islamo-leftism: a false concept that has polarised …

ISLAMO-LEFTISM:AFALSECONCEPTTHATHASPOLARISEDPUBLICOPINION

1Jul2021ByMatthiasRétel,ENORBTranslatedbytheMediaDiversityInstitute

A term coined by the far right and normalised by the parliamentary left in France

Originatinginright-wingcircles, itwasPierre-AndréTaguieffwhoendorsedtheuseofthewordinhisbookLaNouvelleJudéophobie(TheNewJudeophobia).Althoughnotclaimingtobefar-righthimself,theauthorandpoliticalscientistisknownforhisanti-immigrationstance,butalsoforhisrejectionofIslamophobiaasaconcept.Inhisbook,TaguieffusesIslamo-leftismtodiscussanallegedalliancebetweenMuslimorganisationsand figures, andapartof the far left.Hedescribesa rapprochementbetween the left,third-worldistsand‘Islamism’onpro-Palestiniancauses.TherealityisthatTaguieffhasturnedalliancesofcircumstanceintoapoliticalconcept.Whilethereissomeagreementonpoliticalobjectivessharedbysomeleft-winggroupsand‘Muslimfigures’,theonlyso-called‘alliance’thathasbeenformedisoneofconjecture.Furthermore,theexpression‘Muslimfigures’doesnothaveanymeaning.Muslimsarepresentinallsectorsofsocietyanddonot therefore all have the same ideology.Reducing intellectuals solely to theiraffiliationwithIslamisaprobleminitself.

Amongtheargumentsthatallegedlysupporttheideathattheleftiscolludingwithasupposed‘Islamist’movementinEuropeistheEuropeanSocialForuminSaint-Denisin

2003.Itwasattendedbyseveralanti-globalisationandcommunistorganisations,aswellas religious ones, particularly Muslim ones. The presence of Jewish and Christianorganisations obviously did not attract the same attention, as the media spotlightremainedwellandtrulyfocusedonMuslimorganisationsandonTariqRamadan,whoattendedthatday.AnotherexamplecitedistheworkofChrisHarman(TheProphetandtheProletariat),leaderoftheSWP(SocialistWorkersParty,aTrotskyitemovementintheUK) who, according to Pascal Bruckner, calls for a coalition between ‘leftists’ and‘Islamists’.Inadditiontobeingtakenoutofcontext,itisdishonesttosaythatHarmaniscalling for the left to form an alliancewith ‘Islamists’. As CorinneTorrekens explains,Harman acknowledges nuance by explaining that Muslim populations in Europe areoppressedandthereforedeservethesupportoftheleft.Ontheotherhand,hearguesthatmanyMuslimorganisationsadoptdifferentpoliticalpositionstohisonseveralmatters-positionswhich the leftmust continue tobe critical about.He adds that the leftmustremain independent inallcircumstances.Onceagain,equatingcircumstantialallianceswithacommoncauseistodistortthemessage.ItisworthaddingthatusingHarman’sessay as an example of Islamo-leftism shows both that it does not exist and just howdetermineditsbelieversaretofindprooftoback-uptheirparanoia.

UseofthewordhasgainedgroundinFrance,particularlyin2004duringdebatesonwearingreligioussymbolsatschool,whereopponentsofthebillwhowereinfavourofmoreinclusivesecularismwerealreadybeingreferredtoasIslamo-leftists.However,itwasaftertheNovember2015attacksinFranceandthestateofemergencythatfollowedthat the termgainedmomentum. Islamo-leftismwas re-appropriatedby some leftists,particularlyManuelValls, the thenPrimeMinisterand therefore representativeof theexecutive. The term is also used by the Printemps Républicain (Republican Spring), amovementfoundedin2016,bringingtogetheralargepartoftheleftandsomeoftheright,whosemainaimwastofightagainst‘thefarrightaswellaspoliticalIslam’.Ontheonehand,placingthefarrightand‘politicalIslam’(whichlacksadefinition)onthesamelevelimpliesthatIslamandconsequentlyMuslims,are,likethefarright,adangertosociety.Ontheotherhand,usingtheterm‘Islamo-leftism‘aspartofamovementcontributestothenormalisationofthelanguageofthefarrightanditsideologies.UsingIslamo-leftismblurs the ideological boundaries between the far right and other parties, clearlynormalising far-right concepts. This normalisation is even more dangerous, as fordecades,EUMembershavesigneduptodiscriminatorylegislativetreatmentofMuslims(lawsgoverningthewearingofreligioussymbols,particularlysecuritylaws).Thefactthatthis normalisation is exercised via left-wing parties and representatives is evenmoreharmfulasitismoreeffective.

