Samuel Paty Honored

From the BBC:

“France teacher attack: Rallies held to support beheaded Samuel Paty”

Thousands have attended rallies across France in support of Samuel Paty, the teacher beheaded after showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils. People in the Place de la République in Paris carried the slogan "Je suis enseignant" (I am a teacher), with PM Jean Castex saying: "We are France!" A man named as Abdoulakh A was shot dead by police on Friday after killing Mr Paty close to his school near Paris. An 11th person has now been arrested as part of the investigation. No details have been given about the arrest. Four close relatives of the suspect were detained shortly after the killing. Six more people were held on Saturday, including the father of a pupil at the school and a preacher described by French media as a radical Islamist. President Emmanuel Macron said the attack bore all the hallmarks of an "Islamist terrorist attack" and the teacher had been murdered because he "taught freedom of expression". The murder comes as a trial over the 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo - a satirical magazine that has published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad - is under way.

Where have the rallies been taking place? The Place de la République in Paris filled with people rallying in support of Mr Paty, 47. Mr Castex and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo joined them. The square was the scene of a huge demonstration in which 1.5 million people showed solidarity with Charlie Hebdo following the deadly attack of January 2015. One protester on Sunday carried a sign reading "zero tolerance to all enemies of the Republic", another "I am a professor. I'm thinking of you, Samuel." Another told Le Figaro she was a French Muslim who was at the rally to express her disgust at the latest killing. A minute's silence was followed by the playing of the Marseillaise. All the protesters were wearing masks to protect from coronavirus. Mr Castex tweeted the rendition of the anthem, along with the words "you do not scare us... we are France!"

Presentational white space Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said France would succeed in defeating the enemies of democracy if it were united and that all teachers in France needed support. Nathalie, a teacher from Chelles who was at the Paris rally, told Le Monde she was there because she had "realised you can die of teaching". In Lille, people carried banners and placards with the simple words "I am Samuel". Thousands of people also gathered in Place Bellecour in Lyon to pay their respects, with another large turnout in Nantes. Demonstrations are also being held in Toulouse, Strasbourg, Marseille, Bordeaux and elsewhere. In addition to Sunday's demonstrations, there will be a national tribute paid to Mr Paty on Wednesday. On Saturday, Tareq Oubrou, imam of a mosque in Bordeaux, told France Inter: "A civilisation does not kill an innocent person, barbarism does."

What happened on Friday? Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-François Ricard said that the suspect, who lived in the Normandy town of Évreux, about 100km (60 miles) from the murder scene, went to Mr Paty's school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on Friday afternoon and asked students to point out the teacher. Abdoulakh A, an 18-year-old born in Moscow of Chechen origin, had no apparent connection with the teacher or the school. He followed Mr Paty as he walked home from work. The suspect used a knife to attack the teacher in the head, and then beheaded him. Witnesses are said to have heard the attacker shout "Allahu Akbar", or "God is Greatest". As police approached him, he fired at them with an airgun. Officers returned fire, hitting him nine times. A 30cm-long (12in) blade was found close by. Authorities said the man had been before courts but only on minor misdemeanour charges.

What's the latest in the investigation? Mr Ricard said Mr Paty had been the target of threats since he showed the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a class about freedom of speech. As he had done in similar lessons in recent years, Mr Paty, a history and geography teacher, advised Muslim students to look away if they thought they might be offended. A parent of one of the pupils reacted angrily, and went to the school to complain. He and another man who accompanied him - Abdelhakim Sefrioui, a preacher and activist - made videos calling Mr Paty a "voyou" (thug) and demanding his suspension. Mr Sefrioui has reportedly been known to French intelligence services for years. Both he and the father are now in custody.

^ There are some people who say that Samuel Paty shouldn’t have shown the cartoons and everything would have been alright, but if people – especially educators – can not have the freedom to debate and discuss everything then we live in a closed, dictatorship (the kind that the Muslim terrorists want us to live in) and that is not the kind of society the vast majority of honest and good people around the world want to live in. This act of terrorism only highlights just how violent and backwards-thinking people in France, in Europe and around the world continue to be. It is also why France and all other countries need stricter laws to protect society from religious fanatics and to bring back the Death Penalty for acts of  Terrorism. France has had many acts of Islamist Terrorism in recent years and yet little to nothing is being done to stop it – except a bunch of talk. France needs, and the victims deserve, justice and real action to stop radical Muslims from committing Terrorist acts against innocent men, women and children. The Muslim World also needs to do a lot more to combat the ever-growing threat of so-called Muslims using the name of the Islamic Religion to achieve their warped-sense of right and wrong. If the Muslim World does nothing then they are just as guilty as the Islamist Terrorism who kills or wounds in their name. I believe that for all religions and groups of people (ie. if a White person doesn’t stand-up against White Supremist Groups then they are just as guilty as the White Supremacists.) Samuel Paty has become a heroic symbol and martyr to the world while that Chechen Islamist Terrorist  - Abdoullakh Anzorov - has only become a stain of evil that will soon be forgotten by the world. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54589241