New Caledonia
France backs ICC after it seeks arrest warrants for Israel's Netanyahu, Hamas leaders
This stuck out to me from the news, given what's happening in New Caledonia ... New Caledonia riots: Tourists evacuated, French President Macron to visit
Yep, France thinks Israel isn't treating the Palestinians fairly but somehow manages to overlook the almost 200 years of its colonization of New Caledonia, the indigenous inhabitants of which are now (again) trying to get out from under French rule.
France took over New Caledonia in 1853. Some French traders settled there and it was used as a penal colony for French criminals and political prisoners. In 1864, nickel was discovered there, and France began mining, as the natives, the Kanak people, were mostly put on reservations.
The Kanak people gained French citizenship by the early 1950s. But in the late 70s and early 80s, a Kanak independence movement really took off ... violence, riots, kidnappings (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front).
Since then there have been a series of elections to determine if France should keep New Caledonia. These recent riots are about an upcoming election on independence from France, specifically about who should be allowed to vote in that election ... 2024 New Caledonia unrest.
The countries of Europe, now so very liberal in their political views and so against Israel, should maybe take a look in their mirrors.
posted by crystal | 9:06 PM
2 Comments:
Yes,especially the French. I hold them partially responsible for what played out in Vietnam. They bailed out of "French Indochina" and didn't try to fix anything afterwards of what their poor governance caused. We shouldn't have gotten involved. But they did very little to avoid what happened.
Right. Those European countries and their empires, which they still can't quite let go of.
Post a Comment
<< Home