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| The term "'''Islamofascism'''" is a controversial ] used to describe certain variants of ] alleged to have ] or ] aspects. | |||
| ==Origins of the term== | |||
| Although the exact origins of the term are unclear, it appears to have been coined either by ], ] or ]. The coining or popularisation of the term is frequently attributed to ] based on his article in ] immediately following the ], where he used the phrase "Islamic fascism". . Hitchens also used the phrases "Islamic fascism" and "theocratic fascism" to describe the fatwa declared against ] for writing '']''. After the 9/11 attacks, the concept of "Islamic fascism", later shortened to "Islamofascism", spread from neoconservative schools of thought to the ]. On October 6, 2005 ], ] used the term "Islamo-fascism" while speaking before the ]. | |||
| Those who have attempted to flesh out the epithet often state that "Islamofascism" refers to strands of ] or ] Islam, which are claimed to display some of the signifiers of fascism or totalitarianism. | |||
| == Examples of use in public discourse == | |||
| * "But the bombers of Manhattan represent fascism with an Islamic face, and there's no point in any euphemism about it. What they abominate about "the West," to put it in a phrase, is not what Western liberals don't like and can't defend about their own system, but what they do like about it and must defend: its emancipated women, its scientific inquiry, its separation of religion from the state." — ] in '''', The Nation 2001. | |||
| * "Islamofascism is nothing but an empty propaganda term. And wartime propaganda is usually, if not always, crafted to produce hysteria, the destruction of any sense of proportion. Such words, undefined and unmeasured, are used by people more interested in making us lose our heads than in keeping their own." . ], conservative Catholic commentator. | |||
| * "...the word ‘Fascism’ is almost entirely meaningless. In conversation, of course, it is used even more wildly than in print. I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting, bull-fighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestley's broadcasts, Youth Hostels, astrology, women, dogs and I do not know what else." ], British essayist and novelist. | |||
| * "It is hard to see the difference between the bigotry of anti-Semitism as an evil and the bigotry that Medved displays toward Islam. It is more offensive than I can say for him to use the word "Islamo-fascist." Islam is a sacred term to 1.3 billion people in the world. It enshrines their highest ideals. To combine it with the word "fascist" in one phrase is a desecration and a form of hate speech. Are there Muslims who are fascists? Sure. But there is no Islamic fascism, since "Islam" has to do with the highest ideals of the religion. In the same way, there have been lots of Christian fascists, but to speak of Christo-Fascism is just offensive." ], professor of modern Middle East and South Asian ] at the ]. | |||
| * "The idea that there is some kind of autonomous "Islamofascism" that can be crushed, or that the west may defend itself against the terrorists who threaten it by cultivating that eagerness to kill militant Muslims which ] urges upon us, is a dangerous delusion. The symptoms that have led some to apply the label of "Islamofascism" are not reasons to forget root causes. They are reasons for us to examine even more carefully what those root causes actually are." He adds "'Saddam, Arafat and the Saudis hate the Jews and want to see them destroyed' . . . or so says the right-wing writer ]. And he has a point. Does the western left really grasp the extent of anti-Semitism in the Middle East? But does the right grasp the role of Europeans in creating such hatred?" ], author of ''A Brief History of Blasphemy: liberalism, censorship and 'The Satanic Verses'''writing in the ]. | |||
| * "What we have to understand is ... this is not really a war against terrorism, this is not really a war against al Qaeda, this is a war against movements and ideologies that are jihadist, that are Islamofascists, that aim to destroy the Western world." ], president of the ]. | |||
| *" attacks serve a clear and focused ideology, a set of beliefs and goals that are evil, but not insane. Some call this evil Islamic radicalism; others, militant Jihadism; still others, Islamo-fascism. Whatever it's called, this ideology is very different from the religion of Islam. This form of radicalism exploits Islam to serve a violent, political vision: the establishment, by terrorism and subversion and insurgency, of a totalitarian empire that denies all political and religious freedom." ], ] speaking before the ], October 6, 2005 | |||
| Opponents of the term argue that "Islamofascism" is simply a derogatory epithet directed towards ] as a whole, and not a real political concept or ideology. They claim that the term attempts to conflate the neutral concept of ] with the negatively perceived concept of ]. | |||
| Some applications of the term "Islamofascism" specifically refer to the ] and similar movements in ] inspired by the writings of ], while others use it to refer to all highly politicized strains of Islam, including ] radicalism as practised in Iran. A more common and less loaded term for these politicized strains of Islam, which seek to replace secular governments in Muslim countries with ] law, is ]. Note, however, that Islamism is a broad political category which covers also political movements such as ]'s ] which do not seek to overthrow secular constitutions. (See also ]) | |||
| Some have argued that this use of the term is a misapplication, as the word "fascism" has been traditionally invoked to describe the merger of state and corporate power. Political commentators have argued that the fusion of Arab (particularly ]) and ] oil wealth and the totalitarian ideology of a theocratic movement with global ambitions, could be interpreted as a form of fascism. | |||
| == Related terms and concepts == | |||
| === Political Concepts === | |||
| * ] — Islam as a political movement | |||
| * ] — irrational fear of Islam or Muslims | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| === Islamic Concepts === | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==Academics and commentators on Islamofascism== | |||
| * ] — Middle East historian | |||
| * ] — Middle East historian | |||
| * ] — U.S. political scientist | |||
| * ] — Muslim free-thinker and social critic. | |||
| * ] — Italian journalist and author of ''The Rage and The Pride (La Rabbia e l'Orgoglio)'' and ''The Strength of Reason (La Forza della Ragione)''. | |||
| * ] — U.S. journalist and noted blogger | |||
| * ] — U.S. historian and commentator on military affairs | |||
| * ] — British journalist. | |||
| * ] Israeli politician and ] activist. Author of ''The Case For Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror'' | |||
| * ] — Israeli political scientist. Author of ''Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism.'' | |||
| * ] — U.S. ]. | |||
| * ] Dutch MP and friend of murdered ]. Scriptwriter for ]: a film about violence against women in Islamic societies. | |||
| * ] British academic. Author of many works on ] and contemparary European-Islamic relations. | |||
| ==Organizations and think tanks== | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * | |||
| * by Daniel Pipes | |||
| * (Israeli site) | |||
| * by ] | |||
| ===Critical of the concept of Islamofascism=== | |||
| * — ] (], ]) | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
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