Rarely has the publication of a book been so providential. The Teachers Are Scared was released in France last Wednesday, written by Jean-Pierre Obin, a former teacher who rose to become the General Inspector of France’s National Education.
Two days later, Dominique Bernard was stabbed to death in his school in Arras. The man arrested on suspicion of his murder is a young Islamist of Chechen origin, the same profile as the extremist who killed Samuel Paty in 2020.
Two dead in three years, and France’s teachers live in fear that there will be more
Two teachers murdered in three years. No wonder, as Obin states, ‘80 per cent of teachers are scared’.
Iannis Roder, a teacher and also a member of France’s National Education Laïcité council, gave a stark assessment of the implication of Friday’s attack. ‘All teachers are now potential targets,’ he explained. ‘Samuel Paty was killed because he had shown cartoons [of Muhammad].
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