French politicians show support for school head who stepped
Mar 28, 2024 19:20:43 GMT
ofunknownorigins likes this
Post by Carl LaFong on Mar 28, 2024 19:20:43 GMT
down in hijab row.
The French prosecutor's office has dismissed a complaint made against a high school principal after a student was asked to remove her hijab.
www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2024/03/27/french-politicians-make-show-of-support-for-school-head-who-stepped-down-in-hijab-row_6660373_7.html
French politicians from across the spectrum expressed dismay over the resignation of a Paris school principal who received death threats after asking a student to remove her Muslim veil on the school's premises. The student filed a complaint against the teacher for alleged "violence" in the altercation, which was later dismissed.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced in an interview on prime-time French television on Wednesday, March 27, that he supported the principal and that the state would, in turn, be lodging an official complaint against the student for "slanderous accusations." đź‘Źđź‘Ź
The headmaster at the Maurice-Ravel lycée in eastern Paris quit after receiving death threats online following an altercation with a student last month, officials told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday. His departure comes amid deep tensions in the country following a series of incidents including the killing of a teacher by an Islamist former pupil last year.
In late February, the headmaster had asked three students to remove their Islamic headscarves on school premises, but one of them refused and an altercation ensued, according to prosecutors. He later received death threats online. According to a school letter sent to teachers, pupils and parents on Tuesday, the principal stood down for "security reasons", while education officials said he had taken "early retirement". In a message addressed to the school's staff, quoted by French communist daily L'Humanité, the principal said that he had decided to leave "for his own safety and that of the school." (Everything should be done to try to legally deport the student involved.)
"It's a disgrace," Bruno Retailleau, the head of the right-wing Les Républicains group in the Sénat, said on X on Wednesday. "We can't accept it," Boris Vallaud, the head of the Socialist group in the Assémblée Nationale, told television broadcaster France 2, calling the incident "a collective failure." Marion Maréchal, the granddaughter of far-right patriarch Jean-Marie Le Pen and a far-right politician herself, spoke on Sud Radio of a "defeat of the state" in the face of "the Islamist gangrene." Maud Bregeon, a lawmaker with President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party, also took aim at "an Islamist movement," saying, "Authority lies with school heads and teachers, and we have a duty to support this educational community." Socialist Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo called the principal to "assure him of her total support and solidarity", said her office, adding she was "appalled and dismayed."
The student lodged a complaint against the principal, accusing him of violence during the incident. She told French daily Le Parisien that she had been "hit hard on the arm" by the principal. The student is an adult who was at the school for vocational training. (Christ Almighty. What a shit-stirring dog turd!) The Paris public prosecutor's office told AFP on Wednesday that her complaint had been dismissed.
In an interview with French public television channel TF1 on Wednesday evening, Attal reiterated his support for the principal, saying, "Those who are on the front line in enforcing these rules and respecting secularism are our head teachers, our teachers, all the staff of the French education system, and I would like to pay tribute to them." He added that the government would "never accept that the authority of education staff should be scorned and never accept secularism being attacked."
An investigation has been opened into cyber-harassment following the death threats against the headmaster. In a further show of support, the Education Ministry said in a statement that it would "never" abandon teachers in the face of "threats". The ministry said that "all teams" remained mobilized, adding that the principal's decision to leave his post was "understandable given the seriousness of the attacks against him."
Education Minister Nicole Belloubet had visited the school in early March and deplored the "unacceptable attacks." A 26-year-old man has been arrested for making online death threats against the principal. He is due to stand trial in April.
Secularism and religion are hot-button issues in France, which is home to Europe's largest Muslim community. In 2004, authorities banned school children from wearing "signs or outfits by which students ostensibly show a religious affiliation" such as headscarves, turbans or kippas, on the basis of the country's secular laws which are meant to guarantee neutrality in state institutions.
The French prosecutor's office has dismissed a complaint made against a high school principal after a student was asked to remove her hijab.
www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2024/03/27/french-politicians-make-show-of-support-for-school-head-who-stepped-down-in-hijab-row_6660373_7.html
French politicians from across the spectrum expressed dismay over the resignation of a Paris school principal who received death threats after asking a student to remove her Muslim veil on the school's premises. The student filed a complaint against the teacher for alleged "violence" in the altercation, which was later dismissed.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced in an interview on prime-time French television on Wednesday, March 27, that he supported the principal and that the state would, in turn, be lodging an official complaint against the student for "slanderous accusations." đź‘Źđź‘Ź
The headmaster at the Maurice-Ravel lycée in eastern Paris quit after receiving death threats online following an altercation with a student last month, officials told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday. His departure comes amid deep tensions in the country following a series of incidents including the killing of a teacher by an Islamist former pupil last year.
In late February, the headmaster had asked three students to remove their Islamic headscarves on school premises, but one of them refused and an altercation ensued, according to prosecutors. He later received death threats online. According to a school letter sent to teachers, pupils and parents on Tuesday, the principal stood down for "security reasons", while education officials said he had taken "early retirement". In a message addressed to the school's staff, quoted by French communist daily L'Humanité, the principal said that he had decided to leave "for his own safety and that of the school." (Everything should be done to try to legally deport the student involved.)
"It's a disgrace," Bruno Retailleau, the head of the right-wing Les Républicains group in the Sénat, said on X on Wednesday. "We can't accept it," Boris Vallaud, the head of the Socialist group in the Assémblée Nationale, told television broadcaster France 2, calling the incident "a collective failure." Marion Maréchal, the granddaughter of far-right patriarch Jean-Marie Le Pen and a far-right politician herself, spoke on Sud Radio of a "defeat of the state" in the face of "the Islamist gangrene." Maud Bregeon, a lawmaker with President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party, also took aim at "an Islamist movement," saying, "Authority lies with school heads and teachers, and we have a duty to support this educational community." Socialist Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo called the principal to "assure him of her total support and solidarity", said her office, adding she was "appalled and dismayed."
The student lodged a complaint against the principal, accusing him of violence during the incident. She told French daily Le Parisien that she had been "hit hard on the arm" by the principal. The student is an adult who was at the school for vocational training. (Christ Almighty. What a shit-stirring dog turd!) The Paris public prosecutor's office told AFP on Wednesday that her complaint had been dismissed.
In an interview with French public television channel TF1 on Wednesday evening, Attal reiterated his support for the principal, saying, "Those who are on the front line in enforcing these rules and respecting secularism are our head teachers, our teachers, all the staff of the French education system, and I would like to pay tribute to them." He added that the government would "never accept that the authority of education staff should be scorned and never accept secularism being attacked."
An investigation has been opened into cyber-harassment following the death threats against the headmaster. In a further show of support, the Education Ministry said in a statement that it would "never" abandon teachers in the face of "threats". The ministry said that "all teams" remained mobilized, adding that the principal's decision to leave his post was "understandable given the seriousness of the attacks against him."
Education Minister Nicole Belloubet had visited the school in early March and deplored the "unacceptable attacks." A 26-year-old man has been arrested for making online death threats against the principal. He is due to stand trial in April.
Secularism and religion are hot-button issues in France, which is home to Europe's largest Muslim community. In 2004, authorities banned school children from wearing "signs or outfits by which students ostensibly show a religious affiliation" such as headscarves, turbans or kippas, on the basis of the country's secular laws which are meant to guarantee neutrality in state institutions.
