Part of the text from Niḍāl Irlandā, which appeared in Tunisian newspaper Al-FajrLike many leading Irish revolutionaries, Al-Madani was born into exile. His family were members of the old Algerian elite and fled to Tunisia following the failure of an 1871 revolt against French rule. This, he hoped, would inspire the Algerian people to organise against the French, just as the Irish cultural revival had inspired a generation to organise against the British. Al-Madani identified the First World War, in which many North Africans served, as a key turning point for all colonial peoples. He lauded MacSwiney’s sacrifice, describing him as a "mujāhid", a term that might be best translated as "spiritual warrior" and that would subsequently be used to describe the fighters of the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) during the Algerian War.

Source: The North Africa Journal August 21, 2020 15:00 UTC