2023-11-07 05:15:08
On October 16, 2023 in Lyon, a tribute to Dominique Bernard, professor who died during a terrorist attack on October 13 in Arras. JEFF PACHOUD / AFP
It was a harmless gesture, that of a man walking in the street and putting his hand in the inside pocket of his coat. When he only took out his cell phone, Caroline (she wished to remain anonymous, like all the people mentioned by their first name) nevertheless breathed a sigh of relief. Because that day, while she was leading her CP students to the gymnasium the week following the attack of October 13 – during which Dominique Bernard, teacher at the Gambetta high school in Arras, was assassinated – she did not could help but imagine that the individual in front of her might want to attack the professor that she is. “We are afraid, we tell ourselves that it could target any of us”breathes this teacher from Yvelines.
For a profession already deeply shaken by the assassination of Samuel Paty, a history and geography professor killed by a terrorist in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines) in 2020, the Arras attack has the effect of a “terrible earthquake with multiple aftershocks”in the words of Sophie Vénétitay, head of the first secondary school union, the SNES-FSU.
After the shock, the tributes, and a final week of apnea lessons punctuated by bomb threats in many schools before the All Saints’ holidays, the question of its long-term repercussions now arises, while students and teachers returned to class on Monday, November 6.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers At the funeral of Dominique Bernard, in Arras: “You are elevated to the rank of martyr, you, the discreet man”
The death of Samuel Paty, assassinated for having exhibited caricatures of Mohammed during a course on freedom of expression, had shown teachers that they could be killed for the content of certain lessons; that of Dominique Bernard instilled in them the dizzying idea that they could be targeted simply because of who they are. “Our mission with students, the one that drives us every day and to which we give everything we have, was attacked without any pretext. It really made me realize how vulnerable we are.”, explains Marie Cuirot, high school history and geography teacher in Paris. Despite a “reaffirmed combativeness”, she now asks herself: “How to continue? »
“The after-effects are deeper than in 2020, estime Elisabeth Allain-Moreno, du SE-UNSA. When a crisis hits the school, we usually see that it mainly affects staff in situations of moral or professional fragility. This time, the impact is felt even by people who do not doubt their commitment to national education. »
You have 70% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
#Arras #attack #lasting #shock #wave #teachers