Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
Bob's World cited:

A contrary viewpoint I encountered from a British Muslim community observer was that AQ had been undermined by the student-trader martyr in Tunisia; his actions had had a far greater, positive impact on the Muslims in the Arab world. Compared to AQ, what had they achieved for the "man in the street"? Years of repression and humiliation etc.
You can see this on the example of Algeria in these days too.

The FIS and similar - Islamist - groups used to be very strong there, back in the late 1980s and the 1990s. Indeed so strong that when the FIS was denied the right to rule, it trusted itself to reach back upon AQ's methods (and link with it), and launch a major insurgency. Eventually, this turned out not to have found any widespread popular support with the result that - slowly but certainly - it was practically smashed and is nowadays languishing in isolated camps in the south of the country, or even outside it. In summary, they are no important political factor any more.

Anyway, because the Islamists were crushed, the protests we now see in Algiers are mainly run by the FFS of Ait Ahmed and the RCD of Said Sadi, both of whom are from the Kabyle branch of the Berbers, who, in turn are only certain never to be accepted by the majority - consisting of Arabs. That aside, there four main branches of the Berbers (Kabyle in the centre of the country, Chaoui in the east, Chenoui along the coast and M'zabi in the south), and they are opposing each other at least as much as they are opposed by the Arabs.

The only other "important" party, the PT, is composed of Arabs, "but" its leader is Louisa Hanoune - a woman: as "progressive" as Algeria actually is, but expecting the Arabs to "rise" while led by a woman is still... well, a very distant prospect.