Mary Rizzo admirer a day late and a dollar short.
Kenneth J., a self-styled 'Fool for Mary', pleads ignorance about islamic fascism. Here is the definition so that he may no longer be blissful:
Islamofascism is a controversial neologism suggesting an association of the ideological or operational characteristics of certain modern Islamist movements with European fascist movements of the early 20th century, neofascist movements, or totalitarianism. Organizations and doctrines which have been labeled "Islamofascist" include Wahhabism[1], Hamas[2][3] Al-Qaeda (and its supporters such as the Salafi Group for Preaching and Combat, JI in Indonesia, etc.) and the current Iranian government[4].
Critics of the term argue that associating the religion of Islam with fascism is an offensive and inaccurate political epithet. The word is recognized by the New Oxford American Dictionary, defining it as "a controversial term equating some modern Islamic movements with the European fascist movements of the early twentieth century".
The term is not generally used to describe historic fascist organizations because the most successful and notorious forms of historic fascism did not bind themselves to any of the traditional religious forms.[7] Yet comparisons were made between fascism with Islam as far back as 1937, when the German Catholic emigre Edgar Alexander compared National Socialism with "Mohammedanism"[8], and again, in 1939, when psychologist Carl Jung said about Adolf Hitler, "he is like Mohammed. The emotion in Germany is Islamic, warlike and Islamic. They are all drunk with a wild god."[9] Fascism, though not tied to any particular religion, certainly appropriated or invoked many religious and historical traditions and symbols for motivational and propagandistic purposes, ranging from Christianity to Norse paganism; at the time, it was called "clerical fascism." Examples of Fascist movements that embraced religion include Spain's Falangists, the People's Party of the pre-war Slovak Republic, Fascist Ustasha movement in Croatia, the Iron Guards of Rumania, and Plínio Salgado's "Integrationism" in Brazil.[10][11]
The most famous linkage between historical Fascism and modern Islamofascism is made through the World War II-era Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Muhammed Amin al-Husseini, who was hosted in Nazi Germany after being forced to flee Palestine and, later, Iraq by British authorities.
One primary common attribute of Nazism and modern ascriptions of Islamofascism are that both display extreme Antisemitism. The extent of antisemitism in other European fascist movements varied; it was not significant in Italy until 1938 [10]. Provocation by modern Islamists of Holocaust denial[12] strengthens the comparison between Islamists and neo-Nazi movements. Two of the most influential Islamists of the twentieth century, Ayatollah Khomeini and Sayyid Qutb, asserted repeatedly in their writings that foreigners, especially Jews, were conspiring to destroy Islam and persecute the Muslim community.[11][12]
Other attributes shared by historical fascism and these Islamists[13] include
inspiration from what is believed to be an earlier golden age (one or more of the first few Caliphates in the case of Islamism);
a desire to restore the perceived glory of this age with an all-encompassing (totalitarian) social, political, economic system; [13] [14]
belief that malicious, predatory alien forces are conspiring against and within the nation/community, and that violent revolution is necessary to defeat and expel these forces; [15][16]
belief in the decadence and weakness of the malicious, predatory enemy forces (this applies to bin Laden and Qutb, though Khomeini does not seem to have mentioned it); [17]
and offensive military, (or armed) campaign to reestablish the power and rightful international domination of the nation/community. [18][19]
An example in contemporary Islamist media of promoting the importance of world domination of Islam, and the violent attack on and defeat of enemies by an allegedly Islamofascist group, was found on a Hamas Palestinian children's television program aired April 6-13, 2007 on Al-Aqsa TV. On it children
were told, "We've said more than once that becoming masters of the world requires the following ... ;"
that on another TV show "we are placing together the cornerstone for the ruling of the world by an Islamic leadership;"
and encouraged to promise to "shoot", "annihilate the Jews", "commit martyrdom." [14] (Despite outcry from Israeli groups and suspension of the program the mouse program has returned to Palestinian TV, according to AP and AFP report.[15])
Origins and usage
According to Roger Scruton of the Wall Street Journal, the term was introduced by the French Marxist Maxime Rodinson to describe the Iranian Revolution of 1978[16].
