Islamofascism and Islamophobia
Samuel Huntingdon’s main argument in his seminal book The Clash of Civilizations is that wars will increasingly be fought not between countries but by civilizations and cultures.
Huntington argues that the resurgence of Islam "embodies the rejection of Western culture, and the recommitment to Islam as the guide to life in the modern world". Religion is the primary factor that distinguishes Muslim politics and society from other countries. Huntington also argues that the failure of state economies, the large young population, and the authoritarian style of governance have all contributed to the resurgence of Islam in society.
Islam and the West are two conflicting cultures, offering very different world views. And herein lies the challenge for the West.
Millions of Muslims live in our countries, many of them seeking only to enjoy a peaceful and prosperous lifestyle that would be impossible in their countries of origin. Millions more come to the West to study.
Many choose to stay to enjoy the fruits of their labors. But many more remain to act as a fifth column to support radical Islamist jihadists bent upon destroying the West from within.
And this is a major source of Islamophobia and a major example of the spread of Islamofascism globally.
In Nigeria, Boko Haram is murdering thousands of Christians a month with nary a peep from the Western media. In the Sahel and the Maghreb, ISIS reigns supreme in the violent pursuit of Islamic supremacy.
In Europe, hundreds of ISIS, Al Qaeda, and other radical Islamist cells thrive in major cities and coordinate terrorist activities globally. London is often called Londonistan because of the large number of extremist Islamic centers and mosques funded in large part by Saudi Arabia that attract not only disaffected British Muslims but also non-Muslims. These are breeding grounds for radical Islamist indoctrination and potential jihadist recruitment and training.
Islamofascism is spreading globally, never more so that in the aftermath of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th last year and the massive Israeli response to this vicious event.
On October 7th, university students across Canada, the United States, and Europe began a campaign of hatred against Jews and their own institutions of higher learning. Classes were disrupted, buildings desecrated, and Jews and their places of worship and business attacked.
In major capitals millions of Islamist sympathizers – Muslim and not – blocked major thoroughfares, airports, and government buildings. They tore down national flags and replaced them with Hamas banners and ISIS flags. They chanted hate speech against Jews and supporters of Jews.
London police have allowed pro-Palestinian demonstrators to run amok in the city and threaten Jews and Jewish businesses. U.K. Government ministers and members of parliament have been threatened with violence and had to take on security. Some Labour Members of Parliament report being threatened if they didn’t vote in favor of a resolution calling for a cease fire between Hamas and Israel.
The Mayor of London along with many Muslim members of parliament and candidates for election appeared to support the blockades carried out by Hamas sympathizers.
The collective response of governments in the West was mixed. France decided almost immediately to deport all of those who instigated and participated in these hate-filled demonstrations. But other Western governments reacted pathetically.
Police in New York, Toronto, and Montreal, among other major cities in the West, were either afraid to arrest perpetrators who broke the law or were under orders from their authorities to not do so. However, they were quick to prevent Jews and Jewish sympathizers from expressing their view or even from holding their own country’s national flag.
Universities took little or no action against students who broke codes of conduct, and governments took no steps to arrest and deport agitators on visitors’ or student visas who instigated and participated in these actions.
In Canada, Prime Minister Trudeau and his cabinet have equivocated throughout. They have sought to put the limelight on Islamophobia rather than Islamofascism and make the law-breaking demonstrators appear to be the “victims” of perceived oppression.
Can both Islamofascism and Islamophobia be eliminated?
I doubt it.
Israel may well destroy Hamas’s military capacity, as well as Hezbollah’s and other radical jihadist groups. But Islamism is not a bomb or a gun – it is an idea that has captured the hearts, souls, and identities of tens of millions of Muslims around the world.
And the result is Islamophobia by those who oppose the violence, and anger against innocent Muslims who neither share the objectives of the radical Islamists nor their worship for killing and death.
Islamism is an idea.
A deeply felt belief that cannot be defeated with conventional weapons or armies.
Fighting Islamofascism requires several steps:
First, protect borders and control who enters countries for whatever pretext.
Second, close all mosques where terrorism and jihad are known to be preached.
Third, bar Saudi Arabia and other Muslim states from building and staffing mosques in the West much in the same way they forbid the construction and operation of Christian and Jewish houses of worship in their territories.
Fourth, bar pro-Islamist student and faculty groups from universities, expel their followers and deport those who are not citizens.
Fifth, make the study of Islamofascism, Islamophobia and antisemitism required in all schools, and work with Muslim students to provide alternative visions of life to those offered by Islamofascists and all students to combat Islamophobia and antisemitism.
Islamofascism is a real and current danger to the world, and we must act to stem its ability to infiltrate our societies much the same way as we must stem Islamophobia and antisemitism from attacking our law-abiding neighbors.
Islamophobia is based at least partially on fear of the excesses of Islamists over the past fifty years and their stated intention to destroy the West and create an Islamic world.
This fear will not dissipate quickly, nor will Islamofascism.
It is time for all levels of government everywhere to act, and for a holistic approach to national security in all Western nations to take hold and prevent the violence, hatred, and danger that we are currently facing.
This was also, thoroughly and brilliantly addressed by Nabeel Qureshi in Answering Jihad. A former devout Moslem, who converted to Christianity once he found out, through painstaking research, that most of what he and other Moslems were taught about Mohammed and Islam was totally false. There is simply too much good material in his books to be summarized here, but one thing that struck me was that the so-called "religion of peace" was no such thing. Mohammed himself called for jihad, and by 1092, when the first Crusades were launched at the behest of Pope Urban, 2/3 of the Christian Ottoman empire had been overtaken by Moslem warriors. Now, that's not to say that the Western world, like the Arab world, not to mention the Asian world, is perfect and not deserving of some serious reprimands for their excesses, greed and disrespect of nature, but that does not warrant the horrors inflicted by Islamofascism, which is nothing but the flip side of the same coin. Abuse of women, intolerance of freedom of speech and beliefs, wanton murder are nothing more than Putinism with a religious mantle. Qureshi says it all a lot better, with all the history and proof you need.
Thank you, Eduardo.
Once more, you are providing us food for thought. Your article helps us analyze and discern information that should lead us to find ways to co-exist in a diverse culturral universe. Our aim, should be to find a sustainable planet. Our grand children and their own children should live in peace and harmony.