{{Short description|Method of assassination}} The '''Kabyle smile ('''{{Langx|Fr|Sourire kabyle|links=Yes}})<ref>{{Cite book |last=Amine |first=Laila |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Postcolonial_Paris/qNdfDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |title=Postcolonial Paris: Fictions of Intimacy in the City of Light |date=2018-06-12 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Pres |isbn=978-0-299-31580-1 |pages=183 |language=en}}</ref>was a method of killing used by elements of the FLN during the Algerian War, consisting of slitting the victim's throat.<ref>James Minahan, ''Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: S-Z'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, {{ISBN|0313323844}}, {{p.}}866</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1995-03-15 |title=Hidden enemies of a bitter mountain war |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/hidden-enemies-of-a-bitter-mountain-war-1611259.html |access-date=2026-03-30 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> And often with the added sadism of severed genitals stuffed in the victims mouth.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morandais |first=Alain de La |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/L_honneur_est_sauf/09osAAAAIAAJ |title=L'honneur est sauf: prêtre, officier en Algérie |date=1990 |publisher=Seuil |isbn=978-2-02-012198-9 |pages=36 |language=fr}}</ref> The method was widespread among the fighters of Kabylia, which was then one of the main areas of conflict. Harkis, French soldiers in Algeria, and European civilians were victims of this.<ref>[http://www.scribomasquedor.com/medias/files/extrait-de-moi-hassan-harki-1.pdf ''Moi, Hassan, harki, enrôlé, déraciné'', Éditions du Masque d’Or, mars 2013]</ref> This practice was also applied by the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) during the Algerian Civil War in the 1990s.<ref>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XgifU5QF6aIC&lpg=PT99&ots=czMCjikkk4&dq=%22Sourire%20kabyle%22%20-brac%20-album%20harkis&hl=fr&pg=PT99#v=onepage&q=%22Sourire%20kabyle%22%20-brac%20-album%20harkis&f=false ''La blessure - La tragédie des harkis'', Daniel Costelle, Isabelle Clarke, 2010]</ref>
According to Jacques Duquesne, a journalist at ''La Croix'' in Algiers in the late 1950s:
{{Blockquote|text="In the army, they spoke of the 'Kabyle smile': the slitting of the throats of pieds-noirs or Algerians suspected of being sympathetic to France, whose necks had been cut and whose genitals had been stuffed into the wound"|source=<ref>[http://www.aidh.org/faits_documents/algerie/express1.html Témoignage par Jacques Duquesne].</ref>.|author=Jacques Duquesne}}
== History == Notably during the Palestro ambush in 1956, this practice was applied to corpses, with evisceration added to it.<ref>[http://www.unjournaldumonde.org/2008/08/29/toussaint-sanglante-le-debut-de-la-guerre-dalgerie/ Toussaint sanglante : début de la guerre d’Algérie]</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Carver |first=Michael |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/War_Since_1945/bY5Rz91OHYcC? |title=War Since 1945 |date=1981 |publisher=Putnam |isbn=978-0-399-12594-2 |pages=292 |language=en}}</ref>
In 2026, Leftist French politician, Sophia Chikirou made a joke using the phrase; Sophia Chikirou came on stage and joked, ''"We're waiting for you at the exit, Adele."'' Before adding, ''"I gave her a Kabyle smile."'' While receptive to the first joke, the audience didn't react to the second ''.'' The performer then asked the audience, ''"Who here knows what a Kabyle smile is?"'' One spectator replied, ''"That's not good."''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2026-02-19 |title=On vous explique la polémique du "sourire kabyle" évoqué par Sophia Chikirou visant une humoriste |url=https://www.franceinfo.fr/politique/la-france-insoumise/on-vous-explique-la-polemique-du-sourire-kabyle-evoque-par-sophia-chikirou-visant-une-humoriste_7815947.html |access-date=2026-03-31 |website=Franceinfo |language=fr-FR}}</ref>
== References == <references />
{{Algerian War}}
Category:Algerian war crimes Category:War crimes in the Algerian War Category:Extrajudicial killings in Algeria Category:Controversies in France Category:Anti-European sentiment Category:History of Kabylia Category:Pieds-noirs history Category:Wartime sexual violence in Africa Category:Involuntary genital mutilation Category:National Liberation Front (Algeria) Category:Deaths by edged and bladed weapons Category:Deaths by stabbing in Algeria
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