In the streets of Trappes (Yvelines), the inhabitants have “heartache”.
For three weeks that they have been in the spotlight, they have not recognized the description of their city in the media.
The words of Didier Lemaire, former professor of philosophy, surprised here.
The one who had been teaching for twenty years at the Lycée de la Plaine-de-Neauphle denounced the progression of the Islamist movement in the town.
Placed under police escort after threats, the teacher then multiplied the media interventions to explain that Trappes is a "permanently lost city fallen into the hands of the Islamists".
Much to the regret of many Trappists.
"Our city is not the one described by Didier Lemaire," Loumi says.
If he had a problem with his students, the affair should have been settled within the school premises, not on the TV sets. ”
The one who has lived here for twenty-five years believes that Trappes has "changed a lot", rather for the better: "Before, if someone hung out in the Merisiers district, he risked being attacked if he did not come from here.
Today this is no longer the case. ”
A file especially in Trappes at the DGSI
The municipality of 32,000 inhabitants has in any case been under surveillance and has been for many years.
According to our information, the intelligence services have identified about fifty departures to jihad in Syria.
About 60 people would also be actively monitored by these services.
Long before the wave of departures to the Iraqi-Syrian zone, the General Directorate of Internal Services (DGSI) and Territorial Intelligence (RT) closely observed the rise of radicalism.
“At the DGSI, there was a file called
Trappa
when Daesh began to talk about him.
It was specially dedicated to the city, ”recalls a counter-espionage agent.
“Five or six years ago places of worship were a problem.
Today, it is the associations, deciphers a good connoisseur.
Some worry.
Engaged in sport or extracurricular activities, they offer unbeatable prices and inevitably attract.
There is a huge amount of work to be done, everywhere. ”
A third of the inhabitants live below the poverty line
One in two associations has a religious background, observes Pascal Rodier, secretary general of the Yvelines federation of Secours populaire.
But for this association which has always lived and worked in Trappes, most of these structures "are not in a logic of proselytism, some inhabitants are suspicious, it is a pity".
Too bad, because this solidarity is necessary: almost a third of Trappists lived below the poverty line in 2018. With an unemployment rate which stood at 17% in 2017, against 9% for the national average, the city has accumulated social difficulties.
As confirmed to us by our source of counter-espionage, the city combines, despite itself, an absence of diversity, a desertion of public services and a political class that has long played with fire: "The problem does not relate to the number of dangerous guys but on the social soil that explains their presence. "
"We are afraid of being looked at askance"
Faced with a lack of resources, the Secours populaire set up its premises there in 1969 on avenue Paul-Vaillant-Couturier.
The historic Yvelines branch follows between 150 and 200 families and since the first confinement, it has to meet 50% of additional requests.
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According to Pascal Rodier, beyond the difficulties, the city is also rich in a fabric of solidarity: “In the spring, on the one hand, many temporary workers found themselves without a job and on the other, inhabitants offered to volunteer. ”
Faced with these evils, the inhabitants often feel stigmatized.
“When we tell people that we live in Trappes, we are afraid of being looked down on,” says Eric, a resident of the Merisiers district.
Even more since the departures for the jihad. "
An observation shared by many young people in the city.
While not even on the job market yet, Hidaya, a 15-year-old college student, fears that "later, no one will want to hire me because of Trappes' bad reputation."
Models to renew
Beyond a bad image, Pascal Rodier regrets that the models of young people are "always the same for twenty years".
Omar Sy, Jamel Debbouze, Nicolas Anelka ... For the association, "this record is scratched and these figures do not represent much for young people today".
He would like new examples, not confined to the world of sport and humor.
And rather welcomes the arrival of the new mayor (Génération.s) Ali Rabeh, to encourage young people to work at school: “At the last start of the school year, the mayor decided to develop tutoring. should bear fruit. "
Victim of death threats since the start of the affair, Ali Rabeh testified on numerous TV shows to defend his city.
We have been the victims of an incredible relentlessness: to tell that children do not sing at school because their religion forbids them, that's nonsense. "
Aware of the challenges to be met, the mayor who saw his election annulled "does not want a city condemned to academic failure, unemployment or security and radicalization problems": "In some primary schools in the city, I'm very worried about the students' level of French, I've been calling on the State for months to help us. ”
