Evolution of the assimilation of the Algerian Jews into the French
society
1833 - 1839
Following the French occupation of Algiers in 1830 and as early as
1833, Adolphe Crémieux, whose name is associated with the decree that made Algerian
Jews French citizens in 1870, began to lobby for French intervention in
Algerian Jewish affairs. As a member of the central consistory 1
in Paris, Crémieux wrote to the Minister of the Interior urging him to
establish Jewish consistories in the cities of Algeria, which would support
France’s “political goals” there. Although initially unsuccessful, Crémieux
tried again in 1836 and 1839 arguing that establishing Jewish consistories in
Algeria would advance colonial interests.
Crémieux had hoped that the Algerian consistories would come under the
authority of the Central Consistory in Paris of which he was a part.
1842 - 1843
Two prominent French-Jewish reformers, Joseph Cohen and
Jacques-Isaac Altaras, conducted an investigation into the Algerian Jewish
situation in 1842 by order of the Ministry of War. The results, published in 1843
under the title “Report on the Moral and Political State of the Israelites of
Algeria, and the Means of Ameliorating It”, recommended that the traditional
system of Jewish governance be abolished in order for Algerian Jews to become a
“pillar” of French domination.”
1845
On November 9, 1845, Algerian Jewish consistories came under the
control of the Ministry of War, with the intention of civilising a demographically
and commercially significant Jewish community and strengthening French control
in Algeria. In 1862, the French
consistory system formally absorbed the local consistories of Algeria, dealing
a fatal blow to the older style of Jewish corporatism in Algeria. At that time, there were 23,061 Jews in Algeria:
9,180 in the department of Algiers, 9,414 in Oran, and 6,470 in Constantine.
1862 - 1865
The sénatus-consulte of July 14, 1865, was the first major step
in incorporating Algerian Jews in the French citizenry, allowing Jews to become
citizens on an individual basis. Citizenship
could be gained in exchange for giving up their personal status, i.e. ruled by
Jewish law, and accept to be governed by the French civil code.
The sénatus-consulte set up the principles of “colonial
compromise” and created in Algeria a divide between “citizens” who were
subjected to the civil code, and “natives” who were French but juridically
inferior.
The 1862 jurisdiction of French courts over Algerian Jews led to
further “disorganisation.” French judicial officials who were largely ignorant
of the principles of Jewish personal status and Talmudic law failed to properly
adjudicate Jewish affairs. The
consistory contended that the only solution to this problem was to naturalize
the Jews en masse and remove all confusion regarding their personal status.
1869
As the Jewish Central Consistory, located in Paris, took an
interest in their situation, Algerian Jews also took action. At the end of
December 1869, the Constantine Jewish consistory submitted a petition to the Central
Consistory demanding collective naturalisation for the Jews of Algeria. In March 1870, members of the Oran Jewish
consistory participated in a meeting with the Prefect of Oran on the issue of
collective naturalisation. The consistory leadership unanimously agreed that
Jews would welcome naturalisation. They subsequently wrote to the National
Defense Government in September 1870 to offer their support and express their
thanks for the work of the government on behalf of Algerian Jews and their
rights.
1870, The Crémieux Decree
In response to lobbying from the Algerian and
Parisian consistories, French politicians took up the issue of naturalising
Algerian Jews. In March 1870, Émile Ollivier, then Minister of Justice,
presented a law draft to the Conseil d’État (State Council). The law in
question collectively naturalized the Jews of Algeria. Ollivier passed to
Adolphe Crémieux responsibility for revising the law. Crémieux also served as president
of the "Alliance Israélite Universelle" and had a reputation for fighting for the
rights of Jews in the Maghreb and the Levant.
On July 19, 1870, Crémieux presented to the Legislative Chamber his
revised law for the naturalisation of Algerian Jews.
Under the National Defense Government, which operated from 1870 to
1871 in the midst of the Franco-Prussian War, Crémieux became Minister of
Justice on September 4, 1870. Among his other responsibilities, Crémieux
prepared a Constitution for Algeria. On October 24, 1870, he submitted nine
decrees to the Government council, which ratified them. These decrees
established a civil regime ending the era of military control of Algeria, enforced
trial by jury, and naturalised Algerian Jews en masse, giving them the status
of French citizens.
The Crémieux Decree was significant because it separated Jews
from their previous classification as “natives” in order to integrate them as “citizens”.
For the native Muslims however, this distinction remained in
force until 1947.
-----------------------------
1. In Judaism, a consistory is a body that governs Jewish
congregations of a country or province, mainly those under French
administration.
0 comments:
Post a Comment