BY: Dr. Hana Saada
Khabat denounces Bruno Retailleau’s “insidious alignment” with far-right ideology, calling his provocations a “betrayal of French-Algerian dialogue” and an insult to history
Algiers, Algeria | April 17th, 2025 — In a sharply worded and unapologetically firm statement, the Dynamic Movement of Algerians in France (MOUDAF) has vehemently condemned what it characterizes as a sustained campaign of hostile rhetoric by French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau against Algeria.
The denunciation, delivered Thursday by MOUDAF Secretary General Nasser Khabat, accused the minister of “multiplying provocations, spreading falsehoods, and engaging in inflammatory invective” aimed at undermining Algeria’s dignity and the relationship between the two nations.
“Over recent months, the French Interior Minister has repeatedly crossed diplomatic red lines,” Khabat declared. “The question is no longer whether this is deliberate — but whether it stems from an openly adopted political agenda, or from a more insidious alignment with the extreme right and the fachosphère, this shadowy reactionary sphere that continues to fantasize about empire and colonial domination.”
“This is not the voice of the French Republic,” he continued, “but the voice of a certain nostalgic and authoritarian France. When Retailleau dares to speak of France’s alleged ‘humiliation’ at the hands of Algeria, it is not only historically false — it is a deliberate insult to our shared past and an obstacle to any form of constructive dialogue.”
The MOUDAF leader warned that such discourse only revives the unhealed traumas of the colonial period, deepens divisions, and sabotages efforts to build a future based on mutual respect and historical truth. “Rather than laying the groundwork for a reconciled and forward-looking partnership, the Interior Minister chooses to stoke resentment and feed nationalist fervor.”
Khabat further addressed the misinterpretation of the Algerian diaspora’s silence in the face of such provocations: “Our silence is not weakness. It is not submission. It reflects political maturity — a maturity that many in the French political establishment seem to have abandoned.”
He issued a clarion call against the instrumentalization of plural identities for narrow electoral gains: “We refuse to be passive witnesses to a nationalist drift that seeks to weaponize our histories, erase our complexities, and marginalize our contributions to French society. We are citizens of both memory and hope — and we will not allow ourselves to be erased.”
In his conclusion, Khabat reiterated that the Dynamic Movement of Algerians in France (MOUDAF) stands firmly against the resurgence of colonial nostalgia masquerading as patriotism. “The time for paternalistic condescension is over. What we demand is respect, truth, and the dignity of nations who have both suffered and survived.”
