2024-07-31 00:39:55
62 years after the people of Algeria achieved their independence from French colonization and almost 63 years after the Paris massacrethe Algerian delegation He threw flowers at the Seine river during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The Paris massacre took place on October 27, 1961, when Maurice Papon He was the head of the Parisian police. Throughout the winter, he led a series of repressive acts (some of them bloody) against the Algerian population, which later turned into tragedy, as they were murdered more than 200 Algerians (and probably French, given the biased manner of detention).
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The Algerian Olympic Committee shared the video with a message that made clear the symbol they sought to frame for history:
“In memory of our righteous martyrs, the Algerian delegation lays flowers at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on the Seine River, and specifically on the bridge where our righteous martyrs were martyred, may God have mercy on them.”
(When people talk about the massacre, they always give a different death toll. According to the data provided by researchers, the death toll is between 70 and 200. However, historians record more than 300 deaths during the entire autumn of that year in the French capital.)
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The video circulating on social digital networks shows at the beginning a member of the Algerian Olympic Committee He makes a short speech, while he holds some flowers in his left hand and his companions wave Algerian flags and also hold red roses. He barely raises his voice, then he heads to the edge of the boat and everyone throws these roses straight into the Seine, just as some of the corpses were thrown then, while in the background the Parisian bridge where the massacre took place can be seen.
🇫🇷🇩🇿🥀 FLASH | The Algerian delegation threw flowers into the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in #Paris2024in tribute to the Algerians who drowned in 1961. #ceremoniedouverture pic.twitter.com/1jb3gQASVe
— Cerfia (@CerfiaFR) July 26, 2024
During the ceremony, athletes and members of the Algerian delegation shared space on board the boat with representatives from Afghanistan, Albania, Germany and South Africa.
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2024-07-31 00:39:55