Matthias Küntzel, a German academic who specializes in Islamic fundamentalism, has had his forthcoming talk at the University of Leeds cancelled due to what the school says are "safety" issues, but what Küntzel thinks is a weak-kneed response to any old fool who's learned how pronounce the term "Islamophobia." Never mind that, by definition, Küntzel's proposed lecture, "Hitler's Legacy: Islamic Anti-semitism in the Middle East," would have been as critical of the political scientist's own country and Teutonic Jew-hatred as it would have been of the Islamic variety. How do you even begin to argue with statements like the following?
One of the protest emails, from a student who describes himself as ''of both Middle Eastern and Islamic background", complained that the title of the event was "profoundly offensive''. It added: ''To insinuate that there is a direct link between Islam and anti-semitism is not only a sweeping generalisation but also an erroneous statement that holds no essence of truth."
That student should first be sent a dictionary, then kindly directed to Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language." Then perhaps he might explain how an insinuation is coterminous with a sweeping generalization.