Algeria, France to Discuss ‘Controversial Issues’ Related to Colonial Era

The Algerian and French presidents meet in August 2022. (Algerian presidency)
The Algerian and French presidents meet in August 2022. (Algerian presidency)
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Algeria, France to Discuss ‘Controversial Issues’ Related to Colonial Era

The Algerian and French presidents meet in August 2022. (Algerian presidency)
The Algerian and French presidents meet in August 2022. (Algerian presidency)

Algerian and French history researchers will meet on Monday in the Algerian capital to address controversial points around “the memory and the pain of colonialism,” in implementation of the pledges of Presidents Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Emmanuel Macron regarding “resolving the problem of history” so that they can build normal relations.

Algerian newspaper Al-Khabar reported on Monday that a delegation of French researchers, led by renowned historian Benjamin Stora, will discuss with the Algerian mission, headed by Lahcen Zeghidi, issues related to the period of the “French military invasion” and its impact on Algerian society, and “the associated crimes of looting, confiscation of land, forced displacement, and other thorny historical files.

It quoted Stora as stressing “the importance of working in this meeting on the motives and backgrounds of the colonial campaign (in 1830) and the various stages of the French presence in Algeria, and identifying the regions that witnessed massacres.”

Stora described Tebboune’s expected visit to France at the end of September or the beginning of October this year as “an opportunity to acknowledge France’s past in Algeria, and to scrutinize, with a scientific methodology, the massacres committed by the occupation army against the Algerian people in the early days of the invasion.”

The Algerian-French Joint Committee for History and Memory held its first meeting on April 19, 2023, on the basis of the Algeria Declaration document issued on August 27, 2022, when Macron visited the country.

The High-Level Joint Governmental Committee met in October 2022 with the parties agreeing to “address all issues related to the colonial period, the resistance and the glorious war of liberation.”



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.