France Knows How To Confront Its Dark Past In Algeria!

The recent visit of Ms. Alice Rufo, Minister Delegate to the French Ministry of Armed Forces, to Algeria, caused an uproar among the far-right, which was evident through the oral question posed by a National Rally MP, Julien Odoul. This led to a state of polarization within the French National Assembly (the lower house of parliament), culminating in calls for the minister’s resignation.

Only two days after the return of the French official, who accompanied the return of her country’s ambassador to Algeria, Stéphane Romatet, she found herself compelled to respond to a parliamentary question, laden with provocation, on Tuesday, May 12. This was due to the visit that disturbed the far-right French, who refuse to see relations with Algeria regain their bridges of communication in a spirit of equality and mutual respect.

It became clear from the question posed by the MP from Marine Le Pen’s party that those who still yearn for the dream of “French Algeria” were closely and bitterly following the Minister Delegate to the French Ministry of Armed Forces as she bowed before the victims of the French occupation army and the hordes of Pieds-Noirs settlers in the massacres of Sétif, Guelma, and Kherrata 81 years ago. This was while they were awaiting a return of favor from colonial France after they had helped it defeat the Nazi occupier of its lands.

While the far-right MP considered the Minister Delegate’s participation in commemorating the Algerian victims of heinous colonial crimes in Sétif an insult to the French state, an complicity, and even a genuflection to the National Liberation Front that led the war against the occupier, Ms. Alice Rufo responded calmly and steadily, saying: “I have indeed traveled to Algeria and met with the highest Algerian authorities, including President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. We have resumed defense and security cooperation, which is extremely important given the current instability we are witnessing in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, and of course in the Sahel region.”

Contrary to what the founders of the extremist party from which the parliamentary questioner hails, who opposed Algeria’s independence by all means and today prevent any apology or pang of conscience for the horrendous crimes of occupation, the minister in Sébastien Lecornu’s government affirmed that France has no difficulty in reviewing its past positions and practices: “I am proud to serve the interests of a country that knows how to confront its history, with all its bright and dark moments.”

Supporters of the “French Algeria” thesis believe that colonialism played positive roles in the colonies, especially Algeria, and they believe that colonial thought brought civilization to those colonies. However, the French official admitted that Algeria, which lived under the yoke of colonialism, experienced “dark moments,” as she said, which is denied by the right-wing parties that drew from the ideas and orientations of the terrorist OAS.

The French official’s responses to the oral question did not please the MP from Marine Le Pen’s party, who then demanded her resignation from the government, claiming that she did not respect France’s history. However, Alice Rufo responded again, challenging MP Julien Odoul, saying: “Respecting France means respecting its interests. And it is in its interest to establish a constructive dialogue with Algeria.”