The Algerian-French Joint Committee on Memory and Colonialism has submitted a report to Presidents Abdelmadjid Tebboune of Algeria and Emmanuel Macron of France.
The report contains 11 recommendations for achieving “reconciliation between memories,” which many observers view as the sole obstacle to establishing normal bilateral relations unaffected by the remnants of the colonial past.
The Committee, consisting of five Algerian historians and an equal number of French researchers, met in Constantine, Algeria, on November 22. This was their first physical meeting since the mission’s inception last year, following two previous virtual meetings.
The “Constantine meeting report” was signed by Mohamed El Hassan Zeghidi, former director of the Mujahid Museum, representing the Algerian side, and renowned historian Benjamin Stora, representing the French side. Stora, born in Algeria, lived in a Jewish family in Constantine before the country’s independence in 1962.
Journalistic sources reveal that the Committee’s initial efforts include a recommendation for continued specialized work in developing a chronological sequence of military, political, economic, social, and cultural events from 1830 to 1962, covering the entire period of French colonization in Algeria.
The Committee also proposes establishing a “joint library” for research and sources from the 19th century, housed in French archival centers. This initiative aims to publish and digitize key sources and works, making them available in both languages, with the possibility of returning them to Algeria.
The report also suggests launching a digital portal dedicated to printed sources, digital archives, subjects, research, mapping, audio, films, and timelines from the occupation era.
Members of the Committee agreed on a program for exchange and cooperation in historical matters, involving 15 Algerian students and researchers in doctoral studies to inventory and study colonial period archives in France.
The “Constantine Report” addresses issues such as identifying the graves, names, and numbers of Algerian prisoners in the 19th century who died and were buried in France, incorporating them into a list of colonialism victims. These memorial sites will be promoted on the Committee’s portal.
The “Team of 10” intends to complete the digitization of civil registries and cemeteries from the colonial era preserved in Algeria.
