France looted both objects,a rchives and human remains from Algeria during the occupation period, and the governments of both countries are trying to come to more reconciliation.
Mohamed Moslem is worried about French parties rejecting the memory reconciliation and want Paris not to respond to the requests submitted by a Algerian-French mixed commission concerning the restitution of some “symbolic” property.
Algeria submitted an open list of its property with “symbolic significance” preserved in various French institutions, and proposed for restitution and delivery as a “symbolic act to Algeria.”
The Algerian-French commission said in its last fifth meeting held in Algeria between May 2024, that it “hopes that concrete measures will be achieved to reflect the true will to address all dimensions of the colonial phase to look forward to the future.”
The leader of the right-wing “Les Republicains” party, Eric Ciotti, posted a provocative statement on the “X” network through its party’s official account, that attacked Algeria, saying: “A message of service to Algeria. We must restitute everything, the good and the bad: criminals, delinquents, illegal immigrants, OQTF (Algerian nationals who have been ordered to leave the French territory).”
The “Boulevard Voltaire” website stated that “it was France that supplied its former colony with works of art to a large extent, including through purchase, to supply Algerian museums with French works but also… Algerian!”, it goes so far as to say that “Algiers Museum of Fine Arts, which was opened in 1930 includes about 8000 works, is one of the largest museums in Africa”.
