Islamic Extremism in Europe and Beyond - Has the Left got it Wrong?

Let there be peaceful coexistence between people, and not religious-driven strife!

First America, then Britain, then France and now, Belgium. But long before any of these countries experienced, at home, the merciless sword of Islamic extremism, hundreds of thousands of people, Muslim people, had themselves been put to the sword of what I consider to be a deformed and virulent form of Islamic extremism. More Muslims than people of any other religious faiths, have been killed, injured and oppressed by other Muslims, both of the 'terrorist kind' such as Al Queda, Daesh and/or IS, and of the nation state kind, such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Sudan, and others which apply the harsher forms of Sharia laws.

Islamic extremism is on the march in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and America.  Yes, except for the Middle East and parts of Africa - such as Nigeria and Mali - the foot soldiers of IS and Al Queda might not be moving about in their thousands and tens of thousands, but in small armed groups, individuals, and, probably more importantly, through the spreading of their propagandistic religious teaching and conversion of those who are not Muslim or not practising Muslims. This 'spreading of the word' of Islam, and their perceived need to Islamise the world, could, potentially, be a bigger threat to the non-Islamic world than the moronic foot soldiers who are being manipulated by the power hungry leaders of their organizations.

This is partly due to the fact that Islam, like Christianity before it, is a  powerful religion which binds Muslim countries that follow the same version, ie, Sunni or Shia.  IS and the other Islamic extremist reorganisations therefore have this potential pool of Muslims from whom to gain sympathy and recruits. It does not have to be in the thousands; a few dozens or hundreds here and there will serve their purpose in creating bloody havoc. More importantly for them, is the fact that they can attempt to exploit the disaffection of disaffected Muslims within the Muslim diaspora in the west.  The usual - and often times valid - arguments about racism, second-class citizens designation, discrimination, etc, will be exploited to the full.

The fact is that the issue of immigrants experiencing racism and discrimination from their respective host countries, be it European ones, or American ones, is nothing new. This, however, has never stopped the people fighting for better conditions for each succeeding generation of immigrants from citing these perennial ills.

In trying to respond to the challenges being posed by the current large-scale migration of people from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, both the political left and the right, and the spectrum between them, should rightly have serious concerns about how it will impact upon all aspects of the relevant countries demographics. The political right is concerned that it will have a largely negative impact, not only on their countries demographics, but also on their economic, social and political affairs. This is not an unreasonable perspective, especially considering the still on-going global economic crisis which all are enduring.

The political left and the liberals, probably somewhat lazily and/or disingenuously, accuse the political right of being 'racist' and 'nationalistic.'  If the political left and the liberals are seriously concerned about the present and likely future detrimental and/or complex impact of the current large-scale migration on Europe, in particular, for politically correct reasons, they appear to be being reticent about expressing it.

The political left and liberals, understandable, are fearful of being categorised as 'racists' or 'Islamophobics', but that should not restrict the thoroughness of their analyses. One could sometimes argue that the political left and liberals are sometimes overly concerned about appearances, as opposed to contents; resulting in them being more reluctant than the right to say,  'we want to help, but we do not think this is the best way to do it.' The political right is probably not too bothered about  not rescuing a drowning person, if they believe that he will probably starve to death at some point in the future, or that they might have to throw him back in the pit.

What all of this adds up to is this. I am currently of the view that the political left and the Muslim diaspora in Britain and Europe - probably in other countries as well - should no longer be giving the arguments of 'racism' and 'Islamophobia' as reasonable and sufficient explanation for why disaffected Muslims are putting themselves forward as Daesh and IS murderous foot soldiers. 

It is not good enough to cite 'racism' and 'Islamophobia' as causal factors; one has to take appropriate action to remedy any perceived social ill. It would not be an appropriate or desirable - except for IS and its supporters - to overthrow and replace any European government, unless it could do so via fair and 'democratic' elections. So, what would be the point of  the 'disaffected Muslim' looking to the Muslim extremist option; unless he/she simply want to avenge perceived wrongs?

The 'Islamophobic argument' is similarly flawed, at least up to a point. This is largely because most  Europeans - including Muslim ones - are probably happy living their largely secular lives, and do not want to give up their individuality, their independence and their 'freedom of speech', for religious tyranny.

It seems to me that there needs to be new Islamic Reformation - yes, I am aware that the divisions within Islam, such as between Shia and Sunni, could constitute this - with the Muslim Diaspora in Europe and America establishing a new version of Islam which is more at one with western thought and way of live.

In the meantime, the European Muslim Diaspora should consider expressing their preference for their respective countries, irrespective of their, the countries, ills. 

The litmus test, after all, is this: how many of use amongst whichever Disapora, would give up what we have at present, for what Al Queda, Daesh, IS or Al Nustra Front is offering?

Need for vigilance on the home front.