“Le Figaro” Embraces Driencourt And Attacks Algeria On Demand

The right-wing newspaper “Le Figaro” intensified its campaign against Algeria, dedicating what resembles a dossier on Algeria in its issue published on Sunday, December 1, 2024. This dossier included contributions from the former French ambassador to Algeria, Xavier Driencourt, who has become an expert on Algerian affairs, as well as an extensive article about Boualem Sansal, written by Guillaume Perrault.

Among the fallacies contained in this file, the retired diplomat, Xavier Driencourt, claimed that Boualem Sansal fell victim to the deterioration of bilateral relations, which reached a state of complete rupture since French President Emmanuel Macron decided to change his country’s stance on the Sahrawi issue, disrupting the balance in his country’s relations with the two Maghreb states, making him an ally of the plotting Moroccan regime.

What is interesting in the “Le Figaro” article is that it talks about Boualem Sansal as if he were an influential figure capable of stirring the Algerian street, claiming that this is the reason behind his arrest. This description is completely contrary to the truth and reality, as Sansal is considered a true unknown. He has never written for Algerians; rather, he targeted a specific group of French readers who believe in and defend far-right ideologies.

In the opinion of many observers, Boualem Sansal was not known by the vast majority of Algerians because he did not live his life as an Algerian. He spent more weeks and months in France than he did in his own country, even when he was an official in the Ministry of Industry, according to former Minister of Industry, Hasni Jebbou.

His works, all printed in France, aimed to please a specific segment of French society, which still mourns the loss of the dream of “French Algeria” and considers the armed struggle against French occupation as terrorism, even after more than six decades.
Sansal occupied himself in his books with fighting the Arabic language and the Islamic religion, while French served as a vessel for transmitting the culture of colonialism, which for him was not an occupation but rather an emancipation of Algerians from their backwardness, just as the literature that speaks of the positive role of colonialism suggests.

Based on the testimony of the former Minister of Industry regarding the mysterious missions he was undertaking abroad at the behest of influential parties, it is now incumbent upon those who defended him to account to the Algerian justice system, after it has been confirmed beyond any doubt that this person, who was receiving a salary from the Algerian state, was actually carrying out dubious missions against the interests of the state.

This approach is defended by the French politician and former Member of the European Parliament from the Green Party, Mr. Karim Zeribi, who described Sennal as “a fake writer who is anti-Islam and spreads hatred,” which is why the French far-right and the Zionist lobby behind them blindly support him.

In a post by Karim Zeribi on his social media account, a video clip from his interview with “Beur FM” radio station was shared, stating that “Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella (representing the far-right in France) support him because they only like Algerians when they insult Algeria or spread hatred against Islam and Muslims.”

He added that “their defense of Sansal is not due to what he writes or his call for freedom, but rather a political exploitation that serves the interests of the far-right.” He also called on the Algerian authorities to “prevent him from entering the country or even revoke his Algerian citizenship.”
He underscored the “necessity of standing against him because he serves the agenda of the far-right and some reactionary intellectuals.”

As Mr. Zeribi described, the detained Sansal in Algeria belongs to the category of “fake writers who spread hatred and undermine the values of respect and coexistence,” as evidenced by the fact that everything he said about Algeria is completely untrue and misleading. This was also expressed by the French historian Benjamin Stora, who provided evidence to debunk what Sansal said about Algeria.