The Lifeboat News
[ Message Archive | The Lifeboat News ]

    To Palestine: Lessons from overthrowing the French in Algeria Archived Message

    Posted by sashimi on November 29, 2023, 10:40 am

    A Cradle Contributor, 17 Nov 2023

    Lede: In Algeria's liberation struggle, we can find lessons on the limitations
    of humanistic ideals in the face of violence, offering insights into the ongoing
    Palestinian national liberation struggle

    Sixty-six years ago, in the midst of a raging war, the renowned French-Algerian
    writer Albert Camus delivered his most perilous political speech. On the
    surface, his speech called for a civil truce in Algeria, but beneath the
    surface, it subtly rejected Arab nationalist aspirations.

    In its essence, Camus expressed a humanist commitment to shared possibilities in
    a land shared by colonizers and the colonized. Amidst calls for armed
    resistance, Camus, a member of the Pieds-Noirs, the French-Algerian community,
    positioned himself as an outsider to the colonizer/colonized dichotomy. He aimed
    to be a mediator, above all, who despised indiscriminate violence and sought
    dialogue, and a truce, among the French and the Arabs of Algeria.

    Today, despite the growing global demand for a ceasefire in Israel's war on
    Gaza, the west is still firmly guarding Tel Aviv's scorched-earth ambitions. The
    latter aims to eliminate the Palestinian resistance, while the former - like
    Camus - peppers the genocide with talks of "moderate" solutions with "moderate"
    Palestinians.

    The Algerian experience provides insights into parallels and breaking points
    with the ongoing Palestinian national liberation struggle. It demonstrates that
    imposing a ceasefire can inadvertently breed more violence it intends to
    suppress, and a dispassionate rejection of violence can deny the oppressed their
    dignity, whether in surrender or self-liberation.
    -- Cont'd at https://new.thecradle.co/articles/to-palestine-lessons-from-overthrowing-the-french-in-algeria

    Message Thread: