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April 22, 2008
The Battle of Algiers Never Ends
Synagogue in Algiers.
“What year were you expelled from Algeria?”
“In 1956, the F.L.N. told us that we were not really true Algerians.”
“What were you?”
My luncheon companion, a handsome man in his late 60's, smiles broadly: “Filthy Jews.”
“How long did your family live in Algeria?”
My friend sits back and ponders a moment: “Oh, since the churban, [586 C.E.] the Destruction of the Temple. That's when our family made its way from Babylon to Algeria.”
“It must have been hard to leave.”
He just shakes his head in sorrow.
“The F.L.N. confiscated our home, our furniture, our bank accounts. For the revolution, they said. In truth, the committee members just stole for themselves. We were allowed to take one suitcase each. We arrived in France hungry, exhausted and penniless.”
“Were you ever compensated?”
He laughs.
“Did you receive government help?”
“Of course not. We all went to work. We would not take hand-outs. We had pride. We went to school, worked our way up into the middle class. France was good to us. I even enlisted in the army. I became an officer. But you know what happened. There was another officer in my unit, and he kept talking about dirty Jews. Everything with him was dirty Jews, dirty Jews.”
“The battle of Algiers, it never ends, does it?”
“No mon ami, it does not, not for us Jews. Anyway, I told him to stop, that I was a Jew. Well, this made it infinitely worse and he just never stopped. Finally, I took him outside and I thrashed him. I utterly thrashed him.”
“You are my hero.”
“You know what he did?”
“Cried like a girl.”
“He pressed charges and I was brought to a—what's the word?”
“Court Martial.”
“Oui, exact, tribune militaire. And there was a General, very stone-faced, who was presiding, and he kept staring at me. And the officer defended himself by saying that he did not mean it when he said dirty Jew. He said it was as a joke.
“Some joke.”
My French friend, who looks like a dapper European diplomat out of central casting, sits up straight and rattles off a string of irate sentences in French.
I hold out my hands as if checking for rain.
It's, er, Greek to me.
“Pardon, but I was so angry in the tribune when he said it was a joke that I shot up in my seat and I attacked him with a J'accuse.”
“Mazal Tov. So, what happened, what was the verdict?”
“Ah, I was terrified of the Director General. He just stared at me and I was sure that he was a Jew-hater, he had that cold, Jew-hating look. But in the end he just said that officers may not speak in such a manner, that it was not honorable, and that brawls are for drunken peasants. That was the end of it. Charges dismissed.”
“Not a great ending.”
“Wait, it is not ended. In the courtyard, I am walking away and I hear someone calling to me. I turn and it is the General. I think to myself, oh no, now I am in trouble. He is going to break my rank. He comes over and I salute. He tells me, the next time he calls you a dirty Jew you must be a gentleman, challenge him to a duel—and then shoot him between the eyes.”
“Get out of town.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing, go on.”
“I say, but Mon General...”
“The General says, I am Jewish. I say, no, I do not believe it. He says, I will prove it, and he recites: Sh'ma Yisroel Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad. Hear O' Israel The Lord Our G-d The Lord is One.”
Seraphic Secret on Algeria: Part One
Seraphic Secret on Algeria: Part Two
Seraphic Secret on Algeria: Part Three
Seraphic Secret on Algeria: Part Four
And please read Wolf Howling's important analysis of the Persian threat: Next Moves in an Existential Chess Match.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at April 22, 2008 09:11 AM
Comments
Seraphic Secret is private property, that's right, it's an extension of our home, and as such, Karen and I have instituted two Seraphic Rules and we ask commentors to act respectfully.
1. No profanity.2. No Israel bashing. We debate, we discuss, we are respectful. You know what Israel bashing is. The world is full of it. Seraphic Secret is one of the few places in the world that will not tolerate this form of anti-Semitism. That's it. Break either of these rules and you will be banned.
A Jewish General, pretty cool. Ok, I am ready now for the rest of the story, or at least another installment.
Posted by: Jack at April 22, 2008 10:17 AM
Jack:
Oh, you mean the story about the gorgeous Folies Bergere girl who was also Jewish?
I'll tell you that one when we meet for pizza.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.seraphicpress.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 22, 2008 10:28 AM
I look forward to it.
Posted by: Jack at April 22, 2008 01:38 PM
did I hear...MEET FOR PIZZA?...
(great story)
Posted by: cruisin-mom at April 22, 2008 06:26 PM
You have written an excellent series of posts on the Algerian insurgency. And I thank you for the link and kind words.
Interestingly, much of our modern counterinsurgency strategy is patterned on the strategy of a French lieutenant colonel of Tunisian descent named David Galula, developed in the Algerian conflict. There is an exceptional article on this by Arthur Hermann in the WSJ last year:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110009862
Unfortunately, just as Galula's strategy began to be effectively utilized by the French, the people in France were unwilling to wait and the white flag got waived.
Posted by: GW at April 22, 2008 06:52 PM
A specifically, self-consciously Jewish record of modern Algerian history is important. Postmodernists make plenty use of metaphorical Jews -- e.g., assimilated Algerian Jew #1, Jacques Derrida.
For what it's worth, in the early years of the Franco-FLN/Arab war, the French prime minister Pierre Mendes-France, was a Jew. A left-leaning one, of course, who bungled the war and nearly brought down the 4th Republic.
Posted by: Jeremiah at April 22, 2008 08:07 PM
did I hear...MEET FOR PIZZA?...
Yep. Robert knows that my real name is actually Henry Woodhouse. Oops.
Posted by: Jack at April 22, 2008 10:04 PM
Cruisin' Mom:
Meet for pizza after Pesach.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at April 22, 2008 10:21 PM
Wolf Howling:
Thanks so much for the kind words.
And thanks so much for the excellent link about Galula.
Keep up the fine work.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at April 22, 2008 10:27 PM
Jeremiah:
G-d save us from the leftist, assimilated Jews. They are the death of the Jewish people.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at April 22, 2008 10:33 PM
Robert,
A critic once paraphrased Dostoevsky' oeuvre thus: The death of the soul is worse than the death of the body.
What the "Serenity Prayer" does for sober alcoholics, that critic line does for me around assimilated Jews.
Posted by: Jeremiah at April 23, 2008 05:10 PM
Jeremiah:
Amen to that.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at April 23, 2008 07:10 PM
Oh--good story.
Posted by: Gila at April 23, 2008 11:28 PM
Loved the story. I'm going to e-mail it to some family and friends. Hopefully they'll start visiting you here and become more educated.
Moadim L'Simcha!
Posted by: Baila at April 24, 2008 02:32 AM
Gila:
Delighted to share it with you.
Moadim L'Simcha.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at April 24, 2008 11:16 AM
Baila:
Thanks so much for sharing us with your chaverim.
Moadim L'Simcha.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at April 24, 2008 11:19 AM
A wonderful story and well told. Well, you are a professional writer after all ;-P
I reposted it to discardedlies with full credit. I hope you don't mind.
Posted by: QuietusLeo at April 26, 2008 03:57 AM
QuietusLeo:
Los Angels is bursting with Jews who have amazing stories to tell. I love hearing their stories and sharing them with my readers.
Thanks so much for reposting my piece. It's an honor.
Stay in touch.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at April 27, 2008 09:52 PM
Here too, we have many people with amazing stories (you should come for a visit). Here is one my posts with such a story.
Posted by: QuietusLeo at April 28, 2008 04:09 AM