1962 Isly massacre

French army soldiers opened fire on unarmed French civilians demonstrating in favor of French Algeria on the Rue d'Isly in the centre of Algiers on 26 March 1962. The incident occurred almost a week after the Évian Accords, which officially ended the Algerian War of Independence. The gunfire lasted for 12 minutes and left 46 people dead and 200 wounded.[1]

1962 Isly massacre
The Rue d'Isly, early 20th century
LocationRue d'Isly, Algiers, Algeria,
Date26 March 1962 (1962-03-26)
TargetPied-Noir community
Attack type
Gunfire
Deaths46
Injured200
Perpetrators French army

Shooting incident

On 26 March 1962, supporters of French Algeria were trying to push towards the Bab El Oued neighbourhood of Algiers.[2] The crowd, from the pied-noir community, were shot at by French military while carrying flags and singing "La Marseillaise".[3]

Henry Tanner, a journalist who witnessed the shootings, described the incident: "When the shooting stopped, the street was littered with bodies, of women, as well as men, dead, wounded or dying. The black pavement looked grey, as if bleached by fire. Crumpled French flags were lying in pools of blood. Shattered glass and spent cartridges were everywhere".[3] Some shocked pieds-noirs screamed that they were not French anymore.[3] One woman screamed "Stop firing! My God, we're French..." before she was killed by the gunfire.[3]

Commemoration

On 26 January 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron said in remarks at a gathering in the Élysée Palace among the people of French origin, who moved to France after independence of Algeria, that the incident was "unforgivable for the Republic" and described the event as a "massacre" by French soldiers.[4] Macron told the gathering that the incident must be "recognised" and the "truth" told.[2]

The incident is remembered by the European settler community who mostly were repatriated to France later that year.[1]

References
  1. Barclay, Fiona (17 April 2020). "The Rue D'Isly, Algiers 26 March 1962: The Contested Memorialization of a Massacre". French Politics, Culture and Society. 39 (3): 1–25. doi:10.3167/fpcs.2021.390301. hdl:1893/30997. ISSN 1558-5271. S2CID 218792319. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  2. Chrisafis, Angelique (26 January 2022). "Macron meets Algerian-born French citizens with one eye on election". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  3. Cairns, John C. (1962). "Algeria: The Last Ordeal". International Journal. 17 (2): 87–97. doi:10.2307/40199013. ISSN 0020-7020. JSTOR 40199013. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  4. "Macron calls 1962 Isly 'massacre' in Algiers 'unforgiveable for the Republic'". France 24. 26 January 2022. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.