Sheikh Sultan Bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, the sovereign ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah, has caused uproar for suggesting that Algeria’s independence was given to the Algerians as an “offer” by French General Charles De Gaulle to Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser.
Speaking in an interview on 19 March, broadcast on several Emirati media sites and reprinted by the daily Al Khaleej, Al-Qasimi spoke of a discussion that reportedly took place between De Gaulle and his Minister of Culture André Malraux in the early sixties.
De Gaulle asked his Minister of Culture: how can I win the sympathy of the Arabs? He replied: We must please the Arab leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. If you get to have his confidence, you will have all the Arab world with you. And how can I have Abdel Nasser at my side? His minister replied: by giving independence to Algeria.
“De Gaulle then said, referring to Algeria: ‘Now I know them’, and he worked for the independence of Algeria,” Al-Qasimi explained.
Al-Qasimi failed to show any reservations when talking about the alleged exchange between De Gaulle and his minister nor did he recall the importance of Algeria’s eight year struggle to secure independence and end 132 years of brutal French colonialism.
On the contrary, the governor of Sharjah seemed to share the position of the former French president, perceived as a model of wisdom in political action and thought.
Here we see how a cultivated man can achieve his objectives without taking up arms and without opening fire by using the right word and taking the right direction.
This will come as a low blow for Algerians particularly as the interview was broadcasted on the 55th anniversary of Victory Day in Algeria in which the Evian accords were signed in 1962 by French and Algerian delegates which enforced an immediate ceasefire and set the course for full independence four months later.
- 1.5 million Algerians perished during the Algerian war of independence which began on November 1954 and ended in July 1962.
Al-Qasimi’s remarks are unlikely to be received well and come as a shock as they were made by someone who has held good relations with Algerian officials and has always ensured Algeria’s presence in cultural events in the United Arab Emirates.
There has been no official statement yet from Algerian officials in response to Al-Qasimi’s remarks but social media has seen a wave of indignation protesting the idea that Algeria’s hard-earned independence could be equated with dealings with Egypt or any other country or its brutal struggle dismissed to account for the diplomacy of De Gaulle
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