Senate Speaker Bensalah Sternly Responds To Pt Hollande’s Tweet

72 hours after the provocative comments on Tweeter by French President Francois Hollande, who flabbergasted the Algerians through social networks, the Chairman of the Council of the Nation or Upper House of Parliament, Abdelkader Bensalah, broke the silence of the Algerian authorities by responding tit for tat.

To recall, the French President tweeted about the events of 8th-May 1945, the anniversary of the end of World War II, saying “he wants the French people to be proud of their country stressing that  the latter should say that they have a beautiful and great history”, as he put it.

But François Hollande forgot to say that if for the French it was a day of celebration, in contrast to us Algerians it was a day of deep mourning, because it is the anniversary of the horrendous massacres of 8th-May 1945 during which up to 45,000 innocent Algerians were then savagely slaughtered by the French colonial forces just because they were rightfully demanding freedom and independence.

Despite these heart-rending events, Algeria has always endeavored since independence to improve its relations with France and to turn the page on the somber past to open a new one. 

But nothing helped, as some still embittered people in France who haven’t as yet admitted that the so-called “Algeria of Daddy”, is over, notably by enacting vile laws on the so-called “benefits and the positive role” of colonialism and on the recognition of the treacherous “harkis” are always challenging, with a whiff of hatred, these strategic relations between the two countries.

Furthermore, Mr Bensalah said he was still surprised by the recurrent unacceptable statements made by some French political officials, with a spirit of revenge, to lambast against Algeria as if the hard-won independence of our country is still stuck across their throats.

In conclusion, Mr Bensalah underlined the salient importance of highlighting the heinous crimes of French colonialism of May 8, 1945 in Algeria by fully apprising the future generations of these appalling colonial horrors so that they won’t forget, while stressing that the future between the two countries must be built on sound foundations and without any ulterior motives.