Adherents of both pursue ideological purity, refuse to engage in debate and demand submission.
By
There were
many American heroes on 9/11, but the greatest were the passengers and crew of
Flight 93. Not only did they avert what al Qaeda planned—a direct hit on the
White House—but they also embodied Patrick Henry’s credo “Give me liberty, or
give me death!”
Do those words still have a
meaning in the America of 2020? For two decades, I have opposed the fanatical
illiberalism of those strands of Islam that gave rise to al Qaeda. I broke with
my Somali family and ultimately with their faith because I believed that it is
human freedom that should be sacrosanct, not antiquated doctrines that demand
submission by the individual.
So implacable are the proponents of Shariah that I have
faced repeated death threats. Yet I have always consoled myself that, in the U.S.,
freedom of conscience and expression rank above any set of religious beliefs.
It was partly for this reason that I moved here and became a citizen in 2013.
It never occurred to me that free speech would come under
threat in my newly adopted country. Even when I first encountered what has come
to be known as “cancel culture”—in 2014 I was invited to receive an honorary
degree at Brandeis University and then ungraciously disinvited—I didn’t fret
too much. I was inclined to dismiss the alliance of campus leftists and
Islamists as a lunatic fringe.
But the
power of the illiberal elements in the American left has grown, not just on
campus but in the media and many corporations. They have inculcated in a
generation of students an ideology that has much more in common with the
intolerant doctrines of a religious cult than with the secular political
thought I studied at Holland’s Leiden University.
In
the debates after 9/11, many people sought materialist explanations for the
attacks. American foreign policy in the Middle East was blamed, or lack of
education and employment opportunities in the Arab world. I argued that none of
these could explain the motivations of the plotters and hijackers, who in any
case were far from underprivileged. Their goal was religious and political: to
wage jihad against their kin if they didn’t accept a literal interpretation of
Islam, to denounce Arab governments as corrupt and their Western allies as
infidels, and ultimately to overthrow the established order in the Middle East and
establish a caliphate.
American
policy makers preferred the materialist explanations, as they implied actions
to solve the problem: invasion, regime change, democratization. It was
unpopular to suggest that the terrorists might have unshakable immaterial
convictions.
Nineteen years on, we see a similar dynamic, only this time it is within our borders. Naive observers explain this summer’s protests in terms of African-Americans’ material disadvantages. These are real, as are the (worse) socio-economic problems of the Arab world. But they aren’t the main driver of the protests, which appear to be led mainly by well-off white people.
Their
ideology goes by many names: cancel culture, social justice, critical race
theory, intersectionality. For simplicity, I call it all Wokeism.
I am not
about to equate Wokeism and Islamism. Islamism is a militant strain of an
ancient faith. Its adherents have a coherent sense of what God wants them to
achieve on earth to earn rewards in the afterlife. Wokeism is in many ways a
Marxist creed; it offers no hereafter. Wokeism divides society into myriad
identities, whereas Islamists’ segmentation is simpler: believers and
unbelievers, men and women.
There are
many other differences. But consider the resemblances. The adherents of each
constantly pursue ideological purity, certain of their own rectitude. Neither
Islamists nor the Woke will engage in debate; both prefer indoctrination of the
submissive and damnation of those who resist.
The two
ideologies have distinctive rituals: Islamists shout “Allahu Akbar” and “Death
to America”; the Woke chant “Black lives matter” and “I can’t breathe.”
Islamists pray to Mecca; the Woke take the knee. Both like burning the American
flag.
Both believe
that those who refuse conversion may be harassed, or worse. Both take offense
at every opportunity and seek not just apologies but concessions. Islamism
inveighs against “blasphemy”; Wokeism wants to outlaw “hate speech.” Islamists
use the word “Islamophobia” to silence critics; the Woke do the same with
“racism.”
Islamists
despise Jews; the Woke say they just hate Israel, but the anti-Semitism is
pervasive. The two share a fondness for iconoclasm: statues, beware.
Both
ideologies aim to tear down the existing system and replace it with utopias that
always turn out to be hellish anarchies: Islamic State in Raqqa, the Capitol
Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle. Both are collectivist: Group identity trumps
the individual. Both tolerate—and often glorify—violence carried out by
zealots.
This Sept.
11, then, let’s dismiss the fairy stories about the enemies of a free society.
Their grievances aren’t merely economic and they won’t be satisfied with jobs
or entitlements. Their motivations are ideological and they will be satisfied
only with power.
I cling to the hope that most Americans are still willing as a nation to fight
and, if necessary, to die to preserve our freedoms, our rights, our customs,
our history. That was the spirit of Flight 93. It was the spirit that
ultimately defeated al Qaeda and Islamic State. But it is not the spirit of
today’s “woke” protesters. And it is time that we all woke up to that reality.
Ms. Hirsi Ali is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and
founder of the AHA Foundation. She served as a member of the Dutch Parliament
from 2003-2006.