“Not a scientific reality”

This is what the French National Centre for Scientific Research stated in apublicationin February 2021, when Frédérique Vidal, France’s Higher EducationMinister,calledforaninvestigationintoIslamo-leftisminuniversities.Theneologism,isan amalgamationof Islamismand leftismanduses the suffix ‘-ism’ to formcoherencearound the ambiguity of association of the two terms. It therefore transforms‘circumstantialalliancesintoacohesivewhole,apoliticalconcepteven,byusingasuffixusedinallEuropeanlanguages:-ism’.

Inpublicdebate, Islamo-leftism is yet tobedefined, as are ‘Islamism’, ‘politicalIslam’and‘Islamists’.Thetermispartofeditoriallexiconandappearstomakesensetoall theparticipants in thediscussions andpublic policies that follow, even though theindividualsreferredtobythetermarerarelyinvitedtogivetheiropiniononthemeaning(or lack thereof). It should be notedthat the difference between Islam and IslamismisunclearandthisequatesIslamwithIslamism.Thisamountstodogwhistlepolitics.Dogwhistlepoliticsisexpressingapoliticalmessageusingcodedlanguage,whichappearstomeanonethingforthegeneralpopulation,whilesimultaneouslyhavinganother,differentormorespecificmeaningforatargetsub-group.

The term is now banded around all the time to describe public figures whosometimes disagree with each other and do not know each other, journalists,organisationsfightingdiscrimination,researchersandacademics,etc.Itisusedmoreandmoreoftenby the rulingpower inFrance.Thewordappears tohaveawitch-huntingeffect.

Today,thephraseisalsousedtoaccuseanyoneevenslightlylinkedto‘decolonial’movements or research on the concept of race, which is relevant to the study of themechanisms of racism. In their press release in February 2021, CNRS condemned theexploitationofscience.

Stigmatising language

ItispreciselybecauseIslamo-leftismisavagueconceptthatitcantargetalargepartofthepoliticalclassandthepopulation,firstandforemostMuslims.Infact,duetothe ambiguity and vague definition of Islamism, the term Islamo-leftism stigmatisesMuslimslivinginEurope,underthepretextofseekingtocounter‘politicalIslam’,whosesecretplanisto‘overthrowWesternvalues’.ItcreatesanarrativeofamaliciousminorityaimingtoputanendtoEurope,the‘greatreplacement’.ThetermIslamismthereforeactsastokenism,i.e.,Muslimgroupsareputintopoliticalcategories;goodMuslimsandbadMuslims. As a result, Islamo-leftism contributes to stifling legitimate voices withinminority groups and spreading the wrong message - that those who defend theirfundamentalrightsaresubversivemembersofthesegroups.

The accusation of promoting ‘political Islam’ is dangerous because any publicstanceorvisibility,includinginthepracticeandexerciseofreligiousfreedoms(wearingsymbols,prayers,culturalgatherings,forexample)byaMuslimorganisationorpersonisperceived as undermining public order, or evenworse, as laying the groundwork forterroristattacks.Therefore,beingvisibleanddemandingequalrightsandtreatmentarealsointerpretedasanattackonabodyofpowerwherethedominatedareexpectedtoknowtheirplaceandremaininvisibleandsubmissive.Otherwise,theywillbeaccusedofcreatingabreedingground for terrorism.The linebetween legitimateparticipation indemocraticlifeandcolludinginactsofviolencehasalsobecomemoreandmoreblurred.Theonlywayofnotbeingaccusedistoremainsilent.

The term also stigmatises all those who are fighting against Islamophobia,includingmanyorganisationsfacingaccusationswhichareunsubstantiated,butenoughto have consequences, as we saw with the dissolution of the Collective Against

Islamophobia in France last winter. Islamo-leftism has also resulted in politicaldisqualificationbymakingorganisationsappeartoxic,evendangerous,tosociety.

Dangerous use

Photoof FrédériqueVidal, France’sHigherEducationMinister, left. Photoof students queuing for foodbanks,right.

