Algerians and other North African Moors are deeply hypocritical about French colonisation

The enslavement of European Christians in North Africa and France's destruction of Algerian heritage are two documented historical facts that are often used selectively in public debate.

The enslavement of Europeans in North Africa was a reality for centuries. Barbary corsair raids captured Christians and sold them in markets such as the one in Algiers. Estimates of the total number of captives vary: some maintain that between **1 million and 1.5 million** Europeans were enslaved between the 16th and 19th centuries, although other research puts the figure lower.

## France's looting of Algerian heritage

The French conquest of Algeria, which began in **1830**, included the destruction of historic buildings. The **Djenina** palace in Algiers was demolished in **1856**; it was a structure more than 300 years old. Mosques and libraries were also destroyed. It is a documented fact that the colonial administration razed part of the local architectural heritage.

## The enslavement of Europeans in the Maghreb

For centuries, corsairs from Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli attacked Mediterranean coasts, capturing ships and people. The captives were sold or traded. The exact figures are a matter of academic debate; the range of **1 to 1.5 million** comes from widely circulated calculations, not from an official census. What is established is that the phenomenon existed and was massive in certain periods.

## Two facts that do not cancel each other out

The enslavement of Europeans in North Africa and France's destruction of Algerian heritage are historical facts that coexist. Using one to deny the other is an exercise in selective argument. The history of the Mediterranean includes both realities, and neither justifies nor erases the other.