National Emigration Day
A major event in the national liberation struggle, the demonstrations of October 17, 1961 in Paris marked a decisive turning point in the Algerian revolution.
At the call of the French Federation of the National Liberation Front (FLN) in the Paris region, Algerian emigration demonstrated en masse in Paris to protest against the curfew imposed on them by the police prefect at the time.
Algerians demonstrated peacefully to denounce the unjust measures imposed on them, demand an end to seven years of war and recognize Algeria's right to independence.
This peaceful demonstration was met with repression. The toll was heavy: hundreds of dead, injured, missing and a significant number of internees.
The repression of October 17, 1961 strengthened the cohesion of the Algerian community in France.
Today, forty years after these tragic events, the duty to remember requires everyone to reestablish the truth.
Recognition of the events could not be done due to the inaccessibility of the archives of the Paris police headquarters and justice to historians. It is, however, a necessity because the re-establishment of the truth can only be done through objective, impartial and responsible writing of history, a factor in bringing the two peoples together.
This date is commemorated today in Algeria, as national emigration day because it represents a moment of Algerian national consciousness, of the history of the struggle of the Algerian people for their independence.
At the call of the French Federation of the National Liberation Front (FLN) in the Paris region, Algerian emigration demonstrated en masse in Paris to protest against the curfew imposed on them by the police prefect at the time.
Algerians demonstrated peacefully to denounce the unjust measures imposed on them, demand an end to seven years of war and recognize Algeria's right to independence.
This peaceful demonstration was met with repression. The toll was heavy: hundreds of dead, injured, missing and a significant number of internees.
The repression of October 17, 1961 strengthened the cohesion of the Algerian community in France.
Today, forty years after these tragic events, the duty to remember requires everyone to reestablish the truth.
Recognition of the events could not be done due to the inaccessibility of the archives of the Paris police headquarters and justice to historians. It is, however, a necessity because the re-establishment of the truth can only be done through objective, impartial and responsible writing of history, a factor in bringing the two peoples together.
This date is commemorated today in Algeria, as national emigration day because it represents a moment of Algerian national consciousness, of the history of the struggle of the Algerian people for their independence.