Situated halfway up a hill, the Batley Grammar School is closed this Friday. An intense rain made some people flee, despite the confinement, to demonstrate the same morning in front of this school in a small town in the north of England, near Leeds. Two police vehicles are parked. A few local journalists are waiting. The sun returns. A small group of men, some in djellaba, approach. In the center, Imam Adel, of Pakistani origin, from Bradford, a town 15 kilometers away, is surrounded by faithful. “We came after the Friday prayers to show our solidarity with the parents and the school, in the hope that they would do the right thing, to fire the teacher who shared an offensive and disrespectful caricature, depicting our well- prophet. loved as a suicide bomber in the name of freedom of expression, ”he exclaims.
Since Monday, Batley Public School, which welcomes students from 4 to 16 years old, three quarters from minorities, has been in turmoil. A religious education teacher, who was said to be 29 years old (but whose name is withheld) according to British media reports, showed a caricature (some say of Charlie Hebdo) to students in a class on blasphemy. The versions differ on what really happened and on the cartoon in question. The school will then receive complaints from parents of students, and, Thursday morning, about sixty people demonstrated in front of the school to demand the exclusion of the teacher. The street has been blocked off. In a letter to parents, the principal of the school, Gary Kibble, addresses “a whole apologies for the use of a totally inappropriate image”. “It is important that children learn about faiths and beliefs, but it must be done in a respectful and sensitive way. I am deeply sorry, ”the courier continued.
Until an “independent investigation” is conducted, the professor is suspended. He would be placed under police protection, according to the media. An “unacceptable” situation, according to the Minister of Education, who recalls that “schools are free to include different ideas”, “including if they are a subject of controversy”, but “with respect and tolerance between people of different beliefs ”.
Do not “follow the path of France”
Imam Adel does not want violence and condemns “death threats against the teacher”, because “Islam is a religion of peace and harmony”. “We are the first to apologize during the attacks, that of Manchester [en 2017, NDLR] or those from London [2005, 2017 et 2019, NDLR]. But we have rights in this society. Freedom of expression has two weights, two measures. It is non-existent for Jews and the LGBT community, because we would be accused of anti-Semitism and homophobia. It only justifies insults to our prophet. “The imam does not want his country, the United Kingdom, to follow the path of France,” which prohibits the burqa “,” will ban halal slaughter “,” supports cartoons “, which” is a dangerous ground ”and“ increases Islamophobia ”. To prevent the UK from following such a path, the ‘school must take the necessary steps’. One of his followers adds: “In France, can imams express themselves as our imam has just done? Can they be against President Macron? ”
In the center of Batley, only supermarkets and restaurants for take out are open. But also other schools. Parents of students come to pick up their children at the time of the school trip. No one wishes to comment. In an alley, four people are talking, in front of a house, and one of them says curtly: “We will not answer your questions, that should never have happened, bye. ”
A little later, a witness who witnessed the scene explains: “You know, here, the subject is sensitive. There is a palpable tension. People don’t want to be accused of racism. He quickly adds that Batley is a historically textile town, which attracted low-cost labor from India and Pakistan in the late 1950s. Today it is believed to represent just under half of population. A man trims his hedge. He says in a hint: “I thought we were a country where speech was free? »The school, founded in the XVIIe century, “was excellent, many personalities received their education there, such as Joseph Priestley”, a great philosopher and theologian. “And now… she will have to be very careful with her promos.” The professor did not want to shock, if the class was about blasphemy, then he was right to talk about it. ”
In front of a large Tesco, a supermarket brand, women in burkas rub shoulders with women in skirts. A man, covered in tattoos, walks with his two dogs, one of which wears a pink bow. “Everyone gets along well here,” said Andrew, 72, smiling. I think the teacher shouldn’t have done what he did, there are enough problems in the world… But everyone deserves a second chance. I am a spiritualist. In the city, several mosques mingle with Evangelical, Catholic, and even Methodist churches. Near the Taqwa mosque, men are building a house, sunbathing. Another approaches, he is the president of the mosque. “They work for me, and you see, there are white people… We get along well guys, don’t we?” »He addresses to the others, laughing. Ahmed wants the controversy to ease. “I don’t understand why people are protesting. The school apologized, the teacher was suspended, that’s enough. We invited the principal of the school to discuss. He needs to train teachers. End of the story. ”
Controversy on the networks
At the end of the day, in front of the town hall, the square is almost deserted. A restaurant offers take-away kebabs. A woman walks with her two teenage daughters. She says that she brought up the subject with her children the day before. “Me, I grew up in South Africa, so we had a very free education, we could discuss everything. Whereas here it is different. “His daughter Julia *, explains:” We have a religious education course in Year 7. [équivalent de la sixième, NDLR]. My teacher was a Muslim and he taught us that we could be excluded from school if we drew the prophet. So, today, Julia understands the anger of Muslims, even if she does not take a position: “I have friends for and others against. Two petitions are circulating, one in support of the teacher and the other against. I saw on Snapchat that the one in favor of the teacher collected 1000 signatures, and the other only 100. ”
The debate, if it does not take place in the street or in the press, is developing on social networks. In a Facebook group bringing together the inhabitants of Batley, exchanges fuse. To end these days of tension, a woman asks the “adults” to calm down. “Our children, some of whom were best friends, were very tolerant and respectful of others. Now they are arguing over Snapchat. I hope you are proud of the example you set for them. ”
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