France is becoming increasingly Islamised, which poses a serious threat to the country's culture, according to a philosophy teacher, who was consequently forced to quit his job and request constant police protection, because his opinions have prompted numerous death threats.

Europe 1 has interviewed Didier Lemaire, the French philosophy teacher who became internationally known last year for drawing attention to the growing Islamic influence in his town of Trappes, in Yvelines department. Mr Lemaire said young Muslims needed to be protected from the growing threat of Islamic influence, but his opinion has triggered a torrent of hate speech, accusations of racism and death threats, with even some of his students turning against him. Due to the threats, he first had to be accompanied to work by police, and eventually he was forced to quit his job for good.

The former teacher published a book on the situation in France, entitled „Letter from a Hussar of the Republic,” highlighting the relationship between secularism and schools. In his book, Mr Lemaire gave a detailed account of his own experiences and described what he had heard and seen from students and parents of students at school, while also drawing attention to the rise of Islamism in the city of Trappes.

In a recent interview, Didier Lemaire underlined that the situation in his former city has not improved, in fact it even got worse. He is not the only teacher who has had to leave the city for security reasons, Mr Lemaire pointed out, citing the example of another philosophy teacher, who was forced to quit his high school job after one of his students threatened him in class in the name of Allah. The problem prevails not only in Trappes, but in the whole of France, with teachers in Paris also under threat, Mr Lemaire opined.

Responding to a question, the former teacher said that although he had given up teaching and was working in a different field since the incident, he missed his old job and the contact with students. This is why he published a new book, „A little philosophy of the nation,” in which he explains that the French nation has never been more divided and fragmented than it is now.

Culture is one of the core pillars of a nation that promotes the value of the individual, Mr Lemaire stressed. However, the culture of France has been under attack from certain lifestyles and demands. As examples, he cited mainly the Islamist demands, such as the wearing of the headscarf, observing Muslim dietary rules and the addressing of other people, which he considers to be particularly problematic issues and a growing threat to French culture.