France Ideology glorifying colonialism and escaping from recognition of crimes

16 years ago, the French Parliament approved a law of shame, called the "glorifying colonialism" law, under the clause "If you are not ashamed, do what you want." The law glorified the heinous acts of French colonialism in its colonies across the world, and aroused much anger at the level of French and international public opinion.

That law still has repercussions in today's world, given its misleading facts and distortion and distortion of history, for insulting the memory and history of peoples. Various French political parties tried to abolish the law, but to no avail, as the conservative movement was able to impose its opinion and withstand the various attempts of the opposition and socialists.

The law of February 23 states in its first article: “The nation expresses its gratitude to the women and men who took part in the mission accomplished by France in its former provinces of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Indochina and in all the countries that were under French sovereignty, and recognizes (the French nation). ) for the pain and sacrifices incurred by the deported former members of the supplementary formations and the incorporated, the missing and the civilian and military victims during the events relating to the course of independence of these former provinces and territories, and publicly expresses its gratitude to them and their families.”

Law No. 158-2005 of February 23, 2005 relating to the gratitude of the nation and the national contribution to the benefit of the deported French completely neglected and omitted the other party, or rather the black face of French colonialism, inhuman practices, crimes, looting, theft, abuse, torture, ignorance, obliteration of identity and erasing of personality, history and religion. Official France, with great regret, did not have the courage to apologize to the Algerian people and acknowledge the genocide it committed in its former colonies. On the contrary, the two houses of the French Parliament, under the influence and control of the conservatives, found the courage and boldness to ratify and adopt a law glorifying the “civilized” and “positive” role of French colonialism in Algeria and in the rest of the French colonies around the world.

The law also stipulated the introduction of new curricula and study programs that highlight the civilizational advantages of the colonial era. It is also no coincidence that the French authorities decided to erect a monument in the "Marignan" cemetery in southern France to commemorate and glorify former members of the secret army organization that assassinated and killed tens of thousands of Algerians.

French political discourse today contradicts itself and adopts hypocrisy and double standards. On the one hand, France opposes colonialism, stands in the face of unipolarity and American hegemony, and demands cultural exception. On the other hand, it adopts official politics, with its constitutional institutions, to glorify decades of colonialism, to say the least, that it was a black period and a disgrace in human history.

During 132 years, France stripped the Algerian peasants of their lands and forced them to live in the mountains. It also distorted the identity, history, language and religion in Algeria, as it ignored the Algerian people and deprived them of education, worship, civility and urbanization, and forced them to subservient, prone and servile in the service of the "black feet" and colonialism in general.

France, at this late time, preferred to return to its old clothes in the colonial treasuries, to return to the nostalgic past, to show off colonialism and its generals and its centenarians who mastered the torture, abuse, starvation and ignorance of peoples.

How does France ratify a law glorifying colonialism and atrocities in the age of globalization, the knowledge society and the digital society, in the age of dialogue between cultures and peoples, in the age of tolerance and understanding? In the era of human rights, justice, equality and dialogue among peoples, nations, civilizations and religions. The Law of Shame totally contradicts the historical development characterized by the emergence of a new consciousness that works for values, justice and human rights and fights barbarism, terrorism, extremism, colonialism, exploitation, slavery and racism. It seems that the country of "freedom, justice and equality" yearned for the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to return from the window and remind all humanity of actions that any human in the world would be ashamed of, enjoying a sound mind and human values.

The law of February 23, 2005 is considered by all accounts a racist law, falsifying and distorting history and human memory, as well as a blatant interference in the affairs of the former colonies of France. Simply speaking about the virtues of colonialism means giving a positive character to colonialism, and that the latter is a positive, civilized and beneficial matter for peoples who were excluded, displaced, tortured, ignorant and stripped of all the elements of a decent and honorable life.

The law angered the former colonies of France, and former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika described it as "mind blindness", and froze the initiative to sign the Treaty of Friendship with France, and former French Interior President Nicolas Sarkozy was forced to postpone a visit to the French provinces in the Caribbean due to fear of demonstrations and the positions that You might embarrass him. In this atmosphere charged with hatred, hatred and guilt, riots spread in the outskirts of Paris, to express France's failure to integrate the second and third generation of the children of its former colonies, who are considered French, as they were born in France, raised and raised in France and hold official French documents.

But despite promises and slogans, and despite numerous allegations, French society failed to integrate the different communities that chose France as the land in which to live. France, which claims freedom, justice and brotherhood, is not ready and is not qualified to accept the other as it has failed to integrate it even though it asked him to dissolve into French society and French culture through the policy of integration that it imposed on him. , a country that sings about democracy, human rights and freedom, notes racism, exclusion, marginalization and the abject failure in the process of integrating the other.

In fact, the law expresses the true intention of a state that did not recognize its historical mistakes and did not recognize the crimes, murder, brutality, ignorance and starvation that it carried out over decades. This reflects the thesis of the French imperial theorist Jules Ferry, who divided peoples and nations into civilized and superior peoples who were created to lead backward, ignorant and incapable of leading and governing themselves by themselves.

The repercussions left by the law, the tumultuous debates in the French political and media scene, and the strong reactions that came from the former colonies of France and its overseas provinces led then President Jacques Chirac, through his New Year's address to the French, to demand that the law be reformulated with some wisdom and respect for the feelings of others.

We conclude by saying that the law of shame and the riots that France witnessed immediately after its ratification reflects a crisis of conscience and a crisis in the relations between peoples, nations, religions and civilizations. Adhering to this law also means evading legal and moral responsibility, and not recognizing the crimes committed by French colonialism against humanity.(Mohamed Kirat)