UPDATE: Ms. Collin? Dhimmi, convert or perhaps your classic French Jew-hater.
An English teacher sparked outrage across France today after calling for her pupils to observe a minute’s silence for Toulouse serial killer Mohammed Merah.
In disturbing scenes at Gustave Flaubert High School in Rouen, Normandy, Lorraine Collin, 56, described the 23-year-old who murdered seven including three children as himself being the ‘victim of an unhappy childhood’.
This prompted up to 15 pupils aged between 17 and 18 to storm out of their classroom and report Ms Collin to their headmaster. (Daily Mail)
Shocking: At Gustave Flaubert High School in Normandy, Lorraine Collin, 56, described the 23-year-old who murdered seven including three children as himself being the 'victim of an unhappy childhood'
Luc Chatel, France’s Education Minister, called for Ms Collin to be ‘suspended immediately’, saying he ‘condemned this unspeakable behaviour without reservation’.
It came as Merah’s elder brother said he was ‘very proud’ of what his brother had done, hailing him as someone who fought for what he believed in.
Upset: Her instruction prompted up to 15 pupils aged between 17 and 18 to storm out of their classroom and report Ms Collin to their headmaster
Was the teacher Muslim? A dhimmi? Many Muslims cheer Merah. This is in the teachings of Islam. Merah was no "lone gunman," there are millions in the ummah and beyond who support his jihad. Why is no one talking about that?
French teacher urges 'minute's silence for killer' AFP (thanks to the many Atlas readers who sent this in)
A French teacher faced disciplinary proceedings Friday for allegedly urging her class to observe a minute's silence for serial killer Mohamed Merah, the day after he was shot by police.
Education Minister Luc Chatel called for the teacher to be suspended after her class reported she had called Merah a "victim" and said his links to Al-Qaeda were invented by the media and "Sarko", referring to President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Student representatives in the final year class in the northern city of Rouen wrote to the principal to voice "shock" at being urged in an English lesson to pay respect to a self-declared Al-Qaeda militant who killed seven people.
Most of the class walked out, though some remained "to try to understand what she was talking about," their letter said.
She "clearly said that Mohamed Merah was a victim, that the link with Al-Qaeda had been invented by the media and 'Sarko'," said the letter, a copy of which was published by the Paris Normandie newspaper.
Police shot Merah dead on Thursday at his flat in southwest France where he was holed up after going on a jihadist-inspired killing spree. His victims included three young Jewish children and three paratroopers.
Following the attack on the Jewish children, schools around France held a minute's silence in their memory.
The teacher was not immediately available to comment.
