- cross-posted to:
- europe@lemmy.ml
- globalnews@lemmy.zip
- cross-posted to:
- europe@lemmy.ml
- globalnews@lemmy.zip
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/26982927
On 25 February he said on air: “Every year in France, we commemorate what happened in Oradour-sur-Glane – the massacre of an entire village. But we have committed hundreds of these, in Algeria. Are we aware of this?”
He was referring to the village where an SS unit returning to the front in Normandy massacred 642 residents on 10 June 1944. Leaving a chilling memorial for future generations, the village was never rebuilt.
Challenged by the anchor over whether “we [the French] behaved like the Nazis”, Aphatie said: “The Nazis behaved like us.”
On X, he acknowledged his comments had created a “debate” but said it was of great importance to understand the full story over France’s 1830-1962 presence in Algeria, saying he was “horrified” by what he had read in history books.
After being suspended for a week by the channel it means that “if I come back to RTL I validate this and admit to making a mistake”.
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I know nothing about French colonialism in Algeria and I immediately found a french massacre from 1945 with at least 6000 deaths.
Sounds like he has a point.He definitely does. He quit because they wanted to “sanction” him for making that comment, and he thought that if he stayed on it would have given the message that he agreed with the sanction.
I think it’s smart of him to quit. I send him solidarity.
The French government does historical revisionism and tries to downplay atrocities commited by France. As a person with a French passport, I’ll support anyone who helps bring more light on to those downplayed atrocities.
He definitely right, I always sided against Apathie because he was always pro-Macron and such but on many case recently, I’m siding with him. I can’t understand why his comments are “controversials”, everyone in France know that during the colonisation and decolonisation, our military has done a ton of hateful things, from Indochina to West Africa and Maghreb.
Apathie is too center-sided for me, but when everyone goes to the far-right bootlicking, he stands his ground, so I cannot give him anything but uttermost respect.
I can’t understand why his comments are “controversials”, everyone in France know that during the colonisation and decolonisation, our military has done a ton of hateful things, from Indochina to West Africa and Maghreb.
My perspective as someone not from the West is: Westerners claim they’ve accepted the atrocities their countries committed (and sometimes are still committing), but they really haven’t. They routinely downplay and whitewash the more recent of these atrocities, or claim they’re only the responsibility of a sinister cabal of politicians and billionaires, while claiming that the ones mostly out of living memory are ancient past that everyone needs to get over. Turn that up to eleven because France is one of the most nationalist places in the world and this outcome is not surprising. If anything I’m surprised a French journalist had the courage to say something like this in public.
What you said about the cabal of evil politicians… That reminds me of USA so much. The people here are so privileged and ignorant they are think they can blame it on politicians. They don’t even understand their privileges. Me included. It’s like we were so indoctrinated with this stuck up pride as if we are better than the rest.
When real war comes for us and people are dying in the street they will still wonder how did this happen and do ever but look realistically at their existence and understanding of life as human being. It’s like we aren’t even human anymore in the USA, just zombie consumers and willing pawns of criminal wealth.
Historians from both sides have over the last years documented numerous violations including arbitrary killings and detention carried out by French forces and the history still burdens French-Algerian relations to this day.
Just violations? That is too mildly put imo
The far right in France has long defended French policies in those years
Racism, imperialism and colonialism are well intertwined.
Fun fact: Algeria’s national anthem to this day has a verse dissing France:
O France, the time of reproof is over And we have closed it as a book is closed; 𝄇 O France, this is the day of reckoning So prepare to receive from us our answer! In our revolution is the end of empty talk; We are determined that long live Algeria! So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
They’re (rightly) still mad about French colonialism.
Translation by Wikipedia slightly modified by me.