Islamo-leftismsilencesanyconstructivecriticismofstatepoliciesandlegislativeinitiatives. It creates a climate of conflict, disqualifying whoever raises their voice inopposition.Italsoaimstocreateinternalenemiestofightagainst,whowillultimatelybeanyonewho criticises or opposes. As a result, holding healthy discussions thatwouldbenefitsocietyismadeimpossiblebytherulingpowers,whorefusetobechallenged.Italsomakesitpossibletodiscreditallpolitical,communityandintellectualactorswho,onthe basis ofcommon values (equal rights, criticism of power, etc.), are subject toillegitimateandbaselessaccusationsofcollusion.Theyareportrayedasenemiestobedefeatedforthegoodofthenationandpublicorder.

AsSamuelHayatsaysinhiscolumnintheNovelObs,“TalkingaboutIslamo-leftismatuniversityallowsyoutokillthreebirdswithonestone”.Firstly,thetermexploitstheIslamophobicclimatetostirupreluctance,evenopposition,totheleftandtosomestrandsof social science. Secondly, it provides the right with the tools to attack left-wingmovements,accusingthemofcomplacencytowards‘Islamist’movements(whichactuallymeansIslam, as Islamism is yet tobedefined). Finally, by the same token, it providesleverage to people against social sciences, arguing that they support Islamism andleftism.

Islamo-leftismalsoservesasadistractiontechniquefromtherealproblemsfacingsociety. Last February, France’s Higher Education Minister made combating Islamo-leftism in universities her priority, even though the level of uncertainty surroundingstudents was at its highest last winter due to Covid-19. One in six students stoppedstudyingandyouthunemploymentroseby16%inoneyear.

Finally, this term and ideology will continue to serve as a reference point forextreme right-wing reactionary groups and theories, including Eric Zemmour or evenMichelOnfraywhousetheword as propaganda to fuel social conflict. Using the termcontributestowardsnormalisingtheideasofthefarright,butalsograntsthemthemeanswithwhichtopursuetheirpoliticalambitions.

‘Judeo-Bolshevism’

Aswith Islamo-leftism, the term ‘Judeo-Bolshevism’hasallowedthe farright tolink thehatredof an ethnic and/or religiousminority, opposition to the left and anti-intellectualism at the beginning of the 20th century. Theword Judeo-BolshevismwascoinedinRussiabyanti-revolutionaryTsaristmovementswhoexploitedtheprevailingantisemitismofthetimetospreadanti-communistideas.ItthereforestigmatisesJewishpopulations who are members of communist parties.The term also means that anti-communism and antisemitism have become interchangeable, meaning antisemitismcould become anti-communismand vice-versa. The term spreadwithinEurope in the1920s-30s to fuel other far-right antisemitic and anti-communistmovements, such asNazism and fascism. Islamo-leftismuses the same strategy to bring together the anti-religiousleft,individualsfightingagainstsocialsciencesandthefarright.

The farright isonceagainusingthesamestrategyofattributingallofsociety’sproblems to a religious minority, this time to Muslims, without breaking withantisemitismofcourse.Ironically,thisstrategyisalsoaboutpittingonereligiousminorityagainstanother.Itisimportanttorememberthattherealdangerremainsthefarrightandtheirdeadlyideologies,aswellasthere-appropriationofitsideasandrhetoricintherestofthepoliticalarena.While,contrarytoFrance,French-speakingBelgiumhasbeenabletomaintainitscordonsanitaire(ruletokeepthefarrightoutofParliament),usingtheir concepts beyond thiscordonmakes it more acceptable. In the long term, itnormalisestheactorspreviouslyexcludedfrompublicdebate.

In these timesofheated tensions, it is important that concepts suchas Islamo-leftism, which influence the media narrative, are scrutinised for what they are;divisive,stigmatisingandfalse.

Recommendations

Werecommendthefollowingtomediaprofessionals:

• Questionlanguagethathasneverbeendefined(suchas‘politicalIslam’,‘Islamism’,etc.)butalsoculturalprejudicesandover-simplisticnarrativesemanatingfromapoorunderstandingofthesituation.Theseonlyservetoreinforcestereotypes.

• When reporting, look beyond the sterile and hysterical debates and do notparticipate in divisive strategies, particularly when it comes to the healthcare,social,economicandclimatecrises.

• Raiseawarenessofpotentialstereotyping(racistorother)anddemonstratethatprejudicesandmisconceptionsarenotalwayshiddenwherewethinktheyare.

• Highlight the dangers that minorities face and give the floor to people andorganisationsaffectedbythese issues.Thiswouldimprovethequalityofpublicdebate.