Today is the 60th anniversary of the massacre of Sétif, a town in a remote area of eastern Algeria where in May 1945 the “Free French” colonial forces decided to enact a colonial massacre against the indigenes.
Here’s an account (in French) of an appeal that Algerian President Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika launched to mark the occasion today.
Here’s the Babelfish translation of the lead to that piece (as improved by myself):
- ALGIERS (Reuters) – Abdelaziz Bouteflika called this weekend on France to recognize its responsibility forthe massacres for tens of thousands of Algerians who had gone out into the streets, May 8, 1945, to claim their independence at the time when Europe was celebrating the victory over the Nazi Germany.
“The Algerian people await from France a gesture which would liberate the French conscience”, stated the Algerian president in a speech delivered Saturday evening in S
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I think we have to conclude that the sufferings of the non-‘white’ peoples somehow don’t count as much for unthinkingly provincial white politicians like GWB as those experienced by articulate and white-complected peoles like the Latvians, Poles, or other Balts.
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this sentence here is, i’m sorry, complete b.s.!
I dont wann hurt any feelings with that but the fact that noone cares, even when they should, as you rightly pointed out, has in my oppionion nothin do to with any racial reason at all.
GWB doesnt care about Algiers becouse algiers has no political, industrial or military weight at all.
Polen in contrast to that is atm very immportant to GWB not only as a ally in Iraq but allso as a member in the EU with gainig influence and importance (political industrial and in military means).
It is not right but still very much common to not care about the weak which algiers is.
I dont see any reason why we should conclude that GWB is in any means racial motivated. If he is a sozial-darvinist we would have remarked that earliyer.
sincerly a regular reader of your very inforamtive blog
A blog-pal of mine, who is married to an Algerian, has recorded some thoughts on Setif here:
The Other May 8th
Just to make things a bit more complicated, for the historical record, many of the “colonial troops” involved in the May 8 violence in Setif were Senegalese tirailleurs. Colonialism, then and now, is not just a white/non-white conflict but a complex, one might argue perverse, system of control.
Kaspar G
Thanks for the post, Helena. I never heard of S
Setif and its aftermath are covered in great detail by Alistair Horne’s “A Savage War of Peace”, perhaps one of the finest accounts of any conflict anywhere. The lucid prose does not make any less heart wrenching today. I think an important dimension implicit in Alistair Horne’s account is that the violence unleashed then, both French -Algerian and Algerian-Algerian, foretold the conflict in the 90’s between the Islamist and the Algerian government. Issues including the Arab Islamic identify of algeries, the military takeover of the FLN, the distribution of wealth amongst the Algerians, the continued French hegemony over North Africa all remain with us today and can be traced in many ways to issues fought over during the war of liberation in Algiers.
What are you meaning exactly, No Preference ?
Not much, Simple Mind. Just that one’s perspective about atrocities can change depending on one’s nationality.
This is the “mote” which everyone sees in his brother
Helena’s outrage at GWB’s “Racism” makes perfect sense — if you ignore the elephant in the room.
The elephant in the room is the Cold War. The US and the USSR faced off against each other in the verge of nuclear armaggeddon for fifty years. I think that caused enough negative feelings in the US (and GWB) to account for the focus on the wrongs of the Soviets rather than the French. The French were allies of the US in the Cold War, which tends to make one “Forget” some French faults. It has nothing whatever to do with the color of the victims in Algeria.
Also, President Bush was born on July 6, 1946, a year after the tragedy in S
Sigh… it’s not even a mote, it’s a semi-trailer.
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