The origins of the term are unclear but appear to date back to an article which was published on September 8, 1990 in The Independent. In the article, "Construing Islam as a language," Malise Ruthven wrote:
“
Nevertheless there is what might be called a political problem affecting the Muslim world. In contrast to the heirs of some other non-Western traditions, including Hinduism, Shintoism and Buddhism, Islamic societies seem to have found it particularly hard to institutionalise divergences politically: authoritarian government, not to say Islamo-fascism, is the rule rather than the exception from Morocco to Pakistan.
”
On the other hand, Albert Scardino of the The Guardian attributes the term to an article by Muslim scholar Khalid Duran in the Washington Times, where he used it to describe the push by some Islamist clerics to "impose religious orthodoxy on the state and the citizenry".[17]
The related term, Islamic fascism, was adopted by journalists including Stephen Schwartz[18] and Christopher Hitchens, who intended it to refer to Islamist extremists, including terrorist groups such as al Qaeda, although he more often tends to use the phrases "theocratic fascism" or "fascism with an Islamic face" (a play on Susan Sontag's phrase "fascism with a human face", referring to the declaration of martial law in Poland in 1981). [19]
References
^ Defeating Wahabbism, "It is a nihilistic, violent, Islamofascist movement that seeks not only to impose conformity on the world's Muslims, and to completely wipe out Shi'a Islam, but also to attack the world's Jews, Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, and other worshippers." -- Stephen Schwartz, FrontPage Magazine, October 25, 2002; Schwartz is author of "The Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud from Tradition to Terror", Doubleday, ISBN-10: 0385506929, ISBN-13: 978-0385506922
^ Islamofascist Solidarity Day The Washington Times, January 23, 2006
^ Christian flight
^ Mortal threat. The Washington Times (2006-01-17).
^ THE POLITICAL AND DIVINE WILL OF HIS HOLINESS IMAM KHOMEINI
^ History of the Shia
^ Popper, Karl The Open Society and its Enemies. Diverse editions since 1945, e.g. 2002: Routledge - ISBN 0-415-28236-5 (both volumes in one band). See: Volume II: The High Tide of Prophecy, Section: The Rise of Oracular Philosophy, Chapter 12: Hegel and The New Tribalism, subsection V.
^ The Origins of Fascism: Islamic Fascism, Islamophobia, Antisemitism (2006-10-26). Retrieved on 200-02-27.
^ Religious Fundamentalism and Political Extremism (2003-03-04). Retrieved on 2007-02-27. Citing The Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Vol. 10 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970), p.281
^ "Islamists ... how bad can they be?" retrieved 2007-2-28
^ Arjomand, Said Amir, Turban for the Crown : The Islamic Revolution in Iran, 1988, p.208-9
^ "Hamshahri newspaper plans cartoon response", Wikinews, 2006-02-06. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
^ Berman, Paul, Terror and Liberalism 2003
^ "Clip 1442: A Mickey Mouse Character on Hamas TV Teaches Children about Islamic Rule of the World", Middle East Media Research Institute
^ [1]
^ Scruton, Roger. "'Islamofascism' - Beware of a religion without irony.", OpinionJournal.com, August 20, 2006.
^ Scardino, Albert. 1-0 in the propaganda war. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2006-04-19.
^ Schwartz, Stephen. What Is 'Islamofascism'?. TCS Daily. Retrieved on 2006-09-14.
^ Safire, W. (2006). "Islamofascism Anyone?" The New York Times, Language section. Retrieved November 25, 2006.
^ President Discusses War on Terror at National Endowment for Democracy. Retrieved on 2006-04-19.
^ Sobran, Joe. Words in Wartime. Retrieved on 2006-04-18.
