HE minister sparks backlash over ‘Islamo-leftism’ comments

AFP 20 February 2021

The French minister for higher education has sparked a backlash from university heads after warning about the spread of “Islamo-leftism” in the country’s academic institutions. The term ‘Islamo-leftism’ is usually used in France by far-right politicians to discredit left-wing opponents they accuse of being blind to the dangers of Islamist extremism and overly worried about racism and identity, writes Alan Plowright for AFP.

“I think that Islamo-leftism is eating away at our society as a whole, and universities are not immune and are part of our society,’ Minister for Higher Education Frédérique Vidal told the CNews channel on Sunday 14 February. Vidal also announced that she would order an investigation into the problem of researchers “looking at everything through the prism of wanting to fracture and divide”, which she said included those focused on colonialism and race.

The comments came amid a highly divisive debate in France about what President Emmanuel Macron has termed “Islamist separatism”, in which Islamists are said to be flouting French laws and fuelling terror attacks in closed-off Muslim communities. The lower house of parliament approved a tough draft law on Tuesday that will extend the state’s powers to shut down religious groups judged to be extremist.
Full report on the International Business Times site

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