On January 31, 2026, we accepted an invitation from ASDHOM (Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Morocco) to attend its New Year's ceremony.
It was a powerful moment, which immediately set the tone for 2026 as a year of struggle, a political necessity in the face of rising authoritarianism, the rise of the far right, the crushing of civil society in the Maghreb, and the continuation of the colonial tragedy inflicted on the Palestinian people amid an increasingly complicit international silence.
On this occasion, ASDHOM presented a symbolic trophy to several organizations and collectives committed to defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The CRLDHT (Committee for the Respect of Freedoms and Human Rights in Tunisia) received this distinction in recognition of its ongoing commitment to victims of repression, political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, exiles, and those in Tunisia and the diaspora who refuse to accept the normalization of dictatorship and the erosion of civic engagement.
This same award was given to the LADDH – the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, a historic player in the fight for democracy in Algeria, to UJFP – the French Jewish Union for Peace, an anti-colonial and anti-racist organization that gives a clear Jewish voice to the rights of the Palestinian people, as well as to the Génération Z 212 collective, an expression of Maghreb youth who reject authoritarianism, social injustice, and enforced silence.
This recognition is part of a dynamic of convergence, which found its direct continuation a few days later, on February 6, 2026, in Paris, during an evening debate organized by the French Jewish Union for Peace: "The Maghreb countries and Palestine today." A space for discussion and exchange where human rights activists, journalists, intellectuals, and new generations come together to reflect on the links between repression in the Maghreb, colonialism in Palestine, international responsibilities, and the resistance movements that need to be built.
Between January 31 and February 6, these are not two separate moments, but part of the same political narrative: one that affirms that human rights are indivisible, that struggles cannot be compartmentalized by borders, and that solidarity with Palestine is inseparable from the fight for freedom in Tunis, Algiers, Rabat, or Paris.
In a Maghreb region subjected to repression, criminalization of opinion, and the suppression of civil society, and in a Palestine facing a genocidal campaign of systematic destruction, these meetings remind us of a simple and radical truth: dignity cannot be delegated. It must be defended, transmitted, and built through clear, committed, and lasting political alliances.
2026 will not be a year of commemoration. It will be a year of shared struggles.
