Gaza, a very sensitive subject. A middle school in Mantes-la-Jolie (Yvelines) had a very turbulent day on Friday. Teachers have exercised their right to withdraw after a controversy sparked on social media. At issue: the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Originally, however, teachers had decided this week on a simple course in media literacy. The aim is to show students how war is dealt with by the written press. A great deal of pedagogical work, neutral and without bias, carried out by studying the magazine "Mon quotidien", intended for children. The newspaper is just as objective.
Except that in the course of a paragraph, Hamas is described as a "terrorist organization", which is true in the eyes of the European Union, Canada or the United States. Parents are offended and make it known on a WhatsApp group. In the discussion, two names of history-geography teachers are mentioned, although in terms that are still unknown. But that's enough to trigger an anxious reaction from these teachers: "And we can understand them. The profession has been traumatized by the murder of Samuel Paty," denounces a supporter of these teachers, in reference to the history and geography teacher killed in October 2021 at the exit of his college in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, in the Yvelines.
The evocation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by the magazine "Petit quotidien" has provoked a controversy at the college of Mantes-la-Jolie. DR
The controversy quickly escalated. Teachers are worried. The principal of this usually quiet school of 350 students decided to receive the parents this Friday to clear up any misunderstandings.
"She felt that some people didn't understand everything. For their part, they acknowledged a hasty reaction and the group was suppressed," the rectorate said. The professors nevertheless decided to exercise their right to withdraw. Classes resumed normally during the day.
In Issou, a painting of naked women provokes controversy
The day before, in Issou, a few kilometres from Mantes-la-Jolie, their colleagues at the Collège Jacques-Cartier had made a similar decision after a decision to be made. A French course dedicated to the history of art. During this class, the teacher simply showed a 17th-century painting in which women appear undressed. Students complained about it, a controversy was born, the rumour fuelled the controversy and the teacher was quickly accused by some parents of students, and without proof, of having made racist remarks...
This debate is a reminder of the difficulties that teachers now face in addressing certain subjects. The study of Islam, secularism and sex education have become sensitive subjects, and more and more teachers admit to practicing self-censorship. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict must now be added to this list.