Academics have called for the resignation of the president of France’s University of Lyon 2, Isabelle von Bueltzingsloewen, over her treatment of a professor targeted by “anti-racist and anti colonial students”.
“Fabrice Balanche, a senior lecturer and recognised specialist in Syria and the geopolitical dynamics of the Middle East, has been the target of a violent smear campaign orchestrated by a group of students calling themselves anti-racist activists,” claimed the academics in an open letter published on April 18 by Le Figaro, signatories of which included former French education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer.
“Criticising him for his alleged support of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, as well as his allegedly ‘Islamophobic’ positions, these students demanded his eviction from the university, going so far as to publish defamatory visuals and disrupt his teaching,” they added.
“The president of Lyon-2 University cannot remain in office after such a denial of the fundamental principles of the University Republic. We demand her resignation,” they wrote.
At the beginning of April, masked activists, members of the the student-led group autonome Lyon 2, burst into a lecture hall where Balanche was giving a class, forcing him to leave the premises amid cries of “Zionist”, “racist” and “Islamophobe”.
À Lyon 2, le cours de Fabrice Balanche a été interrompu de force par l’extrême-gauche sous les cris « racistes, sionistes, c’est vous les terroristes ».
Pourquoi ? Il s’était opposé à la rupture du jeune du ramadan au sein de l’université.@univ_lyon2, rétablissez l’ordre. pic.twitter.com/yaPsfZCWtl
— UNI (@droiteuniv) April 1, 2025
In a social media post published on April 4, the group demanded that Balanche be removed from his teaching position at Lyon 2 University, accusing him of spreading “racist and genocidal rhetoric.”
The controversy erupted after Balanche publicly criticised the organisation of an Iftar (the meal breaking the fast during Ramadan) by students at the university. He expressed his opposition during an appearance on the right-wing television channel CNews.
In response to the growing tensions, Lyon 2 University president von Bueltzingsloewen told La Tribune de Lyon on April 16 she was “not surprised” that Balanche had become a target, given his “positions on Gaza”.
“It’s up to him [Balanche] to find his place. He’s a journalist but he’s just one teacher among 660,” she said.
Her remarks sparked criticism on the Right, with many accusing her of abandoning the professor.
François-Xavier Bellamy, a right-wing MEP, denounced the university president’s stance on X.
“A professor has been threatened, attacked, and prevented from teaching by masked militants simply because he opposed Islamist demands at the university. And now, the president of Lyon 2 attacks … the professor who was attacked.
“The totalitarian impulse advances only because some choose to justify it instead of resisting it. What a grave betrayal of academic freedom. Once again, I support Fabrice Balanche, who is guilty only of refusing to stay silent,” he added.
French media reported that Laurent Wauquiez, President of the French Republican Party, as well as the President of the Regional Council Fabrice Pannekoucke also expressed their support for Balanche in a letter addressed to the education minister Élisabeth Borne.
“The president of the University is once again caving in to the extreme Left. This stance raises very serious questions about the state of freedom of expression within the university,” they wrote.
A prestigious French academic publisher, Presses Universitaires de France, has halted the release of a book criticising “woke ideology” in Western higher education, citing an increasingly hostile political climate. https://t.co/2Ud7zNzjkM
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) March 11, 2025
