'Live and Let Live' vs Militant Islam
I listened to the Sky News report and the interview with the uncle of the fanatical young Islamist militant who murdered the French school teacher, Samuel Paty.
The uncle describes the murderer as a 'child' and argues that he must have been brainwashed into committing such a brutal and senseless crime, as if his 18-year-old nephew was incapable of telling right from wrong.
France terror attack: Teacher decapitated in Paris suburb named as Samuel Paty
The French president describes it as a "cowardly attack", saying the man was killed because he "taught the freedom of expression"
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Play Video - Paris 'beheading' suspect shot by police
Paris 'beheading' suspect shot by police
The teacher killed in a suburb of Paris in an Islamist terror attack has been named as Samuel Paty, Sky News has confirmed.
Mr Paty, 47, was "assassinated", France's president has said.
The history teacher, who is said to have discussed images of the Prophet Muhammad with his pupils, was beheaded.
The suspected attacker was shot dead about 600 metres from the scene, according to the AP news agency.
According to Le Parisien newspaper, the attacker was an 18-year-old man of Chechen origin, who was carrying a knife.
French anti-terror prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said the suspect, who had been granted a 10-year residency in France as a refugee in March, was not known to intelligence services.
He added that a text claiming responsibility and a photograph of Mr Paty were found on the attacker's phone.
The suspect had been seen at the school asking students about the teacher, and the headteacher said he had received several threatening phone calls.
In an interview with French broadcaster BFMTV, the suspect's uncle insisted there was "no way" his nephew could "just go and cut off a head like that".
He said: "He was discreet, he was nice to everyone, there wasn't anything negative about him.
"If we had known he was into religion, we could have anticipated it, but we actually didn't see it coming.
"If he was alive, I would have told him: 'Why did you do that? What happened in your mind?'
"His father and I would tell him: 'Be careful, don't hang around outside, stay out of trouble'."
Beheading of teacher heightens debate about Islamist terrorism and freedom of speech
The relative went on to stress "we're not killers" in reference to the wider family, adding: "We never told him to do anything."
He then said he hoped the victim's family would accept his condolences as he apologised to wider France.
"My condolences to the family, I hope they will accept our condolences.
"We apologise - in front of the whole of France - we apologise. The Chechen community is not like that.
"The teacher has done his job; I have nothing against the teacher. I'm sorry, really, we are grateful to France."
Video of the suspect's last moments is thought to feature the sounds of the gun being fired, followed by a volley of shots as he was killed.
The fatal shots were believed to have fired after the attacker refused to put down his gun.
The weapon was found at his side. Reports say it was an airsoft gun that fired plastic pellets.
The country's anti-terror prosecutor earlier called the incident a stabbing, but both the Reuters and AP news agencies said police sources told them the victim was decapitated.
Witnesses heard the attacker shout "Allahu Akbar", or God is great, Reuters said.
The attack happened on a street in Conflans Sainte-Honorine, northwest of the French capital, at about 5pm local time.
Visiting the scene, Emmanuel Macron called it a "cowardly attack", saying that the man was a "victim of an Islamist terrorist attack" and was killed because he "taught the freedom of expression, of believing and not believing".
The president said France would "protect and defend" its teachers.
France's anti-terrorism prosecutors have said nine suspects have also been arrested, including the grandparents, parents and 17-year-old brother of the attacker.
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Play Video - People lay flowers for France attack victim
Families and children have laid flowers at the site of the attack.
Mr Paty reportedly showed images of the Prophet Muhammad in class during a discussion about freedom of expression on 5 October.
A complaint was made and the teacher was later spoken to by police.
Sky News understands that among those who complained was a parent who posted a video online about the incident. That parent is among the nine arrested.
The suspect did not have a child at the school, AP said.
A Twitter thread posted last Friday alleged pupils had been shown cartoons of the prophet.
However, another parent of one of the teacher's pupils said Mr Paty asked Muslim students to raise their hands and to leave the classroom before they were taught about the image.
She said: "My son understood right away - the evening he came home, he understood right away that it was not to discriminate.
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Play Video - Armed police at scene of attack in Paris
Emergency services on the scene where the attacker was shot dead
"He told me, no it was not to offend us, it was images that he didn't want us to see. My son understood that at no moment he (teacher) had lacked respect."
