Toulouse school teacher suspended

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A controversy has arisen on X (ex-Twitter). Wednesday, September 4, 2024, the Toulouse School of Economics is in the crosshairs, particularly one of their mathematics teachers after controversial remarks on the Israel-Hamas conflict made during one of his classes in Toulouse. Elected officials have reacted in particular.

Controversial statements

It was a Twitter account that revealed the Whatsapp recording of the lecture. In front of his students, he spoke of a “butchery”; a “one-sided war” and continued: “we can only feel helpless in the face of this carnage”. He also castigated Israel’s participation in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

The teacher also believes that it is “totally dishonest to say that Hamas is solely responsible for what is happening now.” He also calls on his students to demonstrate in favor of Palestine and to boycott Israeli products.

The minister reacts

Faced with these statements, politicians quickly reacted on the social network. In particular Sylvie Retailleauresigning Minister of Higher Education and Research:

The mayor of Toulouse, Jean-Luc Moudenc, also immediately tweeted:

I strongly condemn the remarks made by the professor at the Toulouse School of Economics. These remarks have no place in a university, in our city and in our country. They contribute to further importing the conflict and to putting a target on Jewish students in higher education. Wounded in our flesh by the 2012 attacks targeting Jewish students, we know where these remarks can lead us.

Suspended as a precautionary measure

In the middle of the day, Christian Gollier, director of la Toulouse school of economics announced on X that he had decided to “suspend as a precautionary measure one of the contract teachers of TSE who spoke in a mathematics class on Tuesday September 3 on the situation in the Middle East.”

Made in a professional context by a public official unrelated to the subject taught, these remarks contravene the obligation of reserve in force in the public service. TSE is an open place for sharing knowledge in the social sciences.

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