in the heart of the Kasbah, with "Ali la Pointe" and little 12 years old Omar. At nightfall, the house was surrounded by French paratroopers.

The 3 Fedayeen were asked to surrender. Since they refused, the soldiers blew up the house. Hassiba Ben Bouali and her companions perished under the rubble along with 17 other Algerians whose houses were also a victim of the explosion. The martyrdom of Hassiba Ben Bouali became an added reason for the determination of the Algerian people, and a vivid illustration of the participation of Algerian women in the fight for freedom.