To the attention of Ms. Barbara MASSING, Director General of Deutsche Welle (DW)
Subject: For the respect of the millennia-old Amazigh identity and the territorial integrity of the countries of Tamazgha (North Africa)
Madam Director General,
Allow me to draw your attention to a sensitive and recurring issue in the Arabic-language news broadcasts of Deutsche Welle. It has been unfortunately noted that the term “Arab Maghreb” is frequently used to refer to the countries of North Africa. However, as many researchers, historians, and cultural institutions have repeatedly stated, the Maghreb has never been an “Arab” space [1] and cannot be reduced to that single cultural component.
Like certain other channels such as France 24 or Medi1Sat, imbued with an Arab-Muslim ethnocentric ideology, your presenters also mistakenly refer to Moroccan football teams as “Arab teams.” During their recent historic performance at the U-20 World Cup [2], everyone clearly knew they were representing an African country, participating on behalf of the African continent—and not the Arabian Peninsula, the Gulf States, or Asia. In this regard, His Majesty King Mohammed VI, in his congratulatory message to the Moroccan U-20 national team crowned world champion in Chile in 2025, praised “an achievement honoring Morocco, its youth, and the African continent” [3]. At no time did he mention any so-called “Arab representation.” The Sovereign also recalled that “Amazigh, as an essential component of authentic Moroccan identity, is enriched by the plurality of its tributaries and constitutes a common heritage for all Moroccans without exception” [4] .
It is therefore essential that your editorial teams take into account a historical, anthropological, and cultural reality: the peoples of North Africa are predominantly of Amazigh (Berber) identity.
Deutsche Welle rightly prides itself on editorial principles based on truth, the fight against misinformation, and content reliability. Yet, the use of the term “Arab Maghreb” runs counter to historical, geographical, anthropological, and scientific accuracy. It also fuels outdated ideological narratives, inherited from a pan-Arabism that long sought to deny the indigenous identity of the region.
Perhaps some of your journalists, like a number of North African journalists themselves, have been influenced by the pan-Arabist myth claiming that the Amazighs originated from Yemen and “colonized” North Africa. However, research in genetic anthropology, archaeological discoveries, and scientific history now demonstrate the opposite: numerous populations from the Middle East—particularly from Saudi Arabia and Yemen—as well as part of the founders of the Pharaonic civilization, trace their roots to North Africa [5]. The same applies to Iberian populations, as well as parts of the Sicilian, Sardinian, and Mediterranean populations [6].
This ideology lost all credibility definitively when your own media, in June 2017, reported the major discovery of the “Jebel Irhoud Man” in Morocco—the oldest known ancestor of Homo sapiens (315,000 years old), identified as the earliest known ancestor of humanity. This German-Moroccan discovery, led by Professor Jean-Jacques Hublin of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig and Professor Abdelouahed Ben-Ncer, made headlines in the German press with a striking title: “Wir sind alle Marokkaner” — “We are all Moroccans!” [7].
Furthermore, we kindly ask that you ensure respect for the borders of North African states and avoid any cartographic representation dissociating the Moroccan Sahara from the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco. Germany, alongside Spain, France, and the United States, has recognized the Moroccan autonomy plan under its territorial sovereignty as a serious and credible basis for a solution, supported by United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Accordingly, we would be most grateful, Madam Director General, if you would raise awareness among your editorial teams to avoid the use of ideologically charged, scientifically unfounded, and discriminatory terminology, which is perceived as offensive by millions of North African citizens—including European and German citizens of Maghrebi origin, as well as North African migrants residing in Europe and Germany. Neutral, respectful, and accurate expressions are readily available: “North Africa”, “Great Maghreb”, or, in its historical and indigenous designation, “Tamazgha” — the land of the Amazigh, the “Free People.”
Please accept, Madam Director General, the assurance of my highest consideration.
Rachid RAHA, President of the Amazigh World Assembly
Notes:
[3]- https://www.youtube.com/watch?
[4]- https://amadalamazigh.press.
[5]- https://amamazigh.org/2025/11/
