Emmanuel Macron sent a strong gesture, Wednesday, January 26, to the returnees from Algeria by qualifying as“unforgivable for the Republic” shooting in the rue d’Isly, in Algiers, in March 1962, and considering that the “Massacre of July 5, 1962” in Oran was to be ” recognized “.
In front of an audience of returnees gathered at the Elysée, the President of the Republic returned to the shooting in the rue d’Isly, in which dozens of supporters of French Algeria were killed by the army in March 1962.
“That day, French soldiers deployed once morest purpose, badly commanded, fired on French (…). It was a massacre that day.”, Mr. Macron said, adding that “sixty years later” this “silenced drama”, “France recognizes this tragedy”. “And I say it loud and clear today: this massacre of March 26, 1962 is unforgivable for the Republic. All the French archives on this tragedy can be consulted and studied freely. »
Evoking the “atrocious escalation of insecurity and violence”, “attacks and assassinations” which chanted the end of the Algerian war, the Head of State also urged to recognize and “look in the face” the “Massacre of July 5, 1962” in Oran, which touched “hundreds of Europeans, mainly French”. “The truth must be in order, and the story passed on”, insisted the President of the Republic.
“Misunderstood” and “despised” returnees
Faced with returnees, Mr. Macron also underlined the difficulty of “those months of farewell and heartbreak” which have affected thousands of families:
“Your arrival in France is a relief, because you know you are safe here, but it is not a consolation, because you quickly feel misunderstood, despised for your values, your language, your accent, your culture. »
The Head of State lamented that ” most “ either “collided with indifference when it was not prejudice”. “Sixty years ago, those repatriated from Algeria were not listened to. Sixty years ago, they were not received with the affection that every French citizen in distress deserves., he added. From now on, “The path that it is up to us to take is that of this reconciliation”, he pleaded.
This « reconnaissance » is part of a series of memorial acts, since the beginning of the quinquennium and at the approach of the 60e anniversary of the end of the war in Algeria with the Evian Accords, then the independence of this country – July 5, 1962.
On September 20, 2021, the Head of State asked « pardon » to the harkis, Algerian auxiliaries to the French army, who were “abandoned” by France. A bill, to enact this « pardon » and try to ” to fix “ damages suffered, is currently being considered by Parliament and should be adopted by the end of February.
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