Ahmed Ben Bella Quotes

• Yes, my life is a life of combat; I can say that this has never stopped for a single instant. It is a combat that started for me at the age of 16. I’m 90 years old now, and my motivation hasn’t changed; it’s the same fervour that drives me.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• Yes, I am Algerian of Moroccan origin through my parents, but all my life is Algeria. I was born there.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• With my government, we engaged in bringing our help to fights for national freedom. At that precise moment, several countries were still colonised or had barely overcome colonisation. This was the case in practically all of Africa. We supported them.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• When someone came to ask us for help, it was sacred. We did not even think twice. We helped them, even if we had only meagre means; we offered them arms, a little bit of money, and in occasion, men.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• When I was engaged in the struggle for my country, I was very young. My horizons were open.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• Those who are leftists, once in power, are not different from other parties.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• These are the multinationals, like General Motors and Nestle; these are the big industrial groups that weigh, on the monetary scale, much more than big countries like Egypt.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• The liberation movement which I led in Algeria, the organization that I created to fight the French army, was at first a small movement of nothing at all. We were but some tens of people throughout Algeria, a territory that is five times the size of France.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• The French colonisation of Algeria lasted a long time: 132 years.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• Peace does not include a vendetta; there will be neither winners nor losers.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• My life has been a bit special, this is true. I participated in the liberation of my country. I was one of the organisers of its struggle for liberation. I likewise actively participated in all the struggles for liberation.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• It’s with them that we have constituted a liberation front and brought our logistic support to armies to help their countries come out of colonialism and establish a national internal regime.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• It is obvious that taking the country from a state of war to being a lawful state won’t be easy.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• In two years, there were 22 military coups d’etat, essentially in Africa and the third world. The coup d’etat of Algiers, in 1965, is what opened the path.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• In the past, we spoke of poverty, misery only in the south. Now there is a lot of misery, a lot of bad that creates victims in the north as well. This has become manifest: the global system was not made to serve the good of all, but to serve multinational companies.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• I’m optimistic because I’m pragmatic: Neither of the two sides, the military government nor the Islamic front, is capable of winning. If they continue to fight, they will both bleed to death.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• I think that they participated in something that was not very proper and was very pitiful, not only for the Algerian people, but also for the other people who counted on our support.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• I can say now: all the combatants who participated in the fight for freedom in South America came to Algeria; it’s from there that all those who fought left. We trained them, we arranged for the weapons to reach them, we created networks.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• I am the son of poor peasants who came at a very young age to live in Algeria. I only recently saw the place where they were born, near the city of Marrakech.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

• I am not a Marxist, but I place myself resolutely at the left.

  Ahmed Ben Bella

Ahmed Ben Bella (29)

Birth:	25th December, 1916
Death:	11th April, 2012
Nationality:	Algerian
Profession:	President, Soldier

About

Ahmed Ben Bella was an Algerian soldier and revolutionary who was the first President of Algeria from 1963 to 1965. Ben Bella was born in Maghnia, in western Algeria, during the height of the French colonial period. He attended school in Tlemcen and was disturbed by the discrimination towards Muslims by his European teacher. He failed his brevet exam, and subsequently dropped out of school. Ben Bella volunteered for service in the French Army in 1936. The Army was one of the few avenues of advancement for Algerian Muslims under colonial rule and voluntary enlistment was common. Posted to Marseille he played center mid-field for Olympique de Marseille in 1939–1940.In February 2012, Ben Bella was admitted to a hospital for medical checks. At the same time, a report circulated that he had died, but this was denied by his family. He died on 11 April at his family home in Algiers. Though the reasons of his death were unknown he had been treated for respiratory illnesses twice at Ain Naadja. His body lay in state on 12 April before the funeral on 13 April. Algeria declared eight days of national mourning.

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Today's Anniversary - 5th November

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