Remorse Won’t Save France
When Apology Not Acceptable
In 2004, Hollywood movie “Hotel Rwanda” depicted the tragedy that slaughtered two million Africans. France was behind the atrocities that the Hutu militia committed against the Tutsis. In May 2021, President Emanuel Macron came up with a half-baked statement of remorse. It was not only too little, too late and too lethargic but also an act of desperation clear to everyone in the know. If he was frank and visionary, he would have simply said it is time for the new Hotel Rwanda movie! Serving justice would have begun.
President Paul Kagame effectively served justice in Rwanda in the past twenty years. Unfortunately, France never did since 1799 for massacres committed outside Europe. They are exemplary of their dark history in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The massacres “at home” date back to 1243. There are twice as many. The annals of history record sixteen of these French shames. Most of the ten genocides had to do with the 1789 revolution. The couple took place during the WWII. The others belonged to the Middle Ages.
What is most disappointing is that France would commit genocides after the French Revolution. The revolution was supposed to bring modernity to Western civilization. Unfortunately, modernity in France remained “cosmetic.”
On a lighter, nonetheless factual note, it is also easy to notice. “Cosmetics” are somehow ingrained into the culture in France ever since. Considering, with 23% of global market share in the 2020s, the French cosmetics industry largely dominates its competitors.
Also, what is the single most well known aspect of French cuisine? Sauces! France simply learned how to embellish and cover up everything from a face to a dish to a moment in history.
France and Seven Genocides
Hotel Rwanda was only the last of the seven. So it must be the first to be resolved for France to be immersed promptly to the new world order.
The other three France involved genocides were also in Africa, and one each in Vietnam, Jaffa, and China. They can wait their turn in due course.
Only then, a new momentum can be within grasp for everyone seeking justice but also when to leave history in peace and behind.
Time for New Hotel Rwanda
France Must Apologize
In 2021, President Emanuel Macron sought forgiveness for France’s role in the Rwanda genocide. The CNN headline also said that he stopped short of an apology.
In the 21st century, remorse will not save France in the former colonies when an apology is no longer acceptable. France, since the turn of the Millennium, is like a fox that lost its tail in a trap.
In fact, France is on the run in Africa. Emboldened Muslims are now demanding justice and payback from the Western colonialists. Over time, they will hope that the fast-rising Eastern power, Turkey, will be instrumental.
It is already viewed as the quasi leader of the ummah, willing and able to act on their behalf. For the rest, like catholic Rwanda or Vietnam in Asia for example, there is no one like New Turkey to rely on.
Most in the Western world continue to play three monkeys to protect their own interests. They do not want to face their ugly past. France can break this taboo to do a favor for itself and the rest of the Western civilization in Europe.
Rwanda Not The Only One
Nevertheless, come 2024, it should not be a surprise if Rwanda demands an apology from France instead. The new world order will demand it as well because there will be a new balance of power in place, and operational.
New Turkey will be playing an extended role in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. So will China. The US will also be more involved. Resolving old accounts in Africa will be better for the common good.
After all, not only Africa has a unique colonial experience with the colonialists, but also Rwanda, Algeria and Senegal share a common history. France is implicated with genocide in all three African countries. This chapter in history must first be closed.
France to come to terms with Rwanda would be a good beginning. So Algeria after seventy and Senegal after eighty years can follow suit. Otherwise, it will be impossible for anyone to handle this Pandora box.
Time for New Hotel Rwanda
Marks the Resurrection in Africa
Rwanda and Paul Kagame deserve an apology and compensation from France. Otherwise, justice will never be served there and there may be consequences. Africa is sure to rise fast. Inaction by France may also aggravate demands from the other Western powers.
It is better to stem the tide properly because not even Noah’s Ark will save the West from the rising East. It will be knocking on the door soon. In Africa, fifty-four countries have claims against Western colonialists. France stands like a sore thumb, like the Fox with no tail anymore.
The African countries mostly won their independence in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 2020s, they will be asking on top of that. Rwanda, Algeria and Senegal will be the first ones demanding it from France. They must receive prompt responses.
In the next thirty years, Africa will double its population to two billion people. France, in the company of Britain, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Italy, will feel the brunt. As the colonialists, it will be their time to reckon. How France handles its share of the burden now will matter to everybody.
Time for New Hotel Rwanda in Europe
On that note, apology and compensation aside, justice must be served in Europe. Otherwise, if only five percent of the Africans were to come and demand that apology in person, that would be fifty million migrants. With that, the balance of power will tilt towards Muslims in Western Europe.
Meanwhile, Asia is also projected to see an increase in population by one billion as well within the next thirty years. Already about twenty percent of the fifty million people potential migrants are already on their way. They are coming to Europe in piecemeal waves.
Imagine, what these Asians and Muslims will demand when enough of them arrive over time! That is why there is urgency for the New Hotel Rwanda movie!
In view of these realities, France not only must apologize fast but it should do it with a vision and wisdom. It should try to get the fellow foxes to trim their tails as fast as well.
Otherwise, everyone in the Western world will be on the same boat against the rising tide that can wreck any ark. What is worse, there is nothing at this time that predicts that there will be another Noah on the horizon to save anyone.
