France: a teacher threatened by the far right for a visit to a migrant camp
A migrant camp in Calais on November 27, 2021 (illustrative image).
AP - Rafael Yaghobzadeh
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
A philosophy teacher had to take her Hypokhâgne preparatory class from the Watteau high school in Valenciennes to the outskirts of a migrant camp in Calais.
An educational project that triggered an outcry and threats from far-right activists from the Reconquête!
by Eric Zemmour.
The Lille rectorate lodged a complaint.
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The teacher simply wanted to do her job and make her students think about the
issue of migrants.
The far right, including Éric Zemmour's Reconquest party, did not understand it that way.
The professor of philosophy, she was fed on social networks.
Alternately “
pro-immigration activist
”, who “
imposes her ideology
”, “
indoctrinates her students
”, etc.
Worse: “
It is time to bring out the guillotine
”.
personal threats
For Sophie Vénétitay, secretary general of SNES-FSU, the main teachers' union, these methods are unworthy: "
It says a lot about the way the far right, and in particular Éric Zemmour's party, conceives education .
It is clear that anything that allows students to think for themselves, to emancipate themselves, to discover others, to build a civic culture, all of this is something they do not accept, to the point of putting pressure on teachers and on National Education.
It is therefore very worrying also for the future of the school
”.
The name of the teacher was mentioned on social networks and she also received personal threats: “
Obviously, the very sad memory of
Samuel Paty
comes to mind when we say that we are reliving exactly the same mechanisms.
And that is not acceptable.
This is why it was urgent that the National Education also react
”.
The teacher benefits from legal protection from the National Education.
The left rises
While a collective of more than a thousand members mainly from research and French education
took a stand
in defense of the philosopher, the left-wing political parties rose up against the practices of Reconquest!.
“
This story is uplifting.
The party of (Éric) Zemmour uses the same methods and intimidation as radical Islamists to put pressure on teachers
”, denounced the first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure on Twitter, seeing it as a “
legitimation of violence
”.
The environmental deputy Benjamin Lucas asked in a press release "
the dissolution of the movement
" of Mr. Zemmour, denouncing the "
same terrifying processes as the Islamists, by raiding threats and insults
".
He called on the government to "
protect educational staff, students and the school community
".
This story is uplifting.
Zemmour's party uses the same methods and intimidation as radical Islamists to put pressure on teachers.
The consequence is the legitimization of violence, which in the drama #Paty ended in assassination.
https://t.co/ZwkWQI33Uk
— Olivier Faure (@faureolivier) December 1, 2022
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Eric Zemmour