The 'Berber Spring' (in
Kabyle, ''Tafsut Imazighen'' or simply ''Tafsut'') was a period of political mobilization, cultural and labor and street agitation, and criminalization of political activity in
Kabylie. It is traditionally dated beginning on
March 10,
1980 with the banning of a speech by intellectual
Mouloud Mammeri at Hasnaoua University in
Tizi-Ouzou. A critical point was the coordinated arrest of hundreds of Berber activists, students and doctors on
April 20, sparking a
general strike.