Skip to content
  • Image
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Podcasts
  • Email
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • News
  • Features
  • Comment
  • Store
The Arab Daily News

The Arab Daily News

Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem

  • About
    • About
    • Our Writers
    • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
    • Book Store
    • Contact
    • Submit Book Reviews, Press Releases
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Corrections Policy
    • Profile on Ray Hanania
    • Submit Press Release
  • Features
    • Food
    • Book Review
    • Humor
    • Movies
    • Travel
  • Arab Stores Targeted
  • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Heritage America resources
    • Directory
      • Groups & Organizations
      • Mosques, Churches
      • Restaurants
      • 2008 & 2014 Arab Media Directories
    • National Arab Heritage Month
    • Video: Chicago Arab History
    • Video: Photo Array of Chicago Arabs
    • Overview of Arabs in America
    • Hanania standup comedy
    • Arabs on the Titanic
    • Obituaries
  • Podcasts
    • Arab News Ray Hanania Radio
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • Podcast Info
    • Hanania Podcast intro
    • Live Arab Radio
  • Your Views
  • Hanania on Tiktok
  • Toggle search form
  • Arab Democratic Club Feb 12, 2023 Forum & Brunch flier
    Arab Democrats host forum for Chicago and suburban candidates Feb. 12 American Arabs
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced Dr. Manal Fakhoury has been elected to the position of Chair of the National Board of Directors, and that attorneys Spojmie Nasiri of California and John Floyd of Texas have joined the organization’s National Board.
    CAIR Announces Dr. Manal Fakhoury as New Board Chair, New Board Members Spojmie Nasiri and John Floyd American Arabs
  • AHRC Executive Director Imad Hamad
    AHRC: Honor Dr. King Day with Civility, Unity, and Action American Arabs
  • Citgo Gas Station and Quik Mart at 3759 W. Chicago Ave in Chicago ordered closed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot because a street gang member with an AK-47 killed someone in front of the store. Only Arab and Muslim stores are being closed by the Mayor
    When Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot targeted Arab businesses in 2021 and 2022 Activism
  • Hussam al-Mayman, The Mayman Show, podcast Arab News
    Arab News launches third season of The Mayman Show podcast Arab News
  • State Rep. Cyril Nichols interviewed on live Arab American radio in Detroit with host Ray Hanania Friday Dec. 9, 2022
    Nichols discusses need to improve Arab-Black relations in Chicagoland American Arabs
  • Voting sticker issued to voters in Cook County elections in 2016. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Gov. Pritzker Announces Six Appointments to Boards and Commissions — no Arabs included American Arabs
  • Closure notice posted on the doors and windows of Arab American businesses during Mayor Lori Lightfoot's closure of Arab owned stores in June - Sept. 2021. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Pritzker again ignores needs of Arab businesses in latest appointments Activism
  • Arab American Democratic Club (AADC) official candidate endorsements for the November 8, 2022 General elections.
    Arab American Democratic Club issues endorsements for Nov. 8, 2022 Cook County Illinois elections Activism
  • Arab Democrats urge NO VOTE on Gov. J.B. Pritzker re-election bid Activism
  • Assyrian American GOP issues endorsements in Nov, 8, 2022 elections
    Assyrian American GOP group endorses candidates in Illinois Activism
  • Abdullah Hammoud, elected Mayor of Dearborn Nov. 2, 2021. Photo courtesy of Abdullah Hammoud Facebook Page
    AHRC’s 2022 Spirit of Humanity Gala a Great Success American Arabs
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts Arab World
  • Rep. Cyril Nichols to be feted by supporters at fundraiser Saturday Oct. 22 Activism
  • Stand up For Human Rights website, United Nations
    UN experts condemn Israel’s ‘sadistic’ punitive measures against French-Palestinian rights defender Salah Hammouri Activism
head shot

Grand Pardon or Repentance! 

Posted on September 18, 2018September 18, 2018 By Abdennour Toumi No Comments on Grand Pardon or Repentance! 
SHARE ...
          
 
  

  • Tweet

Grand Pardon or Repentance! 

