“What Has Been Corrupted By Colonialism In A Century Cannot Be Fixed With One Word”

• The French historian, Benjamin Stora, has admitted the difficulty of achieving reconciliation between Algeria and France due to the somber colonial past, but he believes that the policy of “small steps” adopted by Paris in dealing with the vexed issue of memory would lead to overcoming this difficult hurdle.

• Benjamin Stora said: “What has been corrupted in centuries cannot be fixed with one word …”, while talking about the merits of the report on memory and the French colonization of Algeria, which he handed over to French President Emmanuel Macron on January 20.

• The French historian mentioned that the policy of “small steps” that characterizes dealing with the issue of colonization of Algeria, by the French authorities, did not come from a vacuum, but rather after decades-long struggles, not only by Algerians, but also by elites and some French politicians, who saw in the past the colonialism of their country in Algeria as dishonorable and was tinged with a lot of criminality and tragedies.

• In this regard, Stora pointed to the statements issued by a number of French officials who condemned colonialism, its actions and practices, including presidents, and on top of them, the current president, Emmanuel Macron, when he was a candidate for the French presidency, as he described colonialism as a crime against humanity, as well as his predecessor in the Elysee Palace, François Hollande, who described the colonial system as “unjust,” along with many French politicians and researchers.

• According to Stora, the solution to the memory issue is due to the transformation of colonialism, with its negative implications, into a rich material for scientific and historical research: “In the seventies of the last century, few were researching colonialism, but today there is a wave of research into this phenomenon at the level of France. This is an acceleration of the memory file,” he noted.

• These statements came in a forum organized by the French “Jean-Jouas Foundation”, attended by Louis Simon Bolloux, a member of the Foundation’s Observatory in North Africa and the Middle East, and Jose Puy, a journalist specializing in Algerian affairs, and a member of the Foundation’s North Africa and the Middle East Observatory in addition to the foundation’s director of the North Africa and Middle East Observatory, Farid Wahid.

The French historian further surmised that the steps that take place from time to time between Algeria and Paris, the last of which is the recognition of the responsibility of the French state in the assassination of the Algerian freedom-fighter and the lawyer of the “National Liberation Front”, martyr Ali Boumendjel, is important in the search for reconciliation between memories, which remains in abeyance.

“On the road to reconciliation, but whenever we take a step, even a small one, it is considered progress,” he stressed.

• Benjamin Stora also spoke about the sensitivity of this burning memory issue in both Algeria and Paris, and expressed his astonishment at the “horrific” media circulation in French channels, when the issue of the French apology to Algeria is raised, just as it is the case on the Algerian side, when a statement is issued by a French official through which he rejected presenting Paris with an apology (remorse or repentance), as the French like to express that, as analyses are reported and criticism is leveled to the French authorities.

• The French historian held the responsibility for the “war of memories” between Algeria and France, for what he described as the supporters of “French colonial imperialism”, as he was referring here to the “black feet”, the “movement” and some extreme right-wing circles.

He regrets to this effect that some of them are trying to use memory for revenge, as he said, but “there is a memory against colonialism”, he pointed out.

• Benjamin Stora also noted: “There are those who do not want to erase the memory but want to move forward, and perhaps this is the direction of the new generations”.

He added: “There are those who want new relations between Algeria and France,” noting that “in the past the right-wing as the left-wing used to defend colonialism, and if the right-wing had agreed to defend colonialism, but the left-wing was divided between a defender and a critic of this nefarious phenomenon, like the committed lawyer Giselle Halimi and the French politician Mendès France, who then decided to resign from his position as prime minister during the National Liberation Revolution.