Will France Apologize For Its Colonial Crimes In Algeria?
All eyes are on Paris on Wednesday, awaiting the results of the final report that will be presented by the historian Benjamin Stora to the French President Emmanuel Macron, relating to the Algerian war, and this is based on what was announced by a statement of the Elysee Palace.
According to the Elysee statement, the Stora report will include the historian’s proposals on several issues related to memory and the Algerian war, which are expected to be discussed.
Benjamin Stora was commissioned by the French President to prepare a report or ground for discussion about memories of the Algerian war to achieve historical reconciliation.
The French presidency’s statement said, “the report does not address the writing of history between the two countries, but it will present some points for discussion, such as the archive and the issue of missing persons”.
Previously, Abdelmadjid Chikhi, who was appointed by President Tebboune for the same mission, described the French intention as bad and said that the archive is an outstanding issue between Algeria and France.
According to previous statements by both Stora and Chikhi, the upcoming report of the Elysee Palace will not carry much because the Algerian party considers the Harkis file as “not subject to the discussion”. Algeria also adheres to the demand for an apology and the criminalization of colonialism and the lifting of restrictions on the archive. While France is under the pressure of the right-wing and Harkis lobby, associations of the war missing, the Jews of Algeria, and other files and ideas that Stora had previously discussed with associations and actors in French society that will not have enough boldness to go far in this file.
Since he was appointed by the President of the Republic, Chikhi has not yet met his counterpart in the mission, Benjamin Stora, an indication that the French report will not carry many points of convergence between the two countries and that the war of memory will not end soon.