^ BBC News
^ The Big Lie About 'Islamic Fascism'
^ Fascists? Look who's talking
^ Ingrid Mattson: 43rd Annual Convention of the Islamic Society of North America
Kenneth J., a self-styled 'Fool for Mary', pleads ignorance about islamic fascism. Here is the definition so that he may no longer be blissful:
Islamofascism is a controversial neologism suggesting an association of the ideological or operational characteristics of certain modern Islamist movements with European fascist movements of the early 20th century, neofascist movements, or totalitarianism. Organizations and doctrines which have been labeled "Islamofascist" include Wahhabism[1], Hamas[2][3] Al-Qaeda (and its supporters such as the Salafi Group for Preaching and Combat, JI in Indonesia, etc.) and the current Iranian government[4].
Critics of the term argue that associating the religion of Islam with fascism is an offensive and inaccurate political epithet. The word is recognized by the New Oxford American Dictionary, defining it as "a controversial term equating some modern Islamic movements with the European fascist movements of the early twentieth century".
The term is not generally used to describe historic fascist organizations because the most successful and notorious forms of historic fascism did not bind themselves to any of the traditional religious forms.[7] Yet comparisons were made between fascism with Islam as far back as 1937, when the German Catholic emigre Edgar Alexander compared National Socialism with "Mohammedanism"[8], and again, in 1939, when psychologist Carl Jung said about Adolf Hitler, "he is like Mohammed. The emotion in Germany is Islamic, warlike and Islamic. They are all drunk with a wild god."[9] Fascism, though not tied to any particular religion, certainly appropriated or invoked many religious and historical traditions and symbols for motivational and propagandistic purposes, ranging from Christianity to Norse paganism; at the time, it was called "clerical fascism." Examples of Fascist movements that embraced religion include Spain's Falangists, the People's Party of the pre-war Slovak Republic, Fascist Ustasha movement in Croatia, the Iron Guards of Rumania, and Plínio Salgado's "Integrationism" in Brazil.[10][11]
The most famous linkage between historical Fascism and modern Islamofascism is made through the World War II-era Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Muhammed Amin al-Husseini, who was hosted in Nazi Germany after being forced to flee Palestine and, later, Iraq by British authorities.
One primary common attribute of Nazism and modern ascriptions of Islamofascism are that both display extreme Antisemitism. The extent of antisemitism in other European fascist movements varied; it was not significant in Italy until 1938 [10]. Provocation by modern Islamists of Holocaust denial[12] strengthens the comparison between Islamists and neo-Nazi movements. Two of the most influential Islamists of the twentieth century, Ayatollah Khomeini and Sayyid Qutb, asserted repeatedly in their writings that foreigners, especially Jews, were conspiring to destroy Islam and persecute the Muslim community.[11][12]
Other attributes shared by historical fascism and these Islamists[13] include
inspiration from what is believed to be an earlier golden age (one or more of the first few Caliphates in the case of Islamism);
a desire to restore the perceived glory of this age with an all-encompassing (totalitarian) social, political, economic system; [13] [14]
belief that malicious, predatory alien forces are conspiring against and within the nation/community, and that violent revolution is necessary to defeat and expel these forces; [15][16]
belief in the decadence and weakness of the malicious, predatory enemy forces (this applies to bin Laden and Qutb, though Khomeini does not seem to have mentioned it); [17]
and offensive military, (or armed) campaign to reestablish the power and rightful international domination of the nation/community. [18][19]
An example in contemporary Islamist media of promoting the importance of world domination of Islam, and the violent attack on and defeat of enemies by an allegedly Islamofascist group, was found on a Hamas Palestinian children's television program aired April 6-13, 2007 on Al-Aqsa TV. On it children
were told, "We've said more than once that becoming masters of the world requires the following ... ;"
that on another TV show "we are placing together the cornerstone for the ruling of the world by an Islamic leadership;"
and encouraged to promise to "shoot", "annihilate the Jews", "commit martyrdom." [14] (Despite outcry from Israeli groups and suspension of the program the mouse program has returned to Palestinian TV, according to AP and AFP report.[15])
Origins and usage
According to Roger Scruton of the Wall Street Journal, the term was introduced by the French Marxist Maxime Rodinson to describe the Iranian Revolution of 1978[16].
