Algerian intellectuals call for the boycott of Paris International Book Fair

Well informed sources revealed that a nationwide petition is due to be launched to denounce the participation of intellectuals in Paris International Book Fair slated from March 14th through 19th.The campaign mainly targets those who set aside the national Arab consensus and decided to take part in the fair which overtly recognizes the Israeli state. The petition will be raised to the country’s supreme institutions.

The petition will be disclosed during the National Book Fair due to take place at the National Library, here in Algiers next week. Outstanding literary figures and personalities as well as cultural associations confirmed their participation in this cultural event transformed, for this occasion, into a protest scene which aims at protecting the national memory an identity from foreign attacks.

Corroborating sources revealed that initiators of the petition intend to enlarge their scope to extend it to the various Arab Organizations including the Arab Union Writers , in a move to come out with a unified Arab project likely to bridge the gap and strengthen cooperation between different actors.

The initiative comes in a backdrop of a special context which coincides with the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli authorities against innocent civilians in Gaza , and the French official stand that recognizes the Holocaust, seizing the opportunity to invite Israel as an honorary guest in this fair.

The French initiative was seen as kind of reconciliation with its own colonial past. The gesture was highly praised by the Israeli authorities declaring that France was the best Israeli Ally since the establishment of their state.

In this respect, sources reveal that a project is underway to lodge an international complaint against the French authorities for war crimes during the colonial period. The initiators of this project aim at pushing the French authorities to admit their genocide against the Algerian people and stop their glorification of colonialism.

Some Algerian intellectuals didn’t escape criticism and were fiercely denounced by the petitioners. Among the “persona non gratta” both Mayssa Bey and Boualem  Sanssal are on top of the black list.

These intellectuals have not only deeded to take part in this fair, but also staunchly criticized the Algerian political regime whom they consider is the same as he Nazis one led by Hitler.