Colonial Nostalgia For Algeria Poisons The French Parliament

The French extreme right poisoned the first session of the National Assembly (the lower chamber of Parliament), with a speech by the new Dean of Representatives, Jose Gonzalez, elected within the “Democratic Rally” party bloc, led by the leader of this movement, the extremist Marine Le Pen, by invoking a debate glorifying the hideous French colonial practices in Algeria.

The session was in a state of pandemonium, due to statements issued by Gonzalez, a remnant of the black feet, and a native of Oran, who left Algeria to escape after independence for fear of falling victim to reprisals as a result of their criminal practices against the Algerian people during the abhorrent era of occupation.

The right-wing MP said: “To meet side by side, away from our differences, is a symbol of French unity. The symbol of this unity touches the passion of the child’s heart, who is I from distant France (meaning Algeria), who was removed from his motherland and thrown by the winds of 1962 on the shores of Provence. Behind me is France and my friends, and I am the man who will carry the wound forever”.

The French were not used to such a speech in the opening session of a parliament that had just been elected, and the coincidence contributed to the fact that Representative Gonzalez, who is the oldest, was authorized to preside over this session, whose future repercussions will be dangerous for the next five term, in light of the occupation of the extreme right-wing bloc led by Le Pen, ranked third in the lower house of parliament, in terms of representation.

The dean of the French deputies seemed charged with nostalgia for France’s horrendous colonial practices in Algeria before 1962, to the point that he was blinded by the heinous crimes of the secret terrorist organization (OAS), which was soaked from the blood of the Algerians as the French rejected colonial practices, when he jumped on the crimes of this organization, saying: “I am not here to judge whether the secret military organization committed crimes or not?” It was clear from the words of this representative that his whim met with the leaders and members of this terrorist organization, which resorted to the scorched earth policy to discourage the French authorities and push them to back down from signing the Evian Accords that compelled France to recognize Algeria’s hard-won independence.

In response to a question after his provocative speech, the deputy slipped into statements in which he denied that there were “war crimes” or “crimes against humanity” during the period when the French army was in control of Algeria, a speech that contradicts what was issued by his former presidents, Nicolas Sarkozy, who described colonialism as “unjust”, François Hollande, who described colonialism as “unjust and brutal”, and the current President, Emmanuel Macron, who described colonialism, as a candidate for the presidential elections in 2017, “a crime against humanity”.

These phrases created a debate between the political blocs represented in the lower room of the French Parliament, and far-right deputies backed Gonzalez’s speech, led by the official of the extremist “National Rally” party, Jordan Bardella, who praised Gonzalez’s speech.

However, the left deputies did not let the opportunity pass without directing their anger at the dean of representatives, and Julian Bayo from the “Greens bloc” wrote on his Twitter account: Even if the dean was cautious and mentioned his personal condition. It’s really a problem. We did not applaud.” Socialist Olivier Faure told the press, “It was very embarrassing,” while MP Sandrine Rousseau commented: “Jose Gonzalez spoke of the Algerian war with nostalgia. This speech had no place in the session. “We salute the Algerian resistance fighters and independence fighters who ended colonialism,” the leftist MP added in a statement to LCP channel.

The other right-wing MP, Laurent Jacobelli, defending his party colleague, replied: “Gonzalez said he mentioned his history, and this is not nostalgia, but saluted the black feet in particular,” to which the representative of the “Green bloc” Sabrina Sobahi, replied on Twitter: “In the session, MP Gonzales yearns for the vile assassinations of the secret military organization (OAS) with a kind of insolence, and with his tears he evokes the memory of French Algeria amid a storm of applause. He blatantly insulted our history and our fathers, it is a day of shame”.