Rebiha Khebtani

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Rebiha Khebtani
Member of the National Assembly
for Sétif
In office
30 November 1958 – 3 July 1962
Mayor of Sétif
In office
April 1959 – ?
Personal details
Born(1926-05-07)7 May 1926
Bougie, French Algeria
Died16 January 2006(2006-01-16) (aged 79)
Le Plessis-Robinson, France
Political partyUnity of the Republic [fr]
Spouse
Abdelkader Khebtani
​
(m. 1941)​
Children3

Rebiha Khebtani (7 May 1926 – 16 January 2006) was a

National Assembly of France from 1958 until 1962. A member of the Unity of the Republic [fr] party, she represented the Sétif constituency
. Khebtani's position as a Muslim woman in favor of continued union between France and Algeria led to her becoming one of the faces of the Algerian unionist movement.

Biography

Early life

Rebiha Khebtani was born on 7 May 1926 in the city of

Bougie, then part of French Algeria.[1] She was married at the age of 15, having graduated primary school with two years of upper primary education [fr]. Her husband, 17-year-old Abdelkader Khebtani, was the son of family friends and had a similar level of education.[2] He later became a successful businessman and public works contractor, while Khebtani was a housewife and the caretaker for their three children.[2][3]

Khebtani was encouraged to enter politics by her husband; both were

un-veiling ceremonies organized by the colonial authorities".[5]

Political career

In the

pro-Gaullist list promoting national reconciliation".[6][7] In April 1959, Khebtani was also elected mayor of Sétif, despite garnering criticism from residents of European descent, who viewed her as "an intruder ... forced upon the town by de Gaulle's administration".[2][8] Two months after her election as mayor, her brother was assassinated by pro-independence rebels in the city.[9][10]

Khebtani was one of just five women in parliament during the

haïk of tradition and bareheaded into the spotlight of modern democracy".[12]

However, the trio also received criticism from pro-independence figures and the French Left. The National Liberation Front (FLN), the primary organization fighting for Algerian independence, stated that the three were "traitors to religion and the fatherland" and frequently singled them out in their propaganda. The leader of the French Communist Party, Waldeck Rochet, also accused the trio of "having been elected under the control of the army and thus of not being legitimate representatives of the Algerian people".[12] In a speech responding to criticism from Francis Leenhardt [fr], the leader of the Socialist parliamentary group, Khebtani stated:

Mister Prime Minister, my dear colleagues [she began], a year ago, I was still a veiled woman. I am today the elected representative of a department of more than one million Muslim French people and only 24,000 European French. And, despite the opinion of our colleague Leenhardt, I regard myself as just as valuable as the other metropolitan deputies. I am proud to be in the French National Assembly, the spokeswoman of all those who, in the department of Sétif, the rebel stronghold, have definitively broken with a time gone by, and have decided to build the future of Algeria through France, with France, and within France.[5]

Despite these criticisms, Khebtani accomplished several policy goals throughout her tenure. Among her accomplishments were the promotion of "policies aimed at lifting the social and economic conditions of Muslim people", the easement of "prison conditions for Muslim detainees through the distribution of food packages during Ramadan", and the "early release of a number of FLN supporters of the Sétif region".[14] Khebtani also represented France at the United Nations General Assembly, rallying international support for the French cause during the Algerian War.[12] The parliamentary tenure of Khebtani and the other French Algerian MPs ended on 3 July 1962, the day France declared Algeria to be independent.[15]

Death

Khebtani died on 16 January 2006 in Le Plessis-Robinson, a suburb of Paris.[1]

References

Citations

  1. ^
    National Assembly of France
    . Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Belmessous 2021, p. 218.
  3. ^ a b "La plus entourée: Mlle Sid Cara" [The Most Surrounded: Miss Sid Cara] (PDF). L'Express (in French). December 16, 1958. p. 10. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  4. ^ Rémond 1998.
  5. ^ a b Belmessous 2021, p. 224.
  6. National Assembly of France
    . Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  7. ^ Belmessous 2021, pp. 217–218.
  8. ^ "Moslem Blonde Sheds Veil, Becomes Mayor". Indiana Gazette. 1959-06-04. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  9. ^ "Le Frère De Mme Khebtani Député d'Algérie Assassiné a Sétif" [The Brother of Mrs. Khebtani, Deputy of Algeria, Murdered in Sétif]. Le Monde (in French). 1959-06-12. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  10. ^ "A Letter from Paris". The Daily Telegraph. 1959-06-15. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  11. ^ Asseraf, Arthur (June 22, 2021). "Nafissa Sid Cara — An ambiguous pioneer for Muslim women". Engelsberg Ideas. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  12. ^ a b c d Aissaoui & Eldridge 2017, p. 85.
  13. ^ Belmessous 2021, pp. 218, 221.
  14. ^ Belmessous 2021, p. 221.
  15. ^ Belmessous 2021, p. 213.

Works cited

Further reading

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