The Harkis: the Experience and Memory of France’s Muslim Auxiliaries

Abstract

On 14 June 2000 President Abdelaziz Bouteflika began an official visit to France. The bitter legacy of colonization meant such an invitation was bound to stir up tension, especially given that Bouteflika was a former ALN maquis leader. 1 But when this is added to the fact that he was only the third Algerian head of state since independence to be accorded this welcome, at a time when his country was plunged in violence, this controversy was magnified still further. Nevertheless during the following four days Bouteflika called for a new beginning in Franco-Algerian relations. Recrimination, the President explained in a speech to the National Assembly, must be replaced by cooperation and mutual aid. 2 Yet, for all the talk of reconciliation, on the issue of the harkis , those Muslims who took a pro-French position during the war of independence, his stance was unforgiving. In Bouteflika’s eyes the harkis were traitors to the Algerian nation, no different than pro-Nazi French collaborators during the Occupation. Why, therefore, should Algerians show sympathy or understanding? 3 These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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