France-Algeria Friendship in Danger
The issue of the appointment of the far-right MP (Republican Party) as Vice-President of the Parliamentary Group for the Algerian-French Friendship group, José Gonzales, continues to generate controversy in French political and media circles, considering this appointment as a threat to the Algerian-French Friendship.
After the criticism levelled by Mathilde Panot, head of the parliamentary group of the “France Insoumise (unsubmissive)” party led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, for appointing the extreme right-wing MP as vice-president of the Franco-Algerian Friendship Group, it was the turn this time for the French painter and poet, Jean Riboulet, who considered choosing Gonzales for this position “a threat to Algerian-French Friendship”.
A letter by Jean Riboulet, under the title “Frence-Algeria friendship is in danger”, was published by the French “Media Part” website: “Even if they are legal and regulatory, decisions are made and nevertheless remain an unbearable ignominy. The following information is not encouraging. It is even serious and can generate enormous risks for relations between Algeria and France: the appointment on Friday, December 30, 2022, of José Gonzales as vice-president of the France-Algeria Friendship group of the National Assembly”.
“We must react, challenge and abolish this appointment, this is what a citizen asks you to do, make his voice heard and those of many others. In the future, we must avoid what has just happened. This shows that the Constitution has long been obsolete, like the regulations of the Chambers (National Assembly and Senate). It is necessary to modify the rules of operation by asking the opinions and choices of the citizens of our Republic by way of referendum, petition and others” he added, considering the choice of this MP, known for his racist and rejectionist backgrounds, to denounce the crimes of the French occupation in Algeria, an “abnormality” in political action.
José Gonzales, a French of Pieds-Noirs parents, born in Oran in 1943, left Algeria after independence and is one of those circles who have nostalgia for French Algeria and still does, moreover, he is a defender of the terrorist secret army organization (OAS), said MP Mathilde Panot.
Jean Riboulet cited a statement by the head of the parliamentary group of the “France Insoumise” party in the lower chamber of Parliament (the National Assembly), which described Gonzales’s appointment as vice-president of the Algerian-French Friendship Group as “a disgrace and an affront,” because the man defends and denies the terrorist secret army organization (OAS) and refuted that it committed crimes against the Algerians and the French together after the cease-fire on March 19, 1962, before addressing Gonzales: His Excellency, HE forgets the confessions of General Aussaresses in 2000″, referring to the crimes committed by the paratroopers of the occupation army in Algiers.
The author of the article went on to address the extreme right-wing MP: The secret terrorist organization of the army, “The innocent OAS! He forget, among other things, the attack on February 7, 1962, against the home of André Malraux a famous French writer) at the time Minister for Cultural Affairs, which caused the mutilation of a 4-year-old girl, Delphine Renard, who lost her sight (see the site “herodote.net“, the media of History). This individual, elected by the Republic, sees no crime in colonization and its consequences! As the DIA newspaper reports, “Dernières Infos d’Algérie” on December 31, 2022, he does not hide his nostalgia for French Algeria”.
Jean Riboulet continues, referring to a phrase said by the extreme right-wing MP in the first session of the National Assembly in the speech he delivered as the oldest MP: “I left part of France and many friends there (meaning in Algeria), even wiping away a tear in front of the MPs. He then asserts that France is not responsible for any crime in Algeria and that Emmanuel Macron has made a serious mistake by speaking of a crime against humanity. All those who were sent to war in Algeria (to participate in “law enforcement operations”, official terms of the time) and there are many of us, can say the opposite of the assertion of the MP. Let’s hope he watched the parliamentary channel at 8:30 p.m. from Monday, January 2 to Thursday, January 5 on this war, we see the crimes there!!!”
To respond to Gonzales’s glorification of French colonialism in Algeria, Jean Riboulet gives testimony about the ugly and bloody years: “This is why I am shocked by the nomination of such a character. As a former conscript for almost 30 months of military service (two and a half years of my life!) I was forced to go and fight a population, children, elderly people, women and men, RESISTANT like my parents during the Second World War. During this war in Algeria, a large number of Algerians were killed, and many of them were put in regrouping camps surrounded by barbed wire like the one where I found myself at “base 901 in Bordj Tahar” in Petite Kabylie. Terrible acts have been committed, villages bombarded and destroyed with napalm, rapes, assassinations and wood chores… Algerians have been killed, including by young men like myself. I saw there the terrible suffering of these people and yet, until today, the French state, ours, has been silent”.
Previously, the President of the Republic received Benjamin Stora’s report, Riboulet added; “Memorial questions relating to colonization and the Algerian war” which is only available on the internet in PDF format (1.18 M.O.). When will it be published in paper format? In addition, the military archives have not yet been fully revealed! Finally, the author reports an extract from President Macron’s letter to justify the request for this report: “I wish to be part of a new desire for reconciliation between the French and Algerian peoples…”. And he allows José Gonzales to be named vice-president of the France-Algeria Friendship group!”
Riboulet concluded his letter to the MP of the 5th constituency of Seine-Maritime about the national assembly, the Rassemblement National which takes the vice-presidency of the France-Algeria friendship group; “Unfortunately, we will not be able to stop the steps of the extreme rightwing party and Gonzales which will call into question the Franco-Algerian friendship. The 89 Mps of the far right will certainly demolish hopes. With the hope of an intervention on your part with information to the voters of your constituency, which is essential at this time, receive the expression of my cordial greetings. I allow myself to transpose this letter in the form of a post on my blog of the Mediapart newspaper, as well as to both MPs Mrs Mathilde Panot and Jean-Paul Lecoq”.
