Mokhtar Mokhtefi (1935–2015) was a member of the National Liberation Front (FLN) during the Algerian War of Independence. He wrote about his experiences growing up in Algeria and fighting in the war in his memoir, I Was a French Muslim.

Mokhtefi was born in 1935 in Berrouaghia, Algeria. His father was a butcher. ^[1] On 8 May 1945, Mokhtefi witnessed both Victory in Europe Day and the Sétif and Guelma massacre in which the French army massacred at least 6,000 Algerians. ^[2]

Mokhtefi was the only one of his family's six children to attend secondary school, after one of his teachers encouraged his father to send him. ^[1] Mokhtefi attended a lycée, a French boarding school in Blida. ^{[1] [3]} In his memoirs, he recounted how his education caused a feeling of alienation from his family and his village: "I see that the habits, the beliefs, the way of thinking and acting acquired in my original environment are eroding. I’m 'Frenchicizing,' one might say." ^{[4] [2]}

After Mokhtefi completed high school, he worked at a school in Constantine as a maître d’internat or student monitor. ^{[5] [4]} In 1954, the FLN declared a revolution. Mokhtefi was involved with student and union organizing to support the Algerian War of Independence. ^{[5] [2]}

After discovering that his political activity had caught the attention of the French authorities, Mokhtefi fled to Morocco and joined the Armée de libération nationale (ALN), the armed wing of the FLN. He adopted the nom-de-guerre Amara. ^[2]

After training in Morocco and Tunisia, ^[6] he served as a radio operator in the ALN Signal Corps. ^[2] Eventually, he headed his own communications unit. ^{[1] [7]} To set up communication posts, he undertook dangerous border crossings, including crossing the Morice Line. ^{[6] [8]}

Mokhtefi became increasingly disillusioned by the ALN ^[7] and openly opposed some of the actions taken by some leaders. ^{[3] [2]} At one point he was ordered to kill two fellow Algerians for treason; believing them to be innocent, he refused. But one of his colleagues killed them and was haunted by their deaths. ^{[3] [8]} Mokhtefi references a "climate of fear and disdain" in the ALN in his memoirs. ^[7]

Although Mokhtefi loved French literature and culture, his experience as a colonized subject of France revealed the hypocrisy of French ideals. ^[8] In particular, Mokhtefi was frustrated with the French labor movement's lack of support for Algerians, later writing: "Where is past proletarian solidarity, what has become of the values of the Enlightenment?" ^[2]

After the war ended in 1962, Mokhtefi obtained work in government planning, ^[4] but his colleagues did not support his "Marxist ideas" about land redistribution. Mokhtefi became increasingly disillusioned with Algerian politics, in part because it was dominated by the military. In 1965, the first president Ahmed Ben Bella was overthrown in a coup by Houari Boumédiène, a move of which Mokhtefi disapproved. ^[2] He also criticized the suppression of free speech, comparing it to French colonialism. ^[9]

In 1972, Mokhtefi met his future wife, Elaine (née Klein), at a friend's dinner in Algiers. ^{[2] [10]} At the time, she worked in the Algerian administration as a fixer. ^[10] When Elaine was ordered to spy on a colleague, former president Ben Bella's wife, she refused. As a result, she was forced to leave Algeria, and Mokhtefi went with her. ^[2]

In 1974, the couple moved to Paris, where they sold jewelry and children's books that they had created. They married in 1991. ^[9] His wife has said that he experienced racism in France. ^{[3] [10]} After 20 years in France, they ultimately ended up in New York City, where Mokhtefi studied English at Columbia University. ^[10]

Mokhtefi continued to follow the news in Algeria and visit his family every year. ^[10] His wife has said, "The country was the love of his life. He couldn’t bear it being endangered in such a way, to see it manipulated and degraded." ^[2]

In 2015, Mokhtefi died of cancer in New York City. ^{[1] [3]} His wife, Elaine, dedicated a bench to him in Riverside Park where he had enjoyed sitting. ^{[10] [6]} In 2024, she set up the Elaine and Mokhtar Mokhtefi Endowment to support students at the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies. ^[11]

Towards the end of his life, Mokhtefi began working on his memoirs. ^[10] Soon after his death in 2015, Barzakh Editions published his memoirs in Algeria as J’étais Français-musulman: itinéraire d’un soldat de l’ALN. ^{[12] [1]} Six years later, an English translation done by his wife was published as I Was a French Muslim. ^[1] The title references how Algerian Muslims were referred to on their identity documents. ^[4]

His wife has stated that the memoir "reflects his disappointment in independent Algeria. He was disappointed that Algeria failed to uphold the ideals of democracy, justice and freedom". ^[13]

GQ Middle East included it on a list called "Best Middle Eastern Literature to Read Now". ^[14]