Terror in the Republic: the beheading of Samuel Paty

The decapitation of middle school teacher Samuel Paty, 47, by an Islamist in a suburb of Paris yesterday is not just another tragedy and blow to French morale — it is also a reminder of why Emmanuel Macron feels exposed on the issue of what he calls ‘Muslim separatism’. Channelling the Spanish civil war slogan ‘No pasarán’, Macron himself tweeted last night that Islamism ‘ne passeront pas’ — they will not pass. Marine Le Pen, his main challenger in the coming presidential election, countered that it has done so already.

The problem for Macron is that this atrocity fits a trend. It is eight years since the killing of Jewish children at their school in Toulouse. Five years since the massacres at the Bataclan and Charlie Hebdo and the Hyper Cacher kosher market. Four years since the slaughter by Islamists of an 85-year-old priest in his church. And three weeks since a knife attacker gravely injured two people near Charlie Hebdo’s former offices. 

The latest incident raises the usual question: could it have been avoided? It seems it has been ten days since Mr Paty decided to talk to his class about freedom of speech, including reportedly showing them a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad that triggered the Charlie Hebdo massacre and subsequent attacks on Jews.