The Elysee Palace said that there would be a national ceremony at a future date to pay homage to Mr Paty.
Education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer tweeted that the republic had been attacked through the "despicable assassination of one of its servants".
He added that "unity and firmness are the only answers to the monstrosity of Islamist terrorism".
British foreign secretary Dominic Raab tweeted to express the government's solidarity with France, saying: "My thoughts are with the people of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine this evening following reports of a truly horrific attack. The UK stands in solidarity with France at this time."
It is the second terrorism-related incident since the opening of an ongoing trial on the newsroom massacre in January 2015 at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo after the publication of caricatures of the prophet of Islam.
As the trial opened, the paper republished caricatures of the prophet to underscore the right of freedom of expression.
Exactly three weeks ago, a young man from Pakistan was arrested after stabbing, outside the newspaper's former offices, two people who suffered non life-threatening injuries.
The 18-year-old told police he was upset about the publication of the caricatures.
'Live And Let Live' vs Miltant Islam (17/10/20)
Islamism stands for intolerance, indoctrination, violence and the threat of violence to impose its fundamentalist religious beliefs.
The brutal, senseless murder of a French schoolteacher is indeed a deliberate attack upon the enlightenment values of the Republic and the rest of the civilised world.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54581827
France teacher had received 'days of threats' before his brutal killing
The teacher who was beheaded in a street in France had received threats after showing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils, French media report.
Nine people have been arrested, including the parents of a child at the school where the teacher was working, judicial sources are quoted as saying.
The attacker was shot dead by police near the scene of Friday's killing.
Police say the attacker was an 18-year-old man of Chechen origin.
The killing took place while a trial is under way in Paris over a 2015 Islamist assault on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which was targeted for publishing the cartoons.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the attack bore all the hallmarks of an "Islamist terrorist attack" and the teacher had been murdered because he "taught freedom of expression".
Speaking at the scene hours after the incident, he stressed national unity. "They will not prevail, they will not divide us," he said.
What do we know?
The attack occurred at about 17:00 (15:00 GMT) near a middle school in the town of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, some 30km (20 miles) north-west of central Paris.
A man wielding a large knife attacked the teacher in the street, cutting off his head. Witnesses are said to have heard the attacker shout "Allahu Akbar", or "God is Greatest".
The attacker then ran off, but local police were quickly at the scene, having been alerted by the public.
The officers confronted the man in the nearby town of Éragny.
When they shouted at him to give himself up, he is said to have threatened them. The officers shot him and he died a short time later.
The scene is now sealed off, as the investigation continues.
Police have said the attacker was an 18-year-old, born in Moscow but from Russia's predominantly-Muslim southern region of Chechnya. His grandparents and two brothers are among those arrested.
Who was the victim?
Police have identified the victim as 47-year-old Samuel Paty, a teacher of history and geography, who had taken a class about freedom of expression earlier in the month.
He is said to have shown the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad while talking about the Charlie Hebdo case, and had reportedly advised Muslim students to leave the room if they thought they might be offended.
Some Muslim parents complained to the school and French media report that Mr Paty had received a number of unspecified threats as a result of the class.
"According to my son, he was super-nice, super-friendly, super-kind," a parent from the school, Nordine Chaouadi, told AFP news agency.
Charlie Hebdo tweeted: "Intolerance just reached a new threshold and seems to stop at nothing to impose terror in our country."
France has seen a wave of Islamist violence since the 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead, including famous cartoonists.
Three weeks ago, as the trial got under way, a man attacked and wounded two people outside the magazine's former offices.
How is France reacting?
In the National Assembly, France's parliament, deputies stood up to honour the teacher and condemn the "atrocious terror attack".
Muslim leaders in France also condemned the attack. "It is not a civilisation that kills an innocent person, it is barbarity," Tareq Oubrou, imam of a mosque in Bordeaux, told France Inter.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin cut short his trip to Morocco to return to Paris.
Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer tweeted that the killing of a teacher was an attack on the French Republic.
He said his thoughts were with the victim and his family, and unity and firmness were the only responses to "Islamist terrorism".
