Killing of 2 French-Moroccans: Some French Are More French than Others

Washinton DC – Is the life of a French of Maghrebian descent worth less than that of a “native French” of Christian persuasion? French authorities appear to think so, judging from their scandalously underwhelming reaction to the news of the tragic, brutal killing of two French-Moroccan tourists and the unjustifiably muscular arrest of another by Algerian coast guards on Tuesday.

As converging reports have detailed over the past couple of days, the Algerian coastal authorities have fatally shot two French-Moroccan tourists who were on vacation in Morocco and apparently ventured into Algerian waters while riding their jet skis.

The two brutally murdered tourists were part of a group of four, holding dual French-Moroccan nationality, who had embarked on their journey from the Moroccan resort of Saidia. Another member of the group was apprehended by the coastguard and is currently under arrest in Algeria, the report detailed.

Not surprisingly, this tragic incident has triggered outrage in Morocco, with many taking to social media to vent their frustration and shock after a local fisherman posted a video depicting a lifeless body floating in the sea. Mohamed Kissi, the sole survivor of the group, managed to return safely to Morocco. As Mohamed now mourns the tragic loss of both a friend and his brother, Bilal Kessi, he has called on authorities of his two countries, France and Morocco, to hold the “murderer” to account.

Amid the ongoing chorus of condemnation and the deepening public outrage, Bilal Kessi’s cousin, an actor, has urged Moroccan authorities to bring the case to international courts, while the Moroccan Association for Citizenship and Human Rights has denounced Algeria’s “heinous breach” of the Geneva Convention concerning the protection of civilians.

In response, both Paris and Rabat have reacted to the news of the tragic loss of their citizens whose only crime, as Billal Kessi’s actor cousin put it, was to have unknowingly strayed into Algerian waters while enjoying their holiday off the Moroccan resort of Saidia. While the two responses were similar in their moderate, calm tone, they could not be more different when it comes to the significance they attached to the tragic incident.

Given the historically tense relations between Morocco and Algeria, I perfectly understand the calm and composure that the Moroccan government has displayed since news emerged of the assassination of the two French-Moroccan citizens. Morocco has no interest in escalating the tension with Algeria, let alone give the Algerian regime a card to use to deviate the attention of the Algerian people from the failure of their governments both at the domestic and external levels.

To be sure, the outpouring of outrage and condemnation from Moroccan citizens is worthy of praise and shows to what extent Moroccans are united when one of our fellow citizens is harmed or wronged. But there is a difference between what laymen and laywomen express and what actions should the government take in cases such as the tragic encounter between Moroccan citizens and Algerian authorities.

The state has its own calculations and acts within its own parameters and this is perfectly understandable. A state that bases its decisions and steps on wisdom, reason, and composure cannot draw hasty conclusions or take uncalculated steps that could backfire or have a disastrous effect on the stability and prosperity of the country.

Because the two individuals who were cowardly killed hold dual French and Moroccan citizenships, the case does not involve only Morocco and Algeria, but also France, who in principle — or at least in general, does not spare efforts to provide assistance to its citizens when they encounter hardship or go through life-threatening situations overseas.

But what I can’t fathom is the complicit silence of the French government and French media. Issuing a statement that merely informed the French public of the killing of two France-born citizens is not enough in cases like the one at hand. As it had done in previous cases whenever a French was killed or kidnapped while holidaying abroad, the French government should issue a strongly-worded statement where it should condemn this heinous act and call the Algerian government to clarify the circumstances surrounding it and hold perpetrators accountable.

As if their blasé and meek statement was not scandalous enough, the French government added insult to injury by not even bothering to express its solidarity with the families of the victims. Indeed, after failing to: vigorously condemn the heinous act, warn Algeria against not holding the perpetrators to account, and sending heartfelt message of solidarity and support to the aggrieved families, the flat, disappointing French statement only said that that crisis and support of its Foreign ministry and its embassies in Rabat and Algiers are in close contact with the victims’ families to whom “it provides its support.”

This cold attitude stands in stark contrast with the statement the French government issued following the killing of six French aid workers and their guide and driver in Niger in August 2020. Back then, the French prosecutor rushed to open an investigation and French President Emmanuel Macron described the killing as a “cowardly” act.

Paris displayed the same condemnatory attitude when two French women were killed in a terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 59 people in Nairobi in September 2013. In a statement that bore the gravity of the situation to which he was reacting, then-French President François Hollande denounced “the cowardly attack in the strongest terms and shares the pain of the family of our compatriots.”

Paris’s disdainful reaction to the killing of two Frenchmen of Moroccan descent and the arrest of one by Algerian coastguards can also be reproached to a considerable extent to the French media, whose coverage of the deliberate killing of two unarmed and peaceful tourists lacked their usual vibrancy and sense of urgency.

I have yet to see the outpouring of outrage and condemnation that we usually read on French mainstream media when a white “native French” is killed or kidnapped anywhere in the world. In my opinion, this lack of urgency and compassion from both the French government and the usually passionate and advocative French media is an ample indication that French mainstream discourse considers some citizens to be more French than others.

Indeed, as many observers of French politics have warned over the past two decades, while France prides itself on its commitment to liberty, equality, and fraternity, these ideals sometimes seem to fall short when it comes to its minority communities, particularly those of Arab descent.

As France grapples with debates over the integration of minority communities into French society, law enforcement’s endless profiling of hyphenated French citizens and some politicians’ neo-colonial mentality have perpetuated racist stereotypes and created an environment where France struggles to extend the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity to all French citizens, regardless of their ethnic or racial background.

And so, that the news of the tragic murder of two French citizens of Arab descent failed to galvanize the French government and media can only mean that many in the French ruling and chattering classes are not yet remotely close to getting rid of their neo-colonial mentality regarding what it means to be a “true Frenchman.”

Samir Bennis is the co-founder of Morocco World News. You can follow him on Twitter @SamirBennis.