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.”



Canada Urges Israel to Reverse Decision to Approve New West Bank Settlements

This picture taken  on June 28, 2024 , shows a view of construction cranes at Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish settlement in the Israeli-annexed eastern sector of Jerusalem. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
This picture taken on June 28, 2024 , shows a view of construction cranes at Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish settlement in the Israeli-annexed eastern sector of Jerusalem. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
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Canada Urges Israel to Reverse Decision to Approve New West Bank Settlements

This picture taken  on June 28, 2024 , shows a view of construction cranes at Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish settlement in the Israeli-annexed eastern sector of Jerusalem. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
This picture taken on June 28, 2024 , shows a view of construction cranes at Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish settlement in the Israeli-annexed eastern sector of Jerusalem. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

Canada on Monday urged the Israeli government to reverse a decision to approve new settlement outposts in the West Bank, saying the move was in contravention of international law.

"Canada firmly opposes the government of Israel’s decision to approve new settlements in the West Bank. Unilateral actions, such as financially weakening the Palestinian Authority and expanding settlements is in contravention of international law," the Canadian foreign ministry said in a statement on social media X.

Israel has approved the largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in over three decades and advanced plans to build thousands of new settlement homes, according to Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement monitoring group. They are the latest steps by Israel’s hard-line government meant to cement Israel’s control over the territory and prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

The international community considers the settlements illegal or illegitimate, and the Palestinians say they are the main barrier to a lasting peace agreement.
But with more than 500,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank, it will be difficult – some say impossible – to partition the territory as part of a two-state solution.