26 January 2021

French President Says No Apology for Colonization of Algeria

GOOD! 'Apologising' for things you had nothing to do with is ridiculous. I hope Macron stands firm against the jihad.

From Al-Monitor

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would not apologize for France’s colonization of Algeria on Wednesday. It is not the first time Macron, heavily active on the world stage, has made controversial comments related to North Africa.

Macron said there would be “no repentance nor apologies,” the French news service Agence France-Presse reported on Wednesday.

The comments pertain to the French occupation of Algeria from 1830 to 1962, as well as the independence war during the last eight years of that period. France had a massive colonial empire at the time that also included Tunisia, Lebanon and Syria in the 20th century. Algeria was a unique example because Paris ruled the North African country as a part of France. Hundreds of thousands of European settlers known as pieds-noirs moved there. The majority Arab and Berber Muslim population did not have the same rights as the newcomers.

Atrocities were committed by both French and Algerian forces during the war. After independence, there was a massive exodus of pieds-noirs as well as Algerian Jews and Muslims who had obtained French citizenship to France.

Macron’s comment coincided with the release of a report he commissioned on improving ties between France and Algeria. The report recommended a “memories and truth” commission to investigate French rule in Algeria and Macron agreed to establish it, according to The New York Times.

Algerian-French ties are wrapped up in their colonial history. In July, as Black Lives Matter protests broke out internationally, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune asked France to apologize for its treatment of Algerians during the occupation.

Macron's other controversial comments on Africa include his 2017 statement that Africa’s problems were “civilizational” and the result of African families producing “seven or eight children.”

Macron, who took office in 2017, has led international efforts to help Lebanon after the Beirut explosion last August. France also conducts military operations in the Sahel region of North Africa against Islamist forces.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are subject to deletion if they are not germane. I have no problem with a bit of colourful language, but blasphemy or depraved profanity will not be allowed. Attacks on the Catholic Faith will not be tolerated. Comments will be deleted that are republican (Yanks! Note the lower case 'r'!), attacks on the legitimacy of Pope Francis as the Vicar of Christ (I know he's a material heretic and a Protector of Perverts, and I definitely want him gone yesterday! However, he is Pope, and I pray for him every day.), the legitimacy of the House of Windsor or of the claims of the Elder Line of the House of France, or attacks on the legitimacy of any of the currently ruling Houses of Europe.