The evaluation of the past should not stop with memory alone, and spectacle bold decisions in a local political tempest.

By Abdennour Toumi

head shotThen-candidate Macron speaking from Algiers in February 2017, described French Republic atrocities in Algeria as “crimes against humanity,” which sparked outrage from the far-right and the right political leaders, their voters and the colonialist elite. Before him, in December 2012, former President Hollande, during his official visit to Algiers, had declared that his country’s occupation was “unjust and brutal,” but didn’t mention apology, or eventually repentance and turn the page of the French colonial legacy.

In this love-hate relationship between the two nations, storylines still make headlines and boring, tennis exchanges between Algiers and Paris leaders. As far as Algiers arms go, insistence that France must manifest its will and apologize for its crimes committed during its 132 years of harsh colonization, whereas France’s reticence to do so stays lodged in local political imperatives.

Yet last week President Emmanuel Macron admitted that France had a systemic chain that initiated torture during the seven years of a bloody liberation war, which led to the independence of Algeria. Sixty-three-years later and this admission finally marks the French Republic’s acknowledgment that its military, paratroopers and special forces used torture in Algeria.

Maurice Audin Square, Algiers. Photo courtesy of Abdennour Toumi
Maurice Audin Square, Algiers. Photo courtesy of Abdennour Toumi

According to an Algerian war veteran witness who told Arab Daily News — this inhuman and immoral practice was used by the French military authorities even before the Algerian liberation war in 1954-1962.

On Thursday, President Macron made the admission in a symbolic visit to the home of Maurice Audin’s widow. Her husband was an Assistant Mathematics Professor at Algiers University, a communist, anti-colonialist and pro-independence activist.

Dr. Audin was twenty-five-years when he was arrested at his home by para-troopers Chief General Massu, a vehement right-wing, vocal colonialist for l’Algérie-française. Dr. Audin was accused of harboring wanted members of the Communist party and the FLN leaders in Algiers. He died after being severely tortured in detention.

These events took place at a crucial time for the International French’s Workers Section (la SFIO), a “diet French socialism” government led by the Council President of the Fourth French Republic, Guy Mollet and his ambitious Justice Minister, François Mitterrand, united in their no-mercy fight to eradicate the Algerian rebellion.

Bastille mural at Bastille Metro Station, Paris. Photo courtesy of Abdennour Toumi
Bastille mural at Bastille Metro Station, Paris. Photo courtesy of Abdennour Toumi

However, for decades French officials had denied that was behind Dr. Audin’s death. His widow was told he had escaped during a transfer between prisons. The far-right and l’Algérie-française nostalgics called him a nation’s traitor, who betrayed his homeland (patria)!

In June 2014 former French President François Hollande did admit that Dr. Audin had actually died in the French paratroopers’ detention center.

President Emmanuel Macron’s declaration, which recognizes that this was the result of a policy of repression and torture by the French government, is a sea-change. “I think France can hold its head a little higher following the recognition of this crime. And it opens a new chapter in the ongoing debate about the consequences of the colonization,” the Communist Party Chairman told RFI News.

France’s Ambassador Xavier Driencourt in Algiers told the online paper (TSA), “The President has condemned the use of torture during the Algerian liberation war, it’s a considerable gesture to acknowledge the responsibility of the government of that time.”

In Paris, there is a general sense of mea culpa from the left media and political parties of the Republic, according to Ms. Farida Amrani Ivry, Essone, City Council, a candidate of France insoumise Party in the first district in the 91. She ran against the former-Premier of President Hollande, in 2017 summer legislative elections. She told Arab Daily News; “the Republic has waited so long to admit its dark side of its history, and the time has come to move forward in the two capitals and the Maghreb region relations…”

There will be academic workshops, panels and eventually public debates regarding this event from shore to shore across the Mediterranean. While politicians in Algiers are still trying to score empty political points on this issue, the people “get it” because they know the historiography between the two countries is very real.

