E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Update - The Oran Commemoration
NB : the Oran reference is to the 5 july 1962, when about 4000 french pieds noirs were slaughtered in abominable way after the peace was singed, with the french army present not lifting a finger due to orders from the gaullists. It was the start of modern day "French Arab Policy".
Two days ago Galliawatch published an article on the massacre that took place in the Algerian city of Oran on July 5, 1962. The annual commemoration ceremonies had, this year, provoked an angry protest from the communist newspaper Humanité and from Muslim organizations such as MRAP, because of the permission that was accorded to ALLO, one of the organizers of the event, to light the eternal flame under the Arc of Triumph in Paris. Here is a follow-up, by Yves Daoudal, on what happened at the ceremonies. The photo is from a French government website.

Under pressure from the communists, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and Minister of Veterans Hamlaoui Mekachera, forbade the laying of a wreath at the Arc of Triumph in memory of the martyrs of Oran. It's an historic first. Even the Nazis did not act like this. The Association of Alumni of Lamorcière High School (ALLO), that each year commemorates the hundreds of people (some sources say 3000) massacred on July 5, 1962 (while the French army remained in its barracks under orders from General de Gaulle), had obtained authorization from the Committee of the Flame to lay a wreath this year at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and to light the flame. The president of ALLO, Jean-Pierre Rondeau, had informed the various associations of Algerian Frenchmen, who, in turn, spread the news on their websites for their members and sympathizers. He had agreed to all the conditions asked of him: no signs, no slogans, no speeches, no mention of any organization except ALLO.

Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-07-08
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=158593