The crisis with Algeria will continue, and memory file may be the key to the solution

The French historian, Benjamin Stora, who heads the joint memory committee alongside historian Mohamed Zeghdidi, expects the tension that characterizes relations between Algeria and France to continue, but he does not see this tension reaching the point of a diplomatic break in its classical sense (closing embassies in both countries), and called for playing the memory file as a card that can alleviate the tension between the two countries.
Benjamin Stora, who serves as an advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron on memory affairs, is considered one of the few voices calling for calm, and does not hesitate to criticize hostile stances towards Algeria by some French politicians, such as Bruno Retailleau, the Minister of Interior in François Bayrou’s government.
In an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday, Benjamin Stora said: “We need strong initiatives, especially regarding the issue of French colonialism in Algeria in the 19th century.
But today, in my opinion, considering the possibility of launching initiatives on memory may be an alternative to resuming political relations,” which is “necessary to resolve issues of immigration or visas.”
The historian calls for continuing this work related to memory in order to achieve calm, and emphasizes the importance of building on previous initiatives, referring to France’s recognition of responsibility for the assassination of Algerian politicians and activists by the French army during the Liberation Revolution, such as the French activist for the revolution, Maurice Audin, the revolution’s lawyer Ali Boumendjel, and the martyr Larbi Ben M’hidi. These initiatives came in a piecemeal manner without reaching the basic demand of Algerians, which is the recognition of its colonial crimes, which stripped those initiatives of their value.
Stora believes that working on the memory file “constitutes a possible way out of the crisis, and is indispensable in any case, and necessary in any case, because we cannot (…) consider that this Algerian history is like all other histories,” due to the heavy burden of the colonial past from its very beginnings until the Liberation Revolution, which witnessed brutal massacres against Algerians.
He added: “We cannot resolve relations that lasted 132 years with one speech or one initiative. It is a very long period, 132 years. It spans more than six generations,” and these facts have made relations between the two countries more complex, saying: We must remember that the relationship between France and Algeria has always been full of troubles and fluctuations, and a lot of tensions and detentes.
Therefore, he does not see a way out of the crisis in the short term, even if France agrees to new initiatives on the memory level, due to the level the current crisis has reached, for which the French side is responsible, as it was the party that initiated the provocation when it decided to support the Moroccan regime’s plan in Western Sahara, despite its awareness of the risks of such a decision on bilateral relations.
It is known that the work of the mixed committee in charge of the memory file has been suspended since last summer, following the French President’s decision to change his country’s position on the Sahrawi issue, and this committee was about to resume its activity last April after the visit of the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, to Algeria, but the action of suspicious parties in Paris to arrest an official at the Algerian consulate in Paris outside of norms, law, and diplomacy, brought the crisis back to its beginnings.
Stora says: “This time, the crisis is absolutely unprecedented,” which may prolong its life for a long time, and he warned that this problem is worsening more and more, because in France, as in Algeria, there are “people and organizations who have an interest in things not always going well.”

Stora did not rule out that Algeria could be a subject of the next presidential campaign in two years, as was the case in 2007. Nicolas Sarkozy “campaigned heavily on the basis of French Algeria.”

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