Let’s leave the emotional factor aside and face reality. Three-fourths of the population was born after 1962, and don’t know who Professor Maurice Audin was, besides the Algiers University square that bears his name. Because of the selective history curriculum that is taught is dictated by the regime.

Those interested in a first-hand account of the Algerian resistance can get it from the expressive faces of their parents and grandparents or read factual academic works by Professors Mohammed Harbi, Benjamin Stora, Vidal-Naquet and Yves Courrière, writers themselves who lived through the events.

The evaluation of the past should not stop with memory alone, and spectacle bold decisions in a local political tempest, but perhaps the transmission of that memory can be delivered to the young, who are so lost in the hypocrisy of the times. They are the future and they know that both countries must establish a trustworthy relationship, one

based on mutual interests, with economic and academic cooperation, and surely on the issue of national security ramifications.

This is the preamble of the Algerian-French 21st-century history page, and what historians on both sides of the Mediterranean banks would have hoped to see from France in a virtuous circle, and break the vicious circle as President Macron did.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Abdennour Toumi
Follow me:
Abdennour Toumi
Abdennour Toumi:
- France correspondent for The Arab Daily News.
- www.bareed-areej.com Editor-in-Chief
رئيس تحرير مجلة بريد الأريج
- Political consultant at IMPR a Think-Tank based in Ankara, Turkey.
- Member at the European Observatory for Arabic Language Teaching based in Paris, France.
- Affiliated with Sociology of Islam Journal and contributor at Middle East Studies / International Studies, Sociology of Islam and Muslim Societies Center, Portland State University in Portland, OR.

EDUCATION: Diplôme des Études Approfondies (DEA) in Political Science from Toulouse University I, France. Master’s degree in Law from Algiers University, Algeria.

Email im at: nourhty@gmail.com
Abdennour Toumi
Follow me:
Latest posts by Abdennour Toumi (see all)
  • The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Is the Neither-Peace-nor-Security As-sumption Dominating Again? - June 7, 2021
  • Algeria: “I Can See Clearly Now” - August 5, 2019
  • Majesty Mohammed VI and General Gaïd Salah Tear Down This Wall! - July 29, 2019

  • Tweet

SHARE ...
          
 
  
 
          
 
 Tweet 
Abdennour Toumi, Arab World, Bloggers, Commentary, Middle East, North Africa, Opinion Tags:Algeria, Algerian-France conflict, France, Islamophobia, Macron, Paris

Post navigation

Previous Post: Open Letter to Congress in Response to Senator Marco Rubio
Next Post: Actor Sean Penn to keynote ADC Anaheim Convention Oct. 13

Related Posts

  • Hezbollah leader urges Sunni uprising against Al-Saud Arab World
  • Setting the record straight: Saudi women’s oppression Arab World
  • Iranian city, Photo courtesy of WIkipedia
    Iran’s extremism is empowered by Palestinian suffering Iran
  • Pope Francis and Dorothy Day Address US Congress American Arabs
  • Mordechai Vanunu: Israel’s Ludicrous Charges and a Vanunu Biography Book Review #BreakingNews #Vanunu American Arabs
  • Illegal Israeli settlement of Ariel, a hotbed of fanaticism and hate. The land was taken from Christians and Muslims who owned land and homes and was used to build homes and farms for Jews only in the Israeli occupied territories. Photo courtesy of Maan News
    Obama gives Civil Rights in Israel a hard push Arab World

More Related Articles

President USS LIBERTY Veterans Association Addresses Congress Arab World
Columbus Ohio Palestinian struggles in wake of violence American Arabs
Obituary: controversial Lebanese scholar Fouad Ajami dead American Arabs
American Muslim group stands with U.S. President Bloggers
Being a Palestinian in America and Chicago? Bloggers
Arab and Muslim Americans View the Race to the White House Abdennour Toumi

