Donivan's World, his soul

A great and powerful documentary has recently come up on Youtube, inspecting the French-Algerian War and independence movement. This documentary, produced by Aljazeera English, documents the Algerians lengthy struggle for independence from French colonizers after more the 100 years of colonial rule, from 1830~1962. The French had by then long considered Algeria an "integral terroritory" of the home republic, and 1.7 million French had settled in Algeria by the 1950s. Ironic that France considers itself the land of "Liberté, égalité, fraternité", as there were two classes in this land, the white Europeans and the "natives". Wikipedia:

"Even before the decision was made to annex Algeria, major changes had taken place. In a bargain-hunting frenzy to take over or buy at low prices all manner of property — homes, shops, farms and factories — Europeans poured into Algiers after it fell. French authorities took possession of the beylik lands, from which Ottoman officials had derived income. Over time, as pressures increased to obtain more land for settlement by Europeans, the state seized more categories of land, particularly that used by tribes, religious foundations, and villages[citation needed]. Called either colons (settlers), Algerians, or later, especially following the 1962 independence of Algeria, pieds noirs (literally, black feet), the European settlers were largely of peasant farmer or working-class origin from the poor southern areas of Italy, Spain,[12] and France. Others were criminal and political deportees from France, transported under sentence in large numbers to Algeria. In the 1840s and 1850s, to encourage settlement in rural areas, official policy was to offer grants of land for a fee and a promise that improvements would be made. A distinction soon developed between the grands colons (great settlers) at one end of the scale, often self-made men who had accumulated large estates or built successful businesses, and smallholders and workers at the other end, whose lot was often not much better than that of their Muslim counterparts. According to historian John Ruedy, although by 1848 only 15,000 of the 109,000 European settlers were in rural areas, "by systematically expropriating both pastors and farmers, rural colonization was the most important single factor in the destructing of traditional society.  The colonial regime imposed more and higher taxes on Muslims than on Europeans. The Muslims, in addition to paying traditional taxes dating from before the French conquest, also paid new taxes, from which the colons were normally exempted. In 1909, for instance, Muslims, who made up almost 90% of the population but produced 20% of Algeria's income, paid 70% of direct taxes and 45% of the total taxes collected. And colons controlled how these revenues would be spent. As a result, colon towns had handsome municipal buildings, paved streets lined with trees, fountains and statues, while Algerian villages and rural areas benefited little if at all from tax revenues. " The indepedence movement grew traction gradually and France, evermore desperate, started using "anti-terrorist tactics" on the natives, brutally suppressing the FLN Movement. Brutalities and retaliations were commited by both sides, which brings us to a central question: Under times of crises, is there still a moral boundary? an integral value that never sways? Policies started bearing uncanny resemblence to state sanctioned torture, which added more fuel to the fire. Hypocritically, France itself had 20 years before gained independence from the Nazi-backed regime after many struggles, and yet, 20 years on, stridently refuse to give up what they themselves had been subjected to. The really unfortunate group of people, with the most to lose, as the video greatly brings up, are the Algerian Muslims(natives) who fought for and were loyal to the French Republic post-independence, as they were regarded as traitors by the locals, and were often hunted down and killed. Furthermore, the French Government disbanded their unit without any other supporting measures, and after so many sacrifices for France, were refused immigration into France, while all Europeans settlers were allowed. Skin color, anyone? That is the double standard humans often employ, and can shed some light on the human pysche, especially when vested interests are involved. Definitely a must-watch! Readers, I leave you with a proverb that is applicable to every conflict from the Algerian War, IRA, Taliban to the Iraqi Insurgency: "Terrorists are evil to some and heros to others."