#历史开讲 #
The gradual deterioration of relations between Jews and Muslims in Algeria in the 20th century was influenced in many ways. Algerian Muslims answered France's call in World War I, and some 173,000 Arab and Berber soldiers served in France during the war, often longer and with much less compensation than French soldiers.
The deterioration of relations between Jews and Muslims in Algeria
Considering this situation, the colonial authorities and the French Government had to appropriately provide greater rights to these people. After World War I, Clemenceau decided to reward Algerian Arabs and Berbers for their support during the war, with most of the reforms coming from the Jonath Act of February 1919, which increased the number of Algerian Muslims eligible to vote for Muslim members of the city council to 400,000 and gave 100,000 members of departmental committees and the financial delegation the right to vote.
This bill has caused a lot of controversy. Almost no one was satisfied with the reforms of 1919. The colonists felt that they had made too many concessions, and the locals generally believed that France accepted the gift of the Algerians in a critical moment, promising a lot but delivering little. Although the Act was enacted with many changes compared to the original draft, it was still the culmination of reforms during the French colonial rule of Algeria.
Since the enactment of the law, many Algerian Muslims believe they have made progress and want to take full advantage of their existing rights to go further. A group headed by Emil Khalid who advocated more radical reforms, including the fight for French citizenship, but at the same time preserving the personal identity of Muslims. The Emir himself attached great importance to Arab identity and advocated its compatibility with French citizenship, and the Emir rejected absolute assimilationism.
He was also part of the Young Algerians, an intellectual and political movement that arose in the early 20th century among young people, mostly intellectuals, academic elites or businessmen, who carried out activities that included defending their Muslim identity and enlightening Arabs. As the idea of freedom and equality spread around the world, many similar movements emerged in the Islamic world, which faced competition from the outside world and raised great doubts about the Muslim world.
The Youth Algerian Movement makes its voice heard through the creation of its own publication, which is bilingual in French and Arabic. The members of this movement, willing to receive a French education, called for judicial and economic equality, and obtained the freedoms and rights granted by France as citizens through compulsory military service and secularism. Coupled with the rise of the Algerian nationalist movement, the social status of Muslims in the colonies began to rise. All this is a reminder of Jews' efforts to assert their position by asserting their citizenship.
The economic crisis of the 20s and 30s of the 20th century exacerbated already tense social relations in Algeria. Morad, then chairman of the Algerian financial delegation, gave a broad definition of the crisis that had threatened Algeria, and that it was also political, social, economic and financial. As food prices fell, Algerian farmers suffered.
Many creditors, including Jews, benefited greatly from the economic crisis. Unemployment caused by the economic crisis was also a serious problem, and the poverty of the Muslim population had led to an increase in the political activity of Algerian Muslims. In 1929, a long-standing dispute between Jews and Muslims in Palestine over access to the Western Wall escalated into violence in Jerusalem that year. During the week-long unrest, both Jews and Arabs suffered casualties. Most interpretations of the 1929 riots follow one of two paradigms.
First of all, this is seen as a manifestation of Muslim fanaticism and Arab anti-Semitism, a particular example of the ongoing ethno-religious conflict which, although sometimes controlled by political power, constantly threatens to erupt into open violence. After this incident, the mayor of the province of Constantine publicly called on the Muslims of Algeria to side with Palestinian Muslims, and the unrest in Palestine had a significant impact on Algeria, where relations between Jews and Muslims had become tense due to the economic crisis and both of them were very concerned about Palestinian dynamics.
Despite the very challenging reporting on it, Algerian newspapers covered the situation in Palestine in detail. Although Zionism had developed considerably during this period, Algerian Jews did not pay much attention to Zionist ideology and were committed to asserting their identity and rights as citizens. Both the Zionist Organization and the World Union of Israelis operate in Algeria, where the latter is clearly more entrenched because of his support for Jewish assimilation.
The violence in the colonies was reciprocal, and in many cases Jews usually appeared as aggressors. While Muslims in Algeria work to improve their status and gain power, some Jews also resort to violence to assert their superiority while distancing themselves from Muslims. In Algeria, declarations emphasizing French character were particularly prevalent in 1930, when colonial officials organized extravagant celebrations to celebrate the centenary of France in Algeria.
They believe that the 100 years of French activity in Algeria have allowed French culture to spread as far as Algeria. The emphasis on "Frenchness" during the celebrations undoubtedly increased the frustration of Algerian Muslims with their position in the colony. At the same time, Hitler's propagandists exploited Algerian Muslim discontent with the French colonies to spark a new wave of anti-Semitism.
In 1933, Algeria's mayor reported that unrest among Algerian Muslims was growing, and Arabic leaflets urging Algerian Muslims to boycott Jewish shops, suggesting that the money spent there to buy bullets would kill Palestinian Muslims. By the 2030s, public opinion in France had once again turned to anti-Semitism, mainly because of the Great Depression that hit France in 1932 and the wave of immigrants fleeing Nazi persecution after 1933.
Due to the effects of the recession and long-term unemployment, workers tended to steal jobs from French workers by working Jews (especially Jewish immigrants). The anti-Semitic theme of the 2030s allowed one to contrast its French nature with the alienity of its opponents. There is no doubt that the Popular Front has reached a political frenzy unparalleled since the Dreyfus affair. The election of the Popular Front government once again brought anti-Semitism back into the mainstream of French society.
The anti-Semitism of the Popular Front united various right-wing groups in colonies and metropolises. Whether it was the premeditated removal of Jewish electoral lists by Algerian municipalities or the conflict between Jews and anti-Semitic circles in Europe, it was a sign that anti-Semitism in the colonies reached new heights in the late 2030s.
The Jewish-Muslim conflict in Algeria in the 2030s was not an isolated phenomenon, but was closely linked to the political, economic, and cultural ties of the colonies, and the Palestinian scramble over the Western Wall and the resurgence of anti-Semitism within Europe contributed to the deterioration of Jewish-Muslim relations.