Negotiators for the Algerian independence organization, the FLN, have given final approval to a French proposal that Algeria’s 100,000 Jews are to be considered Europeans in an independent Algeria, according to unofficial but reliable information learned here today.
The secret French-FLN talks, which have been underway for the past four months, have stumbled on this point. According to the sources, described as reliable, the FLN has given France assurance that the Jewish community would enjoy the same guarantees and privileges as other Europeans choosing to remain in an independent Algeria.
These guarantees would protect the lives, property, religious and cultural institutions of the 1,000,000 Europeans residing in the French colony. The same reports indicated that the Algerian cities and sections of cities in which the Europeans have a majority would be granted some form of autonomous administration.
During the talks last summer in Evian and Lugrin, the FLN insisted on claiming Algeria’s Jews as “native Algerians,” which would have deprived them of any French protection. Under the reported new agreement between France and the FLN, Europeans in Algeria would be free to choose Algerian nationality if they wanted to.
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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.
