French teachers vow to ‘teach difficult subjects’ after colleague’s murder

By Dilip -

Shocked French teachers vowed to continue encouraging their pupils’ “critical spirit” by raising contested subjects after an Islamic terrorist beheaded a secondary school teacher who showed his students caricatures of the Prophet as part of a freedom of speech discussion. Representatives of teaching unions met the education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer and the prime minister Jean Castex on Saturday, hours after the death of 47-year-old history and geography teacher Samuel Paty.

Before the meeting Jean-Remi Girard, president of the secondary school teaching union, said teachers were “devastated” but would not be cowed. “It is terrifying to see that in France in the 21st century, a teacher can be decapitated in the street for doing his job,” Girard said. “We will continue to speak about freedom of speech. If there are difficult subjects, we will continue to teach them. We will try to encourage our students’ critical spirit and explain that everyone has the right to disagree.” Rallies were expected in cities across France on Sunday in a show of solidarity and defiance, with Blanquer telling France 2: “It is absolutely important to show our mobilisation and our solidarity, our national cohesion.” He called on everyone to support the teachers….

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/17/we-will-still-teach-difficult-subjects-french-teachers-defiant-after-of-colleague

Charlie Hebdo - Letter to the Left Leaning

Interview with Karima Bennoune, author of 'Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here'

Woman filmmaker in Iran sentenced to 18 months in prison 

Ruqia Hassan, murdered by ISIS

The Daoud Affair By Paul Berman and Michael Walzer

Saoussen Ben Cheikh: Middle East Governments are using Covid-19 as a Pretext to Crush Human Rights // Palestinians to be “subjects,” not Citizens in Israeli Annexation

Leading Saudi activist dies in detention, say campaigners

Bethan McKernan - Ayasofya: the mosque-turned-museum at the heart of an ideological battle

Michael Walzer: Islamism and the Left - including a reply & debate with Andrew March

The religious persecution of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd (1945-2010)/ Interview: My life fighting intolerance/ Mahmoud Mohammed Taha & the Second Message of Islam

The religious persecution of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd


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