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07/26/24 05:38:00
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07/26 17:36 CDT Algerians honor victims of colonial-era French crackdown at
Paris Olympics ceremony
Algerians honor victims of colonial-era French crackdown at Paris Olympics
ceremony
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) --- Algeria reminded France of a particularly dark
chapter of its colonial past during an otherwise celebratory opening ceremony
for the Paris Olympics on Friday.
Algerian athletes brought red roses on their boat as they paraded for the
event, and then tossed them into the river to honor victims of an infamous 1961
police crackdown on Algerian protesters in Paris. Some members of the
delegation chanted "Long live Algeria!" in Arabic after throwing the flowers.
Historians say some 120 protesters died and 12,000 were arrested as they
demonstrated on Oct. 17, 1961 in support of independence from France, then
Algeria's colonial ruler. Some were thrown in the Seine River by police.
Kaci Yahia, an Algerian worker for the Paris sewage system, was among them. His
body was never recovered. His 28-year-old grandson Yanis, watching from
Algeria, welcomed the commemoration by his country's delegation Friday.
"To make such a gesture, the day of the opening of the Olympics in Paris, is a
monumental homage to the victims of Oct. 17. It's a moment of immense
emotion,'' he said.
Other Algerians said the Olympics weren't the moment for such a protest move.
French authorities sought to cover up the 1961 massacre for decades. French
President Emmanuel Macron recently acknowledged that "crimes" committed that
day were "inexcusable for the Republic."
Algeria won independence in 1962 after 132 years under colonial rule.
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