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by Rita Lady Forty-seven-year-old Samuel Paty, a school teacher, was beheaded in broad daylight on a quiet suburban street in Paris, France on October 16, 2020. Paty was known for teaching children about free-speech, in what used to be, a civilized western society. Paty regularly used the Charlie Hebdo case and related cartoons of Muhammed but asked his Muslim students to step out of the room if they might be offended. A father of one of Paty’s students who stayed in the classroom, created videos and reportedly "issued fatwa" (religious ruling) killing likely for blasphemy. An 18-year-old Chechyan-French man with ties to ISIS, heeded the man's call by driving to the school where Paty taught and asking the students to ID him. He then caught the teacher walking home and began stabbing him in the neck. The suspect was later shot by police just after pointing an air gun and shouting 'Allahu Akbar.' For decades, France has undergone cultural and ethnic cleansing. A once overwhelmingly secular society, France is now 90% Muslim. While Muslims have been migrating to France since the beginning of the 20th century, that number exceeded a million in 1967, and has continued to grow at an unprecedented rate. France has fruitlessly looked for ways to assimilate immigrant Muslims into French culture and western society, which has been met with allegations of intolerance and racism on the part of the French government. France’s Education Prime Minster has rightly called the ideology of Paty’s murderer “Hatred of the Republic.” Prime Minister Jean Castex added “We will not give up anything, we will never give up what we are: free and enlightened citizens, in a secular and united republic, one and indivisible.” The attack comes three weeks after a stabbing, again, in broad daylight, outside of the former offices of Charlie Hedbo; a publication known for satirical cartoons. Thousands of protestors descended on central Paris to march against totalitarianism. Will the government finally pay attention and take action against Jihadis in France? Over a dozen raids have occurred as a result of the recent terrorist attacks but, I am pessimistic. President Macron is still hoping to bridge the secular vs Islam gap stating, "it will not divide us." With more than half of a population that adheres to a religious political system (Islam) that does not believe in freedom of expression, the assimilation ship French citizens who still believe in their Republic, in La Marseillaise, must not be bullied into submission by false labels of intolerance and racism, while the truly intolerant, reign. All who value the founding principles of freedom and liberty in western societies must stand for what is right and against tyrannical ideologies that seek to subjugate and behead 'infidels.' If we the people do nothing, then we can all expect shouts of Allahu Akbar to be the new La Marseillaise, the new Du Gamla-Du Fria, the new O Canada, the new Star Spangled Banner.
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