Vote!
Is radical Islam the mirror image of the BNP?
- 51% are saying yes
- 49% are saying no
comments from readers
- swatantra nandanwar
30 January 2007 - yes
Yes; fear, lies and violence are the ingredients of radical Islam.
- paul lyth
30 January 2007 - yes
its a pale image of the bnp
- steffaction
31 January 2007 - no
radical islam is the idiotic, nihilistic sigh of those oppressed for years by racism, subtle and overt. the bnp are overt racists.
- Patricia
31 January 2007 - yes
I would go further and offer that radical Islam is more pernicious and poses a clear threat!
- telaviv1
31 January 2007 - yes
The links between "radical" Islam and Nazism have a history going back to before WWII. Hitler tried to recruit USSR moslems (especially POWs) and Arabs from the British Middle East to his cause. His most prominent success was (arguably the founding father of Palestinian nationalism), the Mufti of Jerusalem, who aided recrutment in Bosnia and assumed the role of a Colonel in the Waffen SS.
Nazi ideology had a big impact on Arab political thinking, most notably in Iraq and Syria which were under British occupation.
Radical Islam is clearly not a "mirror image" nor in anyway an inauthentic reflection (the statement itself has racist overtones) but an authentic Islamic movment deriving input and influences from National Socialism (which the BNP may have discarded by now). Most notably, radical Islam today carries the flame of anti-Semitism (a crucial feature of Nazi ideology) to an extent which easily leaves the BNP behind. In that sense it might be argued that it is the BNP which is the pale reflection while the Islamists are the true bearers of Hitlers inheritance. - napo
01 February 2007 - no
Expats should return and show how things should be done if they want to see things moving the right way
- loaiabduh
01 February 2007 - no
Steffaction’s comment is insightful. My understanding is that ideologies built on hate are a universal belief; which has followers from all over that world. We can easily find them in different religions (including Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism etc.). Sometimes they take the shape of political parties and entities (e.g. Nazism). Their motive is fear and greed – fears that their one existence is threaten by the presence of the OTHERS. And greed to “HAVE IT ALL!!”
Finally, I have a dream to see love and peace everywhere – without ‘destroying’ the OTHERS.
02 February 2007- no
No, unfortunately they are worse!
- phantom
02 February 2007 - yes
It is just as dangerous, if not more so. But the illegal, misguided and psychotic invasion of Iraq poured fuel on an already raging furnace of anger.
- npgdavies
02 February 2007 - yes
Yes
It is a dangerous and intolerant ideology part political and part religious. The key component is the intolerance of others, and an inability to respect one's opponents. - didelo
02 February 2007 - yes
I don't think I agree with George Bush on anything else, but I do agree that fundamentalist islam is akin to fascism. It seeks to impose a rigid way of life on people and ideologically justifies murder of large groups of people who don't agree or who it doesn't like.
- Ladeedadee
03 February 2007 - yes
Ok, I voted yes because I think the left is underestimating the danger of intolerance by fundamentalist Muslims but given the comments here I almost regret it. Especially this one: 'Nazi ideology had a big impact on Arab political thinking'. This is pretty much bullshit. On the other hand, Nazi ideology had a big impact on Zionist thinking, check this: http://www.marxists.de/middleast/brenner/
- Barking_Mad
03 February 2007 - yes
I voted 'yes'. I was and still am wholheartadly against the events in Iraq but I think some people on the 'left' are prone to delusions of naivety in believing that the US policies around the world doesn't lerad to a rise in groups or individuals who are ready to emply assymetric tactics in attempting to further out the cause or attempt to 'level out the playing field'.
It is poosiblt to oppose all violence without sympethising to the one which is the 'lesser enemy'.
- skatenat
03 February 2007 - yes
Except worse.
- njforrouk
03 February 2007 - yes
Hmm... That hate and demonise 'others'. They believe their political goals can be best achieved through violence. They are absolutely commited to a unrealistic and mostly fantastical dogma. They even have uniforms to mark themselves out from the crowd. If it walks like a nazi and talks like a nazi it is probably a nazi. The only difference is that the BNP haven't gone far past the baseball bat, spraycan and the boot as their weapons of choice...I wish the same could be said for Militant Islam.
- blencathra
03 February 2007 - yes
In what way is it not?Terror, hate and separation and a overwhelming blame/fear culture drive both death cults. Do not find excuses for these Islamofascists- they are only oppressed by their perverted creed, nothing else.
