“French Algeria”, is celebrated at the heart of the National Assembly in France. This is not a hoax but a reality.
The year when Algeria commemorates 60 years of its independence after 130 years of French colonization, the dean of French deputies, José Gonzalez, celebrated this date in his own way. He did not salute the peace between the two countries, but rather the memory of a country that had been stolen from him.
“French-Algeria” brought back to the heart of power
For the inauguration of the 16th legislature, the National Assembly has a tradition of letting the oldest deputy chair the first session of the debates. It was far-right deputy José Gonzalez, a member of the National Rally, who had this privilege.
The MP for Bouches-du-Rhône, who joined the far-right party in 1978, took this opportunity to talk about his past. He has, it seems, carefully chosen the part that has marked him the most: his childhood in the former colony of France, Algeria. Born in Oran, the 79-year-old MP found it appropriate to take out the nostalgia card. He delivered – not without emotion – a platform to his “native land” from which he was “torn by the wind of history”. The MP presented himself as “a man who saw his soul forever bruised”. A speech that was both applauded in the assembly and reviled.
Why bring Algeria back to this symbolic place, the year when the far-right led the political debates during the presidential and legislative elections? ” I made a point of expressing it, because we, the repatriates from Algeria, we are true patriots, we loved France from there and we love France from here”, justified José Gonzalez.
The far-right wants to revise the history of France and Algeria
The member did not stop there, since he continued his reflection after the session. Questioned by journalists, he made mind-blowing remarks assuming a desire of Algerians to see France return to their land. “Come with me to Algeria, I’ll find you a lot of Algerians who will say to you” when are you French people coming back?’ When, for the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic, the former National Front obtained 89 seats in the hemicycle, this speech was all the more striking.
With a parliamentary group – the first since 1986 which had been composed by Jean-Marie Le Pen – the National Rally imposes its presence and its subjects. José Gonzalez also paid tribute to the parliamentary group of Jean-Marie Le Pen, in which there were also two ex-members of the Secret Army Organization (OAS) which sowed terror in Algeria before the departure of the troops. French. It is this heritage that José Gonzalez seems to want to bring back to those who legislate on French laws.
Asked about the role of the OAS during the Algerian war, the deputy simply replied: ” I am not here to judge whether the OAS has committed crimes or not. The OAS, I do not even know well what it was”. Without any control, the deputy went so far as to impose a revisionism of Franco-Algerian history. By casting doubt on the role of the OAS, the representative of the state erases an essential part of the Franco-Algerian memory.
Algeria as a tool of political manipulation
The use of Algeria at the heart of French political games is very surprising. The nostalgic discourse of “French Algeria” living in an organ of power is not the only episode in the complicated relations between France and Algeria.
During the legislative elections, another affair or at least a rumor came to create a mess between political figures. The deputies of La France Insoumise, Raquel Garrido and Alexis Corbière, have been the subject of serious accusations.
A survey conducted by the Franco-Algerian journalist Aziz Zemouri and published in the magazine Le Point denounced the abusive behavior of the two deputies with their Algerian cleaning lady. Because she was undocumented, they would have taken advantage of this to make her work illegally in inhumane conditions. The deputies were also accused of making him dangle a regularization of his situation in France.
These revelations were finally denied by Le Point on June 29. In an article entitled “To our readers: an investigation into false information”, Le Point apologizes for having published an erroneous investigation and denounces manipulation.
“This fiasco is the result, among other things, of double-trigger smoking. External smoking, first. People probably tried to sell a false story to discredit Raquel Garrido and Alexis Corbière”, writes Le Point in his article. The media points to the coincidence with the second round of legislative elections. Raquel Garrido and Alexis Corbière have, for their part, filed a complaint against X with the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office.
What challenges in this case assembled from scratch is still the use of the Algerian nationality of this pseudo cleaning lady without papers. La France Insoumise is one of the only parties to defend foreigners on French territory.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon who was very feared during the legislative elections has constantly been attacked on his relations with people of immigrant origin, in particular of Algerian origin. We remember the political relentlessness experienced by its candidate Taha Bouhafs, who willingly claims his Algerian origins.
He had to withdraw his candidacy for the legislative elections in the face of pressure from the entire French political class. And now the cliché of the Algerian undocumented housekeeper is being used to discredit far-left politicians. Because, symbolically, this type of story in France can easily tarnish the reputation of a politician.
How can we interpret the constant presence of Algeria in the concerns of political representatives? Especially this approach to Algeria, which is still perceived through a colonial and outdated prism?
While the memorial question was a major issue during Emmanuel Macron’s last term, a final kick in Franco-Algerian history was given by deputies. This is not a conspiracy, but only a collective imagination around Algeria that surprises. When will French politicians perceive the current and independent Algeria, outside of any historical scheme?
The unhealthy relationship of French policy vis-à-vis Algeria
Subject Algeria was used repeatedly during this year with high political stakes. Eric Zemmour had almost made it a campaign theme. The far-right candidate very often cited the example of lost Algeria to legitimize his ” Reconquest ” program. His memories of French Algeria founded his political aspirations. Suffered from losing this country which would have influenced his life and professional course. Because he loved this country too much, did Eric Zemmour come to hate the Algerians?
Algeria is not only an obsession of children or grandchildren of black and Harkis feet who left the country at the time of independence. There is a whole literature around this country which has been maintained until today because of the links between the two countries which have never been cut.
To illustrate the themes of immigration and the rights of foreigners in France, the majority of candidates for the presidential election have drawn on the example of Algeria. Right or wrong. Curb the arrival of Algerians, question the 1968 agreements between France and Algeria, prevent the transfer of currencies from the Algerian diaspora to their country of origin, and revise the history between the two countries… Everything has been considered during the presidential election. Provided that we position ourselves on the Algerian question.
60 years after the Evian agreements, the French political class seems to be creating a forced link with Algeria. José Gonzalez’s speech to the National Assembly is not only shocking, it evokes something in the air. The possibility of questioning the painful past of Algeria, in front of a room full of representatives of the French state, almost legitimizes a resentment that is never erased, even justified. Relations between France and Algeria have never been so bad, it seems to be here to stay.
