In November 2004, 9 French soldiers were killed by the army of Cote D’Ivoire. The Cote D’Ivoire government claimed that it was an accidental shooting, apologized and suggested to establish a mutual commission of inquiry. France soon responded - Cote D’Ivoire’s small air force was obliterated and France took control of the airport of the capital city of Abidjan. Demonstrations against the French presence were put down by gunfire, and, as a result, dozens were killed and hundreds were wounded.

The French soldiers that were killed had been part of the UN peace keeping force. Why, then, did the French government decide to respond, and not the UN? Cote D’Ivoire, a former colony of France, is under “economic occupation”, meaning that the French government makes it difficult for the government of Cote D’Ivoire to announce international tender and prevents it from developing economic relations with countries other than France.

Therefore, the French criticism of the IDF’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon is presumptuous and enraging. The reaction of France to the events in Cote D’Ivoire was far more disproportionate than Israel’s response in Lebanon and Gaza. The colonialism has not ended, it has just changed its face.

Kobi Berger, Modiin.

My translation.