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • Tiktok.com/@RayHanania
    Israeli-push behind effort to ban Tiktok in the United States
    January 19, 2023
  • Ghassan Rubeiz
    To what extent is Hezbollah responsible for the current crisis in Lebanon?
    January 17, 2023
  • Image from Rashid-al-Din Hamadani's "A Compendium of Chronicles. Image courtesy of Wikipedia
    Why allow religious extremists to re-define Islam in the West?
    January 10, 2023
  • CAIR Executive Director and co-founder Nihad Awad
    This Thanksgiving, let’s use our Blessings for good
    November 23, 2022
  • NEWS
  • Arab Democratic Club Feb 12, 2023 Forum & Brunch flier
    Arab Democrats host forum for Chicago and suburban candidates Feb. 12
    January 18, 2023
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced Dr. Manal Fakhoury has been elected to the position of Chair of the National Board of Directors, and that attorneys Spojmie Nasiri of California and John Floyd of Texas have joined the organization’s National Board.
    CAIR Announces Dr. Manal Fakhoury as New Board Chair, New Board Members Spojmie Nasiri and John Floyd
    January 12, 2023
  • AHRC Executive Director Imad Hamad
    AHRC: Honor Dr. King Day with Civility, Unity, and Action
    January 11, 2023
  • Citgo Gas Station and Quik Mart at 3759 W. Chicago Ave in Chicago ordered closed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot because a street gang member with an AK-47 killed someone in front of the store. Only Arab and Muslim stores are being closed by the Mayor
    When Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot targeted Arab businesses in 2021 and 2022
    January 4, 2023
  • NEWSWIRE
  • Arab Democratic Club Feb 12, 2023 Forum & Brunch flier
    Arab Democrats host forum for Chicago and suburban candidates Feb. 12
    January 18, 2023
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced Dr. Manal Fakhoury has been elected to the position of Chair of the National Board of Directors, and that attorneys Spojmie Nasiri of California and John Floyd of Texas have joined the organization’s National Board.
    CAIR Announces Dr. Manal Fakhoury as New Board Chair, New Board Members Spojmie Nasiri and John Floyd
    January 12, 2023
  • AHRC Executive Director Imad Hamad
    AHRC: Honor Dr. King Day with Civility, Unity, and Action
    January 11, 2023
  • Stand up For Human Rights website, United Nations
    UN experts condemn Israel’s ‘sadistic’ punitive measures against French-Palestinian rights defender Salah Hammouri
    October 19, 2022

Creative Commons License
All work on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

  • ZiyadBrandLogo-2016BlackRedBackgrnd.jpg
  • 08-09-21-Ziyad-Ad-Pantry-essentials.jpg
  • 08-09-21-Ziyad-Sices-Ad.jpg
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    October 24, 2022
  • Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib, book cover. Photo courtesy of Cune Press
    Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib
    November 1, 2021
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • Hussam al-Mayman, The Mayman Show, podcast Arab News
    Arab News launches third season of The Mayman Show podcast
    December 15, 2022
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    October 24, 2022
  • Comedian Ramy Youssef courtesy of his Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ramysfaceboo/
    “Ramy” cable series melds Arab world reality with every day American life
    October 22, 2022
  • The Ray Hanania Radio Show Live Wed 5 PM EST in Detroit, Washington DC, Ontario and on Thursday in Chicago. Watch the program live at Facebook.com/ArabNews
    Second Season of “The Ray Hanania Show” Arab American radio launches April 6
    April 4, 2022
  • American Arab CHamber President HassanNijem accepts the Proclamation from Chicago Ald. Roderick Sawyer at the Chamber dinner March 30, 2022
    Chicagoland celebrates Arab American Heritage Month
    March 31, 2022
  • New-iTunes-1400-x-1400-The-Ray-Hanania-Show-Podcast-Icon-300-x-300.jpg
  • powerpr300x300ad.jpg
  • Podcast-iTunes-Logo-Chi-City-Hall-1985.jpg
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png
  • terroristbookcover-300-x-300.jpg
Arab News Newspaper Logo
Read the Arab News, the leading English language newspaper in the MIddle East

Follow Ray Hanania at Gab.com, MeWe.com and IDobbinate.com, the alternatives to Facebook and Twitter Censorship.

Click here to get information on The Ray Hanania Radio Show and its podcasts

Copyright © 2023 The Arab Daily News.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme