Benjamin Stora’s report on the reconciliation of memories between France and Algeria is a “Franco-French report” which was not transmitted to Algiers, affirmed the alter ego Algerian by the French historian, Abdelmadjid Chikhi, Director General of the National Archives.
“I don’t have an assessment for the Stora report. I consider that this report is a French report requested by a French president from a French citizen so that he gives him an opinion on what they call ‘the appeased memory’ ”, explained Mr. Chikhi in a program of the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera, broadcast Monday and entitled “Algeria and France: memory of colonization”.
“It’s a Franco-French report. It was not sent to us in an official manner so that we are under an obligation, at least moral, to respond to its content ”, he assured, adding: “Officially, it is as if this report did not exist”.
In fact, Algiers has not reacted directly to this report at this stage.
“The reconciliation of memories must first begin with the French. In Algeria, we have only one memory which is the national memory ”, a translation by M. Chikhi.
He was commissioned in July by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to work on the memory of colonization and the Algerian war (1954-1962), together with Benjamin Stora.
During the 50-minute broadcast, Mr. Chikhi again demanded the return of ” the totality “ archives of the colonial period (1830-1962).
“Few countries have suffered what Algeria has undergone concerning its historical, intellectual and cultural heritage. What has been looted must be returned ”, he argued.
“How do we get to the historical truth when our entire history is stored in France and elsewhere abroad? “, noted the Algerian official.
“Symbolic acts”
A veteran of the war of independence, Mr. Chikhi was appointed to his post in the spring of 2020 and he has already formulated very strong criticisms of France and of French historiography on Algeria.
He urged researchers and historians to “ move away from the French school in historical research by adopting a real analytical approach allowing us to lift the veil on all truths ”, according to the official APS news agency.
And, on Saturday, he accused France of having “Exterminated” the literate population of Algeria during the first decades of colonization, and its historians for knowingly ignoring it.
With the approach of the 60th anniversary of the independence of Algeria (July 5, 1962), French President Emmanuel Macron has undertaken in recent months a series of“Symbolic acts” in order to “Reconcile memories” between French and Algerians.
In July, France handed over to Algiers 24 skulls of nationalist fighters killed at the start of colonization, which were stored in Paris.
In addition, Mr. Macron recently acknowledged, “In the name of France”, that the lawyer and nationalist leader Ali Boumendjel had been “Tortured and murdered” by the French army during the Battle of Algiers in 1957. An assassination disguised at the time as suicide.
Finally, he decided to facilitate access to classified archives over fifty years old, in particular those on the Algerian war.
These gestures are part of Benjamin Stora’s report on Franco-Algerian memorial reconciliation submitted in January at the Elysee Palace. His proposals have been variously received, with some criticizing him for not having advocated « excuses » from Paris.
Mr. Stora again defended himself on the Al-Jazeera show for not making a difference between “The executioner and the victim”.
The Algerian authorities also want to put the issue of “Missing” of the war of independence – more than 2,200 people, according to Algiers – and that of the French nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara.
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