Obstacles To Calming The “War Of Memory” Between Algeria And France

While the head of the French committee of historians in charge of the Memory File, Benjamin Stora, tended to remain silent, his counterpart, the Algerian historian Mohamed Lahcen Zeghidi, spoke out publicly, suggesting the existence of what could be called a lack of harmony in positions regarding the treatment of a part of this file related to the Algerian archives looted by France.
The head of the committee from the French side, Benjamin Stora, was known for his remarkable activity through the French media, highlighting from time to time what the memory file had reached in the ongoing negotiations with the Algerian side, but the man remained silent for more than a month. His last interview on the file dates back to the eighth of last month and was given to Radio France Internationale (France Inter). Until then, Stora had been the only source to provide the followers with this sensitive file.
As for the head of the committee on the Algerian side, historian Mohamed Lahcen Zeghidi, the statement he made at the end of the week (Thursday, March 7, 2024) constitutes the first of its kind at this level, as he spoke about the efforts made by his committee: “We all now have sufficient and comprehensive information.” About the material heritage looted by the French colonizers during his stay in Algeria, after the Algerian committee visited various specialized civil and military archival centers and institutions in Paris and its surroundings.
In his statement on the sidelines of the historical forum organized by the Ministry of Mujahideen under the title “National Memory and the Problem of Writing History”, Zeghidi revealed the working strategy of his committee and said: “After reviewing all the looted tools, including weapons, equipment, clothing, writings and manuscripts, especially those related to… From them to Emir Abdul Qadir, it was agreed that these balances would first be digitized and then requested to be recovered on paper”.
What Lahcen Zeghidi said is in line with his French counterpart, Benjamin Stora, who said in an earlier interview with the French radio station France Inter that he would prefer the Algerian party to obtain copies of the looted archives using digitization technology, while keeping the original copies in France, Even if, as a first step, this is a given that amounts to a contentious element between the two parties in an issue that involves a great deal of sensitivity, while the outstanding problem remains, which is related to the property and tools of Emir Abdelkader and the leader of the resistance in eastern Algeria, Ahmed Bey.
There is also another obstacle, which Stora had mentioned, and it is of a legal nature, because the decision to hand over the original archive requires the enactment of a law by the French Parliament, which the Chairman of the Committee on the French side considered to require the approval of the French parties represented in the Parliament, and this is a serious matter. The difficulty, he said, is that the issuance of such a law would lead to the emergence of demands from former French colonies in Africa and other continents of the world to retrieve their archives as well, which could lead to opening the gates of hell on Paris.