Nearly 4 in 10 Muslim students in France opted against unequivocally condemning the stabbing of teacher Dominique Bernard by an Islamist extremist on Oct. 13 in recent polling.
The Ifop survey asked a weighted sample of 1,805 students in French state education between the ages of 15 and 17 the following: “A teacher, Dominique Bernard, was murdered by an Islamist of Ingush origin in a high school in Arras. When you think of the perpetrator of this assassination, what is your reaction?”
When accounting for all students, 91 percent expressed total condemnation of the murder, 3 percent said they condemned the attack but shared some of the motivations of the jihadist, 2 percent refused to condemn the attack, and 4 percent said they were indifferent regarding the issue.
However, when focusing purely on the demographic of students who are practicing Muslims, the figures changed considerably.
Just 62 percent unequivocally condemned the terror attack, 23 percent said they condemned it but sympathized with the attacker’s motivation, while 8 percent refused to condemn the attack, and 7 percent were indifferent.
The polling revealed a concerning proportion of French Muslims sympathize with jihadist Mohammed Mogouchkov, a former pupil of his victim’s school who shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he stabbed Bernard multiple times and injured three other staff members.
Mogouchkov conducted the attack on the same day that Khaled Meshaal, the founder of terrorist organization Hamas, had proclaimed as a “day of jihad” as he encouraged unrest throughout the Western world in support of Palestine following Israel’s formidable retaliation to the heinous terror attack by Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7.