While reports which were published in Jewish and non-Jewish papers to the effect that a “pogrom” or anti-Jewish rioting had taken place in Algeria, should be accepted with much reserve, it is true that the Jewish population of Algeria has lived through hours of anxiety.
Since the People’s Front gained a majority at the last Parliamentary elections, and more especially since its advent to power, the anti-Jewish propaganda in Algeria has become intense. The Fascist elements, who mostly belong to dissolved Right Wing semi-military organizations, accuse Jews of having cast their votes for the candidates of the People’s Front.
At the head of these turbulent anti-Jewish elements is the Mayor of Oran, Abbe Lambert, who was defeated in the elections. His action as the Mayor of Oran is subject to much criticism in Jewish circles, and he is unanimously accused of having provoked clashes between opposing political groups.
In the course of such clashes, which often necessitated an intervention of the police, Jews as well as non-Jews were wounded, and one of the wounded Jews, Jacque Zauui, has since died. While that event has greatly perturbed the Jewish population, it is pointed out here that it should not be regarded as a deliberate anti-Jewish murder.
Jewish circles here are gratified by the firm attitude of the French Governor-General, who at the very beginning of the agitation took measures to prevent the spreading of the troubles to Jewish quarters and ordered the police and the military to keep watch over Jewish houses.
In Jewish circles it is further noted with much satisfaction that the Moslem population is a complete stranger to the anti-Jewish agitation, and entertains most cordial relations with the Jewish population.
The Fascists responsible for the recent disturbances made a special point of the fact that the present Premier of France is a Jew. In their pamphlets they declare that “we shall never allow that France should be governed by a Jew and, like England, should have its Disraeli.”
Governor-General Georges le Beau, before leaving for Paris, received a delegation consisting of the heads of the Jewish communities, who urged that he take stringent measures for their protection against provocative acts. He assured the delegation that he was determined to maintain public order by every means at his disposal.
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.
