The author of the report making proposals to organize reconciliation between Algiers and Paris published a column in an Algerian daily this morning to respond to criticism and defend his method.
The French historian Benjamin Stora responds to the reproaches which welcomed his report on the “reconciliation of memories” between Paris and Algiers, defending “a method which favors education and knowledge of the other”, in a column published on Monday 25 January 2021 in the Quotidien d’Oran.
Benjamin Stora, who delivered his report on the colonization and the Algerian war to French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, has been severely criticized in some Algerian media, especially for not having taken a position in favor of France’s “apologies” for its colonial past in the country.
Benjamin Stora defends his method
“I simply proposed in my report a method that has been mine for a long time: to know the motivations, the trajectory of all the memory groups struck by this devastating war, patiently, to reduce prejudices and racism”, defends himself Benjamin Stora, specialist in the contemporary history of Algeria, in the Oran newspaper.
“The speeches of apology should not be words uttered one day to get rid of such a deep problem the next day”, adds the historian, saying that he regrets the delay in France as in Algeria on “this educational work. “.
Faced with a complex history, “my report specifically proposes a method that favors education, culture, through knowledge of the other, and of all the groups involved in Algerian history,” says Benjamin Stora.
Very critical Algerian historians
The publication of his report, commissioned in July by Emmanuel Macron, has yet to elicit an official reaction in Algiers. But many criticisms have come from local media and Algerians who lament that the principle of “apologies” has been dismissed.
“The Stora report does not take into account the main historical demand of the Algerians, the recognition by France of the crimes committed by colonization”, tweeted Abdelaziz Rahabi, ex-minister and Algerian diplomat.
In an interview with AFP, Algerian historian Fouad Soufi nonetheless hailed Benjamin Stora’s willingness to “build bridges between the two countries” despite extremist positions on both sides.
The “reconciliation of antagonistic memories” on French colonization and the war of independence (1954-1962) is one of the priority issues between Algiers and Paris.
Emmanuel Macron and his counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune pledged Sunday to work together again soon, in particular on this memorial file, as soon as the Algerian president returns to Algiers, currently being treated in Germany for post-Covid-19 “complications”.