- isaac.matiwa
04 February 2007 - yes
Divided by their beliefs they are however bound by their bigotry.
- ptharris
04 February 2007 - no
Radical Islam is a response to New Labour's foreign policy as seewn in Iraq and Gaza. The BNP's progress is a result of New Labour's neglect of the Poor and Disadvantaged - Old Labour's constituency.
- ptharris
04 February 2007 - no
Radical Islam is a response to New Labour's foreign policy as seewn in Iraq and Gaza. The BNP's progress is a result of New Labour's neglect of the Poor and Disadvantaged - Old Labour's constituency.
- jchew
04 February 2007 - no
The BNP actually make sense and are trying to voice ordinary British peoples concerns. The radical muslims are just there to cause trouble and put fear into ordinary decent people. It is not right that these two should even be compared as the same they have different beliefs totally and at least one makes sense.
- blencathra
04 February 2007 - yes
How is it that the Left are now in cahoots with the homophobes, racists and destroyers of all human rights that make up the Islamists? This is a betrayal and a masssive mistake. I want nothing to do with this new Left.
- radius
04 February 2007 - yes
Radical political Islam predates Blair's assault on Iraq by a long way. Right-wing Jihadists choked the rivers of Indonesia with the corpses of leftists in the 60s - and were slitting civilian throats in Algeria and plenty of other places. Liberal white England is happy to pass off this fascist movement, mainly because it's Muslims (and Hindus, and Jews) who are in the firing line. The BNP talks racism, radical Islamists put words into actions and kill people for not being like them.
- Richard Langford
05 February 2007 - no
No, They are nothing like each other. I have found the BNP to be quite impressive over the last few years, they did some wonderful community work in Dewsbury after 7/7 and certainly helped to prevent a violent retaliation to the bombings by giving the community a political option.
- blencathra
05 February 2007 - yes
This is indeed a strange vote with the 'yes' vote jumping from 5% to 51% in a day! However, I live near Dewsbury and I did not see this community work that prevented riots and civil unrest. The BNP cynically used this murderous outrage to rail against the Asian community by attacking their religion. Islamists are not of the mainstream- we must remember that radical Islam is political and cynical, just like the BNP- exploiting the young, vulnerable and impressionable.
- viking
06 February 2007 - no
"Hmm... That hate and demonise 'others'. They believe their political goals can be best achieved through violence. They are absolutely commited to a unrealistic and mostly fantastical dogma. They even have uniforms to mark themselves out from the crowd. If it walks like a militant muslim and talks like a militant muslim it probably is a muslim. The only difference is that militant muslims haven't gone far past the baseball bat, spraycan and the knife as their weapons of choice...I wish the same could be said for the BNP.
- Cosmicomic
06 February 2007 - no
Mirror image is an oversimplification. You don't have to agree with either set of beliefs to see that they have clear differences from one another. Saying radical Islam is just like the BNP is a way of stifling debate.
- Ray Brown
06 February 2007 - yes
Not an exact image as each is worse than the other in certain respects. Shame again on the Government for lacking the courage and perception to make this statement before Cameron. There would be no religious extremists in the absence of religions.
- rubbergob
06 February 2007 - no
No, I've yet to read of a BNP suicide bomber.
- jimdenham
07 February 2007 - yes
Ant-semitism, hatred of cultural diversity, hatred of gays, women to be kept at home to rear children, opposition to organised labour...sounds pretty much like fascism to me - Jim Denham
- berri
15 June 2007 - yes
The suggestion has been that only selected pupils are tested in order to assess the school. If left to the teachers within the school, surely they'll invite the brighter pupils to take the test. How fair is that ?
- oddsblog
21 June 2007 - no
Radcal islam has a theocratic society ruled strictly by clerics under various versions of Sharia law. This legal system denies women many rights, but radical Islam goes further according to the group, faction or party - it is a fluid concept, but its driving force is belief in god. The only thing it has in common with BNP, a small fascist group who believ britain should be for whites only, is radical islam's belief that lands sacred to islam should not be lived in by infidels. This is my understanding from outside. I would be interested to read a comment by a radical islamist on the above. outsider
- ronald.corbin
28 April 2008 - yes
Radical Islam, like all extreme versions of religious belief, is only interested in imposing its own views whether people choose to agree with them or not, by force if necessary.
- RosaLuxemburgII
10 May 2008 - yes
Although they don't stand for the same thing, they do have in common many "values" which seem to go hand in hand i.e anti-semitism, anti-zionism, anti-socialism, anti-tradeunionism etc.
