By Jamal Al-Wardi
To the reasonable Algerians, to those who differentiate between true patriotism and blind fanaticism, we pose a direct question today: Do you accept what these criminals have done, who have harmed themselves before harming the image of Algeria?
No one generalizes, and no one accuses an entire people, but silence or justification is more dangerous than the act itself. What some Algerian individuals have done cannot be described as a passing behavior or a "slip," but rather dangerous and condemned actions: stealing a phone from a security officer in charge of communications, publishing videos containing insults and collective humiliation against the residents of a Moroccan city, tearing up banknotes of a host country in a provocative scene, filming a video of himself urinating in a public space, and, most seriously, finding offensive content on his phone during the investigation.
This is not freedom of expression, nor is it sports encouragement, nor is it a "reaction." These are crimes punishable by law in any respectable country. And the fundamental question here is: Do you accept that these actions are defended in the name of Algeria? And do you accept that your country and its history are reduced to deviant behaviors?
Patriotism does not mean standing with the wrongdoer because he is "one of the country's people," but it means standing with the truth and against the wrong, regardless of who committed it. The reasonable Algerian is the one who says: No, this does not represent me and does not represent my country. Justifying insults, theft, and vandalism is a double offense to the nation.
When anyone travels to another country, they are a guest, and they must respect the laws of the host country and its people. Those who do not respect the laws not only offend the country they visited, but they first offend their country, whose name and nationality they bear.
For this reason, we reiterate the question clearly and without ambiguity: O Algerians, O reasonable people, do you accept these actions? And do you accept that the flag of Algeria is raised to defend criminal and disgraceful actions? Or has the time come to speak the truth: These people represent only themselves, and Algeria is bigger than them?
Silence about the wrong is not neutrality, but indirect participation in it. National dignity is protected by ethics and respect for the law, not by chaos and provocation.
