Riots because of what was alleged Wokizme At a Grenoble university, he revived the debate in France about cancel cultureIslamophobia and political interference in the financing of universities. The riots were angering the radical right-wing presidential candidates Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour.

The film revolves around a German teacher at the Institute of Political Sciences in Grenoble, Klaus Kinzler, who says he is a victim of the left’s abolitionist culture due to his statements about Islamophobia. This week, the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region extended its financial support to the Arab Republic of Egypt big school Withdrew after stopping the teacher. Kinzler has taught German for 25 years at what is officially called the Institute of Political Studies in Grenoble.

attachments

The ball started rolling when Kinzler got involved in a debate late last year about whether Islamophobia should be included in the list of racism and anti-Semitism. Kinzler did not believe this, and activists from the left-wing student union Unef immediately demanded his resignation. There are no fascists in our halls! Kinzler fired! Islamophobia kills! ”

The term “Islamophobia” is carried more in France than elsewhere. Where the left shouts that Islamophobia is fatal, the right shouts that Islamophobia does not exist and that it is the accusation of Islamophobia that kills.

What matters is that the Kinzler case started right after Teacher beheading Samuel Baty, in October 2020, after those cartoons of Charlie Hebdo About the Prophet Muhammad in the classroom. In this context, Citizenship Minister Marlene Schiappa said in March that the UN Emergency Force’s campaign against Kinzler was a “distasteful” act. Schiappa said the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) clearly endangered the lives of Kinzler and his colleague who advocated for him.

A disciplinary investigation has been opened against the seventeen students who published the posters. In November of this year 16 of them were indicted. A student has been temporarily suspended. The judicial investigation is still ongoing.

“Where are the millions of dead?”

Kinzler, 61, who is married to a Muslim, has previously defended herself against the German press’s allegations.

“I do not deny that there is discrimination against adherents of the Islamic faith.” Kinzler said in March in the scientist. But anti-Semitism led to the deaths of millions. Racism and slavery have killed millions throughout history. But where are the millions of deaths due to Islamophobia? I refuse to put this in the same category.”

Read also: Anger over research on “white hate” in French universities

The storm did not subside, and Kinzler became more and more angry at the campaign against his person. In interviews with French media, Science Po in Grenoble has compared it to a political re-education camp. According to Kinzler, students are “indoctrinated by a hard core of 25 teachers” whom he describes as “ultras”. According to Kinzler, the school administration does not dare to take sides.

Director Sabine Sorugger settled on Wednesday the scientist defend Following the decision of the district’s president, Laurent Keyes, to cancel financial support for her school. “I regret his decision, which was based on a misreading of the facts,” Soruger said. “Science Po Grenoble is not really an institution that plagues culture or abolishes culture as people like to imagine it.”

According to Sorougher, the administration has always supported Kinzler, but his recent media statements about the school were a step too far. “When an organization’s reputation is under attack, it’s my job to act.”

Of course it’s hard right

Laurent Keyes is no stranger. He was president of the conservative party Les Républicains from 2017 to 2019 and was known there for his hard-line path to the right. The current Republican presidential candidate, Valerie Pecresse, has resigned from the party in protest of the dominance of the Waques camp.

Wakes’ decision was praised this week by far-right presidential candidates Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour. By the way, the support from the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region to the Sciences Institute Po Grenoble is small: about one hundred thousand euros per year.