French Freedom Fighters

Paris is a creative epicentre of the world with arguably the most famous museum being the Louvre, and a destination for millions seeking inspiration. It continues to welcome all religions and demographics, founded on its principles of freedom. But how much freedom does France now actually promise?

Recently, the world was again horrified at the murder of a school teacher north of Paris after he had shown his pupils some controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Samuel Paty was violently killed near the College du Bois d’Aulne where he taught, about 30km north-west of Paris. The suspect has been named as 18 year old Abdoulakh Anzorov who came to France as a refugee from Moscow, and was subsequently shot dead by police after he fired at police.

President Emmanuel Macron condemned the act as an “Islamic terrorist attack” after the teacher “taught freedom of expression” to his students. Whilst the suspect had no immediate connection to Paty, he visited the college on Friday afternoon before proceeding to ask students which teacher had showed the students the cartoon before stabbing and beheading him in the street. The suspect then posted the images and footage of the attack to a Twitter account, adding further insults to the President by labelling him and fellow French officials “dogs”.

Mr Paty had been the subject of threats since he had taught his students about freedom of speech using cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad as examples, years after the attacks at the offices of the Charlie Hedbo magazine in 2015 for similar reasons. The French satirical magazine had published cartoons depicting the Prophet with a total of 12 people killed in the attack as a response, after Islamic extremists took great offence. Mr Paty had advised Muslim students to look away should they be offended whilst he displayed the cartoons, however one parent had then later lodged a formal complaint and posted a video displaying his angst towards the teacher. He was later arrested after inciting protests at the school, with his half sister being known to have joined ISIS in 2014.

So where do we draw the line when it comes to education about various cultural issues? This recent attack goes beyond instilling fear among journalists and teachers across France; it also impedes on its national values of liberty, equity and fraternity. France’s Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer described the basis of the killing being due to the “hatred of the Republic”, reinforcing the threat of embedded terrorism threats on French soil. Of a nation built on tolerance, the high degree of intolerance continues to simmer and the French value of liberty under threat.

Protests across Paris continue to rage with chants of “JeSuisSamuel” echoing across the country as a follow up to the “JeSuisCharlie” movement that stemmed from the previous attacks on Charlie Hedbo. A national tribute has been announced by the President in a call for solidarity. Parents of the children taught by Mr Paty expressed their emotions of the well-liked teacher, tweeting that his daughter “is in pieces, terrorised by the violence of such an act. How will I explain to her the unthinkable?” Charlie Hedbo followed this, tweeting "intolerance just reached a new threshold and seems to stop at nothing to impose terror in our country”.

France (like the rest of the Western world) continues to be horrified by the incident, and vows to not let the attack on a teacher educating his students about the freedoms of expression defeat the nation. The Education Minister addressed leaders of teaching unions over the weekend stating that Mr Paty had been killed by the “enemies of freedom” and that France would “never back down when confronted by terror, intimidation”.

It then poses the question of how much freedom teachers have in educating students, at the expense of offending a minority or arguably limiting the extent of education provided to children to allow them to learn critical thinking or to form their own opinions. Mr Paty had allegedly taught the class in a respectful manner giving the students the option to turn away before presenting cartoons and caricatures of various subjects, in a discussion relating to the freedom of expression.

Following the parent of one student posting the name and school’s address on social media, this allegedly then enabled the attack by Anzorov to be initiated. In the days leading up to the attack, a known Islamic militant attending the school along with the father to protest at the school during a time that coincidentally coincides with the trial over the Charlie Hedbo massacre that began a month prior.

So as a community that is heavily influenced to “do better”, are we being hindered in our ability to educate with freedom and without prejudice? It is difficult to understand that in the 21st century the ability to teach in a democratic country is now considered “courageous” and “brave”. It has united France once again to protect their freedoms, arguing that the inability to discuss caricatures which led to the Hedbo massacre creates a culture of denialism.

Since the arrest of 9 people in relation to the terror related incident, the investigation remains ongoing.