Algerian-French Memory Commission to Meet Soon in Algeria

Paris appointed the Dr. and Prof of history at the University of Paris, Tramor Quemeneur, as Secretary-General of the French Commission for Memory, in addition to obtaining a position in the Elysee, and this coincided with the upcoming meeting of the Algerian-French Mixed Memory Commission at the end of July in Algeria, after the meeting that was held on June in France.

Even if the French side has so far been holding the stick from the centre in dealing with the points on the discussion table, the extreme right is trying to pressurize Algeria to obtain concessions from the Algerian side, mainly since the commission includes pieds noirs who are pro extreme right and adopt its theses. These parties will try to exploit the events that France is going through, after the murder of the teenager Nahel of Algerian origin, to impose the French point of view on the files presented.

An informed source said that the Algerian side is still adhering to the same points raised in previous meetings, the most important of which are the discussions of the “colonial file and occupation crimes” since 1830, including archives, property and compensation. The same source denied that the recent events known to France would have any negative impact on Algeria’s position, stressing that the mixed commission is on the same line and distance with its previous proposals, especially since the French president has to avoid announcing his failure to settle the memory file so that this failure is not added to the list of other failures, which the French opposition counts on him.

On the other hand, the scheduled meeting in Algeria is expected to deal with several files, including the settlement of the issue of archives, which are planned to be handed over to Algeria, in addition to the Algerian party’s endeavour to obtain a French acknowledgement of major crimes that occurred during the nineteenth century, as well as efforts to retrieve the Emir Abdelkader’s Sword and Burnous (traditional cloak), which are placed at the French museums, and which are considered by France a symbol of its victory over Prince Abdelkader and refuses until now to return it to Algeria.

A law related to the old colonies of France will be presented to the French National Assembly in the coming months. The French president will not have the right to amend this law and the method of dealing with files that fall within the scope of the old colonies of France, including Algeria, will be determined.

According to observers, the French party is trying so far to gain time in the way it deals with the commission, as the new secretary-general of the commission, Tramor Quemeneur, is considered one of the new generation historians in France, who adopts the path of his teacher Benjamin Stora which means that the opinion of the current commission will not differ much of the report drafted by Benjamin Stora that focused on points remaining a matter of disagreement in the views between Paris and Algeria, including the Harkis issue, the Pieds Noir, the Algerian Jews, and other files as well…

The new Secretary-General of the Memory Commission, Tramor Quemeneur, had previously alluded to the difficulty of overcoming the difference in viewpoints between the two parties, in a previous interview with French media, about the difficulties expected to face the Algerian-French Mixed Memory Commission, saying: “Between France and Algeria, we have different visions of history. We don’t necessarily talk about it with the same words or the same numbers: “The Algerian revolution”, and “the war of liberation”, these terms are used in Algeria, and “the Algerian war” are the connotations used in France.

For reference, the French parliament directed accountability to the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs about the commission which is lacking financial support since its creation, while President Macron was waiting for the first work of the commission next August, which means that Paris is trying to gain time in managing the memory file, and is showing lack of seriousness in addressing the issues at hand as a first step.