2024-03-11 14:15:43
This is the first time that this ceremony has taken place outside Paris. On March 11, the annual day dedicated to the victims of terrorism, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal pays tribute to them this Monday morning in Arras, in the city where professor Dominique Bernard was killed five months ago by a former student aged 20 years old and on file for Islamist radicalization.
Emmanuel Macron usually presides over this tribute at Les Invalides in Paris, where a bronze statue was erected symbolizing the words of the victims which continues even after their death. But this year, the head of government and former Minister of National Education wanted to relocate this ceremony in tribute to the French teacher stabbed to death on October 13, 2023 in front of the Gambetta middle school in Arras where he taught.
Upon his arrival, Gabriel Attal went to the establishment, which remained open on Monday, to speak with students and then teachers, and to renew the “support of the Nation”. Dominique Bernard was killed three years after the assassination of another teacher, history and geography professor Samuel Paty, beheaded near his college in Yvelines on October 16, 2020 after showing his students caricatures of Mohammed during course on freedom of expression.
“The victory of the school which will sound the death knell of obscurantism”
The Prime Minister presented the Legion of Honor insignia to the five people from the Arras establishment who intervened during the attack. They were knighted in the January 1 Legion of Honor promotion, along with six police officers.
Gabriel Attal then chaired the official ceremony at the Arras citadel, where some 600 people were invited. In the assembly, there were numerous ministers – that of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti or of Education, Nicole Belloubet – and local elected officials, including Xavier Bertrand and Marine Le Pen.
Students and teachers from the two affected establishments read texts in tribute to the victims of terrorism. The Prime Minister himself then had words for “all the victims of attacks and their loved ones”, citing Arras, Nice, Charlie Hebdo, the Bataclan, Toulouse and Montauban… “To all those whose destiny was hit by terrorism, (…) I mean France will always be at your side. It is our duty and our honor. » The opportunity, also for Gabriel Attal, to evoke “the terrorist attack of October 7 by Hamas”, in Israel.
“All victims of terrorism are heroes of freedom,” assured the Prime Minister, insisting on the duty of memory. “We will tell the truth in schools. We will say what happened. (…) It is the victory of the school which will sound the death knell for obscurantism, for all obscurantisms,” continued the former Minister of Education, calling for “bringing to life the memory” of the victims of attack. “When terror strikes, France always stands up, united, united, determined.”
“The terrorists attack us, reach us, touch us, but they will never make us give in. We will not give in to their fatalism, whatever it may be,” concluded the head of government. The notes of “When we only have love”, by Jacques Brel, then resonated in the citadel of Arras before students released doves. Gabriel Attal was to have lunch with elected officials and representatives of victims’ associations.
At the Interministerial Delegation for Victim Assistance (DIAV), it is explained that the organization of the ceremony outside Paris is “a fairly old request from the associations” who are also “very attached” to what it is held “in a place where education has been affected”. Several associations, however, deplored not having been involved in the choice of location.
This day of tribute has a European dimension since it is held on the anniversary of the attacks of March 11, 2004 in Madrid (192 dead), 20 years ago this year. After Gabriel Attal’s speech, the Ode to Joy (the European anthem) was played before the Marseillaise. Last year, President Emmanuel Macron praised the “dignity” and the demand for “truth” and “humanity” which marked the trials of the attacks of the past decade in France, notably those of Nice and 13 November 2015.
Visit to flood victims
After the ceremony, Gabriel Attal will remain in Pas-de-Calais to visit flood victims, as he has already done twice since his arrival in Matignon. He will visit an affected home in Saint-Étienne-Au-Mont before attending a presentation in La Caloterie of the emergency work carried out and discussing the resilience plan in Montreuil-Sur-Mer with local stakeholders. .
Our compatriots in Gard and Ardèche are facing very severe flooding and bad weather.
We currently have at least 7 people missing, including two children. I share the pain and concerns of their loved ones. The Nation stands united…
— Gabriel Attal (@GabrielAttal) March 10, 2024
Severe bad weather also affected the south-east of France on Sunday, where the lifeless bodies of three victims were found in the Gard, while hundreds of rescuers are still looking for four other people, including two children from the same family. . These people were swept away while trying to drive across bridges over swollen rivers.
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