mojo.rhythm
16th November 2015, 12:17
Do leftists ALWAYS side with the oppressed?
I feel like, as a leftist, solidarity with the oppressed should be beyond question. It should be on the level of truism: "siding with the loser" as Chomsky says.
And no, I'm not talking about small-l liberal "sympathy" or "tolerance" or any of that crap. I mean full-scale solidarity, as in "If you are attacked by your oppressors, we are with you, through thick and thin; and we will be by your side defending you until the end. An injury to one group of the oppressed is an injury to all of us."
Which brings me to Muslims.
Are Muslims oppressed in Australia (my country)? Yes they are. The media typecasts them as terrorist sympathizing intolerant wackjobs; they are subjected to night raids by the Australian Federal Police on trumped up charges; they spat on and harassed; the women have their hijabs ripped off and hot coffee spilled on them; local communities mobilize to try and stop mosques being built; the government funds national enquiries into Halal certification, and so on.
On an individual basis, these kinds of things happen to everyone, no doubt. But are you more likely to have these things happen to you because you are Muslim (and Arab)? Absolutely. If that isn't oppression then I don't know what is.
Therefore, the point of departure should be unflinching solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters against the state and against the far-right racists who seek to demonize, harrass and inflict violence upon them.
On the other hand...
There is a plot twist to the whole story. And it is why I have such cognitive dissonance.
The issue: What if the oppressed are, themselves, highly reactionary?
Yes, Muslims are oppressed. Yes, they are unfairly persecuted and exploited and treated unfairly. Yes, leftist solidarity with Muslims should be reflexive.
However, many of our Muslim brothers and sisters, unfortunately, have political opinions which I regard as absolutely beyond the pale.
That isn't to say all of the political opinions held by a majority of Muslims are disagreeable; for example, we share the aspirations for the liberation of Palestine, the opposition to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and contempt for the imperialist adventurism of the world's leading superpower. We share distaste for the hypocrisy of Western governments when they single out atrocities by Islamic extremists for condemnation while turning a blind eye to all the hideous atrocities those same governments have helped perpetuate. We both agree that the media aids and abets this hypocrisy on a daily basis.
But, there are also major political differences. The differences are stark, and they unsettle me to a large degree. For example, as a leftist, I am 100% for radical gender equality; polls show that most of our Muslim brothers/sister are not. I am completely pro-gay and detest homophobia; polls, unfortunately, show that most of our Muslim brothers and sisters feel the opposite way - 70% of young Muslims in the UK think homosexuality should be criminalized, for example. Although stridently anti-Israel, I am repulsed by anti-Semitism; polls show that a majority of our Muslim brothers and sisters ARE anti-Semitic. I am for secularism and religious freedom (i.e. religion should be a private matter and you shouldn't be able to impose it on others); polls show that, in the UK, a disturbing number of Muslims believe that you should be killed dead for leaving Islam. I could go on but I think you get the picture.
But I'm interested in your thoughts. What do you think about siding with oppressed groups that have reactionary beliefs? Do you see any contradictions or tensions in the idea? If so, how do you resolve them?
Thanks 'rads.
EDIT: reformatted -- Tim Cornelis
I feel like, as a leftist, solidarity with the oppressed should be beyond question. It should be on the level of truism: "siding with the loser" as Chomsky says.
And no, I'm not talking about small-l liberal "sympathy" or "tolerance" or any of that crap. I mean full-scale solidarity, as in "If you are attacked by your oppressors, we are with you, through thick and thin; and we will be by your side defending you until the end. An injury to one group of the oppressed is an injury to all of us."
Which brings me to Muslims.
Are Muslims oppressed in Australia (my country)? Yes they are. The media typecasts them as terrorist sympathizing intolerant wackjobs; they are subjected to night raids by the Australian Federal Police on trumped up charges; they spat on and harassed; the women have their hijabs ripped off and hot coffee spilled on them; local communities mobilize to try and stop mosques being built; the government funds national enquiries into Halal certification, and so on.
On an individual basis, these kinds of things happen to everyone, no doubt. But are you more likely to have these things happen to you because you are Muslim (and Arab)? Absolutely. If that isn't oppression then I don't know what is.
Therefore, the point of departure should be unflinching solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters against the state and against the far-right racists who seek to demonize, harrass and inflict violence upon them.
On the other hand...
There is a plot twist to the whole story. And it is why I have such cognitive dissonance.
The issue: What if the oppressed are, themselves, highly reactionary?
Yes, Muslims are oppressed. Yes, they are unfairly persecuted and exploited and treated unfairly. Yes, leftist solidarity with Muslims should be reflexive.
However, many of our Muslim brothers and sisters, unfortunately, have political opinions which I regard as absolutely beyond the pale.
That isn't to say all of the political opinions held by a majority of Muslims are disagreeable; for example, we share the aspirations for the liberation of Palestine, the opposition to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and contempt for the imperialist adventurism of the world's leading superpower. We share distaste for the hypocrisy of Western governments when they single out atrocities by Islamic extremists for condemnation while turning a blind eye to all the hideous atrocities those same governments have helped perpetuate. We both agree that the media aids and abets this hypocrisy on a daily basis.
But, there are also major political differences. The differences are stark, and they unsettle me to a large degree. For example, as a leftist, I am 100% for radical gender equality; polls show that most of our Muslim brothers/sister are not. I am completely pro-gay and detest homophobia; polls, unfortunately, show that most of our Muslim brothers and sisters feel the opposite way - 70% of young Muslims in the UK think homosexuality should be criminalized, for example. Although stridently anti-Israel, I am repulsed by anti-Semitism; polls show that a majority of our Muslim brothers and sisters ARE anti-Semitic. I am for secularism and religious freedom (i.e. religion should be a private matter and you shouldn't be able to impose it on others); polls show that, in the UK, a disturbing number of Muslims believe that you should be killed dead for leaving Islam. I could go on but I think you get the picture.
But I'm interested in your thoughts. What do you think about siding with oppressed groups that have reactionary beliefs? Do you see any contradictions or tensions in the idea? If so, how do you resolve them?
Thanks 'rads.
EDIT: reformatted -- Tim Cornelis