Page 144 - The Winter of Islam and the Spring to Come

THE WINTER OF ISLAM AND THE SPRING TO COME
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killed or sent to concentration camps. When
the Allies put an end to the German occupa-
tion in 1942, those Algerian intellectuals
who had imagined that this would be the
start of a new and democratic dawn in
Algeria quickly realized that they were mis-
taken. In 1943, a group led by Ferhat Abbas
proposed to the Allies that colonialism be
ended in favor of an independent state
being founded at the war's end, with a new
Constitution, as well as that Algerians
should run the country and all those im-
prisoned for their beliefs should be re-
leased. The Algerians, who had fought
alongside the Allies against the Germans,
thought that their just demands would be
accepted. However, they were instead, re-
jected. Furthermore, a new wave of killing
was just around the corner. French troops carried out bloody mas-
sacres of the Muslim people of Algeria
When a large crowd of people un- for 132 years.
furled the Algerian flag on May, 8, 1945,
during celebrations to mark the end of the war, this action was met with
terrible bloodshed. French troops opened fire on those carrying
Algerian flags, and 40 people were ruthlessly slain. This met with con-
siderable reaction from other Muslims in the area. The protest grew,
and France decided in favor of an even greater show of force. Army
units began opening fire on civilians at random. As a result, according
to figures from American sources, some 45,000 Muslims died in the en-
suing slaughter. Many more were wounded. This incident, known as
the Setif Massacre, was followed by other acts by the oppressive
French regime. All political activity was banned. Thousands of
Algerians were detained with no justifications given. The Algerians
were getting another painful taste of the colonialists' cruelty.
During the decade that followed the Setif Massacre, independence