the president of Algeria will be “grateful the day when a giant statue of Emir Abdelkader will sit in Paris” [Vidéo]

Relations between France and Algeria are not at their best. To “warm them up”, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune proposed a solution during a speech given on Sunday, December 29 before the Algerian Parliament.

“I will be grateful the day when a giant statue of Emir Abdelkader (Editor's note: religious and military leader who fought against the conquest of Algeria by France in the 19th century) will sit in the French capital”declared Abdelmadjid Tebboune quoted by the Algerian media TSA.

On the other side of the Mediterranean, the French colonial past is therefore still synonymous with resentment. During his speech, the Algerian president denounced the “crimes of colonialism”. He notably stated: “They gassed the Algerians, Bugeaud is a genocidaire, like it or not. They smoked caves. Isn't this genocide? “. Regarding the “benefits” of colonization, Abdelmadjid Tebboune also suggested a different point of view: “Those who say that they left a paradise in Algeria must know that the day after independence, 90% of the Algerian population was illiterate”.

Following this colonization which, according to him, “ left Algeria in ruins »Abdelmadjid Tebboune does not intend to stop there: “I am not asking you to apologize for what your ancestors did, but at least (…) a moral recognition for what happened”.

to him, “moral recognition” would be more important than financial compensation: “You became a nuclear power and left us with diseases. Come clean, we don't care about your money. I will not abandon memory, I ask for nothing, neither euro nor dollars, but the dignity of our ancestors and our citizens”.

A “moral recognition” which could therefore involve the construction of a stele bearing the effigy of Emir Abdelkader in France. The project has already been proposed by historian Benjamin Stora in a report submitted to Emmanuel Macron at the beginning of 2021.

As the same source also specifies, Algeria is also demanding the restitution of the sword, the burnous, the Koran, the cannons and the tent of the Emir by Paris. A request which has so far been refused by France.

Photo credit: YouTube capture (illustrative photo)
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