The French Government was urged today to insist on adequate guarantees by the Algerian Nationalists for all national minorities living in Algeria prior to granting independence to the country.
The plea to the French Government was voiced by the former French Premier Guy Mollet, a Socialist leader, addressing a public meeting. “One of the essential problems to be resolved, and one of the most difficult, will be that of guaranteeing adequate rights for all inhabitants of Algeria. ” he said. “These guarantees should be based on fundamental rights: the liberty to think, the liberty to freely practice one’s religion, freely to associate and to have complete freedom of movement. “
The position of Algerian Jewry as being entitled to decide their future, rather than having it decided for them, was outlined in Information Juive, organ of the World Jewish Congress by Jacques Lazarus, a director of the WJC office in Algiers. “Whatever happens, we want to stay free men, free in our choice, free in our opinions and in our behavior, ” he wrote. Recalling the Cremieux decree of 1870 granting French citizenship to the Jews, he added that Algerian Jewry has been “officially assimilated” to the European population.
Drawing a parallel to the situation of Jews in other Arab countries since creation of Israel, he added: “How can we agree to the proposition that Algerian Jews can be reorganized in groups by any party without their agreement?” This, he said, would be contrary to the principle of auto-determination which has been proclaimed and accepted. “There can be no question of imposing upon us any choice fixed in advance without taking into consideration our own decision, ” he stated.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
