Algeria asks France to apologize for colonialist crimes News
Algeria asks France to apologize for colonialist crimes

[JURIST] Algeria [JURIST news archive] Wednesday asked the government of France [JURIST news archive] to apologize for crimes committed during France’s colonization of Algeria, including France’s part in the massacres of 45,000 Algerians who demanded independence at the end of World War II. Since Algerian independence in 1962, France and Algeria have gradually normalized relations and are currently working toward a reconciliation treaty, but France strained ties earlier this year when it approved a law [text in French; Guardian report] requiring French history teachers to stress "the positive role of the French presence overseas, especially in North Africa." Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.