The origins of the term are unclear but appear to date back to an article which was published on September 8, 1990 in The Independent. In the article, "Construing Islam as a language," Malise Ruthven wrote:
“
Nevertheless there is what might be called a political problem affecting the Muslim world. In contrast to the heirs of some other non-Western traditions, including Hinduism, Shintoism and Buddhism, Islamic societies seem to have found it particularly hard to institutionalise divergences politically: authoritarian government, not to say Islamo-fascism, is the rule rather than the exception from Morocco to Pakistan.
”
On the other hand, Albert Scardino of the The Guardian attributes the term to an article by Muslim scholar Khalid Duran in the Washington Times, where he used it to describe the push by some Islamist clerics to "impose religious orthodoxy on the state and the citizenry".[17]
The related term, Islamic fascism, was adopted by journalists including Stephen Schwartz[18] and Christopher Hitchens, who intended it to refer to Islamist extremists, including terrorist groups such as al Qaeda, although he more often tends to use the phrases "theocratic fascism" or "fascism with an Islamic face" (a play on Susan Sontag's phrase "fascism with a human face", referring to the declaration of martial law in Poland in 1981). [19]
References
^ Defeating Wahabbism, "It is a nihilistic, violent, Islamofascist movement that seeks not only to impose conformity on the world's Muslims, and to completely wipe out Shi'a Islam, but also to attack the world's Jews, Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, and other worshippers." -- Stephen Schwartz, FrontPage Magazine, October 25, 2002; Schwartz is author of "The Two Faces of Islam: The House of Sa'ud from Tradition to Terror", Doubleday, ISBN-10: 0385506929, ISBN-13: 978-0385506922
^ Islamofascist Solidarity Day The Washington Times, January 23, 2006
^ Christian flight
^ Mortal threat. The Washington Times (2006-01-17).
^ THE POLITICAL AND DIVINE WILL OF HIS HOLINESS IMAM KHOMEINI
^ History of the Shia
^ Popper, Karl The Open Society and its Enemies. Diverse editions since 1945, e.g. 2002: Routledge - ISBN 0-415-28236-5 (both volumes in one band). See: Volume II: The High Tide of Prophecy, Section: The Rise of Oracular Philosophy, Chapter 12: Hegel and The New Tribalism, subsection V.
^ The Origins of Fascism: Islamic Fascism, Islamophobia, Antisemitism (2006-10-26). Retrieved on 200-02-27.
^ Religious Fundamentalism and Political Extremism (2003-03-04). Retrieved on 2007-02-27. Citing The Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Vol. 10 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970), p.281
^ "Islamists ... how bad can they be?" retrieved 2007-2-28
^ Arjomand, Said Amir, Turban for the Crown : The Islamic Revolution in Iran, 1988, p.208-9
^ "Hamshahri newspaper plans cartoon response", Wikinews, 2006-02-06. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
^ Berman, Paul, Terror and Liberalism 2003
^ "Clip 1442: A Mickey Mouse Character on Hamas TV Teaches Children about Islamic Rule of the World", Middle East Media Research Institute
^ [1]
^ Scruton, Roger. "'Islamofascism' - Beware of a religion without irony.", OpinionJournal.com, August 20, 2006.
^ Scardino, Albert. 1-0 in the propaganda war. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2006-04-19.
^ Schwartz, Stephen. What Is 'Islamofascism'?. TCS Daily. Retrieved on 2006-09-14.
^ Safire, W. (2006). "Islamofascism Anyone?" The New York Times, Language section. Retrieved November 25, 2006.
^ President Discusses War on Terror at National Endowment for Democracy. Retrieved on 2006-04-19.
^ Sobran, Joe. Words in Wartime. Retrieved on 2006-04-18.
^ BBC News
^ The Big Lie About 'Islamic Fascism'
^ Fascists? Look who's talking
^ Ingrid Mattson: 43rd Annual Convention of the Islamic Society of North America