oo ee

sere

Armed with wooden clubs, Moroccan tribesmen demonstrate against the French

epranor and brutal repression
now stalk French North Af-
rica, where the battles in Algeria
and Moroccq have hit the head-
lines for the past two weeks.
Over 200,000 French troops,
with tanks, planes and artillery,
are attempting once more to

put down in blood and murder:

the aspirations of the peoples
of these French North ‘African
colonies for independence.

Only a few weeks ago, the
French settlers’ leaders in North
Africa, who have consistently op-
posed even the most elemen-
tary reforms, were talking about
their “friendly feeling’ for the
Arab population.

Today the mask is off, and as
one French, settler told the cor-
respondent of the French news-
Paper Le Moinde: “Now it’s war.
From now on its only a question
of force.”

Not only are French troops
(including the Foreign Legion,
composed largely of German
from Rommel’s Afrika Korps re-
cently transferred from Indo-

By SAM RUSSELL

china) wiping out Arab villages,
but vigilante bands of French
settlers are roving the Arab
quarters, shooting at sight.

For months now the situation
in Algeria and Morocco has been
Betting steadily worse. Faced
with ‘the refusal of the French
authorities to grant even elemen-
tary rights, the Arab populations
have been forced into the hills.

And the spark was set to the
tinder-box, which French North
Africa has become by the attempt
to supress the demonstrations
that took place in Morocco on
the occasion of the second anni-
versary of the exile of the Sul-
tan Mohammed ben Youssef.

Hatred blazed, French settlers,
including women and children,
were killed. At one stage in
Morocco the French command
said that 110 French settlers had
been killed and 521 Moroccans.

Says the Le Monde correspon-
dent—put a nought on to the fig-
ures of Moroccan killed, multiply
the official figure by ten.

The péoples of Morocco and

rabs tell France:
e’ve stood enoug

Algeria are now hitting back.
They have had enough of broken
promises, of repression and mis-
ery. They are demanding in-
dependence,

Let’s look first at Algeria. Suc-
cessive French governments have
claimed that “Algeria fis part of
France, so it’s nobody else’s busi-
ness but ours.”

What are the facts? Nine mil-
lion Moselms live in Algeria as
second-class citizens alongside
900,000 Europeans, mostly
French, who regard it as their di-
vine right to rule, take the best
jobs and to extract the wealth
of the country for themselves.

In the Algerian Assembly, the
900,000 French settlers have as
many seats as the nine million
Algerians, and through electoral
trickery, frequently spotlighted
by French commissions, most of
the “elected” Algerians are in
fact appointed By: the French
authorities.

For years now a powerful in-
dependence movement ‘has exist-

French police (above) armed with machine guns, and French
tanks patrol the streets of cities and towns in Morocco as the
people battle for their independence. (Left) A veiled Mos-
+ Jem woman.

ed in Algeria, with a number of
organizations like the Movement
for Democratic Liberties, the
Algerian Communist party and
others. All are banned or de-
prived of means of legal expres-
sion.

Is it a surprise that the Al-
gerians are now meeting force
with force and the French au-
thorities have to admit that they
cannot down the “rebels.”

Morocoo was only conquered
by France in 1912, and in the
years 1926-27 the French settlers
had to wage a full-scale war
against. the Moroccan people.

(Morocco ‘is a French protector-
ate and is supposed iin theory to
have an independent government
administering certain of its own
internal affairs. In fact, the pic-
ture is the same as in Algeria
with the 400,000 French settlers
exploiting over eight million
Moroccans.

Alongside the blazing magni-
ficence of the French buildings in
towns like Casablanca are the
teeming “bidonvilles,’ or shanty
towns, ‘constructed out of disused
petrol tins or “bidons.”

After 40 years of French “‘pro-
tection”, the Moroccans play vir-
tually no part in their own gov-
ernment, and until recently it
was impossible, for a Moroccan
to become even a postman.

In 1953 the Sultan Mohammed
ben Youssef, originally placed in
this position by the French au-

Continued from page 9

French tanks move in to crush the Algerian people.

by
thorities, was himself fore e
popular pressure to put gover
opposition to the —

meni.

i)
He was exiled a: repl this
a quisling-Ben Arafa.
move only intensified ™”. Ae
mands of the Moroccan by
pendence movement, 2 .
the Istiqlal Party and th
can Communist party.

the

And in the past two year eb
demand for the remova onan
Arafa and the return of een the
med ben Youssef a aepeat
rallying cries of the ? gro?
ence movement AF has
stronger every day- wrrone?

What of the people of ooomit
itself? For them it is b at 0
more evident every day by
cessive French om ic
refusing to acknowledge’ aK Nott
rights of the people own
Africa to decide their cb
ture, are committing ithe _
people to another major
war,

The lesson of the last ae
colonial war in Indochin@ ny te
for all to see. Tia sfc is, a nel
repression in NO
has and never will i
support of the Frem
people.

There can be only ht
honest negotiation wit
representatives of the ene pio?
on the basis of the
of their sovereignty:

CONFERENCE —

ism of Soviet nuclear science and
the ‘advance it has made since the
end of the war.

The Soviet physicist Veksler
revealed that within six to 12
months they would have in oper-
ation in the USSR a high-energy
accelerator which will produce
particles of an energy equivalent
to ‘that produced by a potential
difference of 10,000 million volts.

Until now, the largest such ma-
chine has been that built in Law-
rence’s laboratory in Berkeley,
California, which has been pro-
ducing particles of energy equi-
valent to 6,000 million volts for
the past few months.

And this prediction of Veksler
was no idle boast. Already the
USSR possesses the largest syn-
cro-cyclotron, a machine of a dif-
ferent type, in the world. A.new
machine nearing completion uses
a magnet that contains 35,000
tons of steel.

After listening to Veksley, an
American scientist was heard to
exclaim: “If only my government
would support science on this
scale, what things could we not
do?”

The most exciting moment of
the conference, to my mind, was
when the two greatest machine
builders in the world, the Russian

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — SEPTEMBER 2, 1955 —

- nificant work see: sts of i

Veksler and the American, met
rence — two of the oreo “
of our age — spoke mi! f
same. platform and ont Mil? 4
gracious tribute fo

imagination of the othe a

It was not in the ™
room so much as if aif
and in the various im reall
ings outside that the cont Bit

was done. The
ain, America and the nd uh
ion came together 08
that they spoke a ©?
guage. a iy
The effects of ‘the one fh
ference are ee
not ‘be so easy to ‘0
of secrecy, marr
fear that has separate’ ing sil”
science from ‘Soviet % io
the end of the wat: collab ine
And from this come
greater things can © os
future. pr? ro a
Great and grievous Gorn
still remain after BA questa
Conference. The wh? 3 a
of nuclear weapons Was ood by
by common agreem ene ehe
question is the crux x 0
matter.
Nevertheless, do
estimate the ‘remot
ance of what I