{"id":36337,"date":"2025-12-17T05:12:49","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T04:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/?p=36337"},"modified":"2025-12-17T05:12:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T04:12:55","slug":"robert-menard-echoes-of-colonial-nostalgia-in-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/?p=36337","title":{"rendered":"Robert M\u00e9nard: Echoes of Colonial Nostalgia in France"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Algiers<\/strong> &#8211; Robert M\u00e9nard, the mayor of B\u00e9ziers, France, has ignited controversy with provocative statements claiming the Algerian city of Oran as &#8216;his home.&#8217; This declaration underscores the persistent colonial mindset within certain far-right circles in France.<\/p>\n<p>M\u00e9nard, known for his hardline right-wing stance and ties to nostalgic colonial movements, recently attacked Algeria, expressing a purported emotional connection to Oran. This is perceived as a clear reference to France&#8217;s colonial past.<\/p>\n<p>His remarks are not viewed as a mere slip of the tongue, but rather as an expression of a colonial ideology failing to recognize the irreversible end of the imperial era. Referring to an Algerian city as &#8216;home&#8217; reflects a continued illusion of dominance characteristic of a dark colonial period. Oran is the home of Algerians who fought for its liberation, sacrificing their lives for independence. It is distinctly Algerian, with its own history, culture, and Arab-Amazigh-Islamic identity, leaving no room for morbid colonial nostalgia.<\/p>\n<p>More concerning is that M\u00e9nard&#8217;s views are not isolated. He represents a significant segment of the French far-right and nostalgic elites who refuse to acknowledge the crimes of colonialism, attempting to sanitize a bloody era in which Algeria suffered for over 132 years.<\/p>\n<p><em>This entrenched colonial mentality explains much of the ongoing tension in Algerian-French relations.<\/em> Certain French factions insist on treating Algeria with a patronizing and condescending attitude, refusing to fully acknowledge the crimes committed in the name of &#8216;civilization&#8217; and &#8216;enlightenment.&#8217; They must understand that today&#8217;s Algeria is not the occupied territory they once dreamed of enslaving forever. It is a sovereign and independent nation.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/?cat=1\">More Algeria articles on DZWatch<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\">DZWatch &#8211; Your News Portal<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Algiers &#8211; Robert M\u00e9nard, the mayor of B\u00e9ziers, France, has ignited controversy with provocative statements claiming the Algerian city of Oran as &#8216;his home.&#8217; This declaration underscores the persistent colonial mindset within certain far-right circles in France.M\u00e9nard, know&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","iawp_total_views":8,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-algeria"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36337"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36339,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36337\/revisions\/36339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dzwatch.dz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}