Ibrahim Halawa Good - Tony Taylor Bad

Dublin activist, Rowan Clarke, makes the case that much of the Left in Ireland is regressive due to its facilitation of theocrat ideologies and cultures.
Very much inspired by the ‘Social Justice Warrior’ phenomenon in the United States, they emulate the same sort of outlook: casually promoting what would seem to be socially progressive viewpoints, usually connected with feminism, civil rights, multiculturalism and the new-found concept of Identity politics.

Usually there is no real sincerity behind these sentiments. They are populist notions and most of the time espoused for personal validation.

Yet still this mindset has established itself as a driving force in modern Irish society, particularly among the younger demographics, and have considerable influence on media, even having direct influence and involvement to some degree in establishment media.

Those critics and commentators perplexed by this rapidly expanding culture, tend to deem it a Left phenomenon and those purposing it Lefties, but on closer inspection one can see that many core Left principles are contradicted by this social liberalism, such as collective ownership of equity, and an abhorrence of decadent individualism.

Still the mainstream Left in Ireland have embraced this Social Liberal import, its mass populism is too big an electoral market to snub.

And it’s not hard to miss the Trendy Trot parties out on the streets waving placards and banners related to some empty rhetoric related to some intersectional cause. 
From an Irish standpoint, this all manifests in a form of dogged criticism and opposition to the Catholic Church, and all issues in which it has a connection or influence.

For me personally, I share this desire to see a complete and permanent end to the Churches traditional dominance of important institutions of society such as education and health.

The separation of church and state is vital for any Republic to thrive, and secularism is a vital component of the Irish Republic proclaimed during Easter week 1916.

The Catholic Church and the theocracy it established in the 26 counties after partition, could truly be deemed an evil and malign entity, the reverberations of the pain and misery caused, still felt today by a generation who lived through it.
The Liberals and Trendy Left are more then entitled to cast scorn on the church and do whatever they wish to see it crumble as a participating influence on Irish officialdom.

But oddly and unfortunately the Liberals and the Trendy Lefties are selective in their scorn, and for reasons I can’t comprehend.

When it comes to the topic of Islam, the Liberal and Trendy Lefties do a complete 360 and seem to be very enabling of Islam and in a way supportive of Muslim theocrats and theocracies!

The case Ibrahim Halawa is an excellent example of this.

Ibrahim Halawa was born in Ireland into an established Egyptian family, a dynasty that could be argued is the leading proponent of fundamentalist Sunni Islam in Ireland.

Ibrahim’s father Hussein, is the most senior cleric, the leading Imam in Irelands largest mosque Clonskeagh mosque. Which in the past has been directly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and a source of activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in Ireland.

The Halawa’s, from what I have seen first-hand and from reports I’ve been given are nice people, but there is no denying they are deeply conservative, dedicated Muslims who are committed to Islam’s spread and certainly some of the Muslim theocracies in the Middle East, which are synonymous with grave human rights abuses and oppression.

Before I go on, let me state the following,

Ibrahim Halawa’s detention and denial of due process in Egypt on all appearances is draconian and cruel.

I am not making a case that Ibrahim Halawa deserves the obvious injustices he is enduring, he deserves an immediate fair trial and his human rights respected, but still the facts need to be clarified.

Ibrahim, an Irish citizen, at 17 years old travelled with the full blessing and support of his family to Cairo, Egypt. He went to fight in a war/participate in a mass protest (it's something of a grey area, hard to ascertain what label it deserves: the answer is different depending on who you ask).

In Egypt during this period, civil war was in full effect, with chaos reigning throughout the region as mass demonstrations broke out.

The allegedly democratically elected Mohamed Morsi, leader of the Sunni Islamist collective, the Muslim Brotherhood, had been ousted due to coup led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi,(democracy as we know from current events here is a very subjective term - in the Middle East it’s even less black and white. Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood had earlier ousted another previous leader Honsi Mubarrack in 2011).

Ibrahim Halawa, made the conscious decision to join the Muslim Brother and oppose the ousting of its leader Morsi.

For this decision, Ibrahim found himself captured and to this day remains interned.

I am fully aware that Ibrahim Halawa is no doubt an impressionable gullible young man (I’ve been there myself in the past) who no doubt was spurred on and encouraged by his powerful father, and probably manipulated by talented Islamist recruiters both here and in when he arrived in Egypt. It still is evident that Halawa’s worldview is entirely diametrically different than the Ultra-Liberals and Trendy Lefties here in Ireland who are his most staunch supporters.

The more conspiracy theory inclined are convinced that when Ibrahim boarded the plane to Egypt, he renounced his Irish citizenship by tearing up his Irish passport.
I’m not so convinced of this.
But what I am convinced of is that he has little love of Ireland and does not regard it as his home. He shares nothing in common with its culture nor its core values.

Let’s be honest: strict Muslims would have little love or appreciation for the positive aspects of Irish culture and identity.
Ibrahim in videos filmed at rally’s during the uproar of the Muslim Brotherhood uprising, is heard to make speeches referring to Ireland as ‘the place he lives’ and Egypt as his ‘home’ and Islam as the philosophy he lives by.
The Muslim Brotherhood, like many other dominant Islamist entities in the Middle East, proposes a theocracy that would see widespread human rights abuses and oppression of any who don’t subscribe to its medieval dogmatic perspective. That includes women, gays, those they deem apostates which is all non-Muslims or those who have dared leave the faith.

All across the Middle East we have ample examples of how Muslim theocracies enforce their tyranny: public lashings, hangings, internment, stoning and those labelled gay or effeminate thrown from buildings.

While all established religions have their extremists and liberal strand, within Islam it can be very cut and dry: you abide by the Koran in all its teaching and you follow it to a tee.

So, I find extremely odd that those here in Ireland we would deem themselves bastions of human rights, and defenders of those they deem oppressed in society such as women, gays and minority races: who lambast the Catholic Church from a height for its outdated positions and conservative religious grasp that they want rid of. Yet they are comfortable bedfellows with the Halawas and staunch crusaders for the release of their son.
All faith systems and religions are fair game to be attacked but bizarrely Islam is off limits. In fact despite it being one of the most draconian, backwards and oppressive religions out there, its practice is encouraged.

The influence the Trendy Left and Liberals have on all forms of media on this issue is very noticeable. Nearly weekly we are given an update on the current state of Ibrahim: on what condition his health is in; what developments there are in his legal situation; what prominent Irish politician or famous advocate has visited him.

You see Ibrahim Halawa, despite obviously devoting himself to a foreign country for which he holds no citizenship, subscribing to an organisation who promote ideals that contradict everything Irish.

He and his family feel he still is entitled to every avenue of support and help the Irish State can provide them with and demand the Irish people call for the release of this self-avowed Muslim Brotherhood fundamentalist Islamist - a gullible young man but a religious crusader none the less.

You could be forgiven for finding this a hugely cynical move on the Halawas' part.

Yet still the Liberals and Trendy Left are busy fighting Ibrahim’s corner.

One could make the argument that defending all forms of free speech is a virtue and perhaps they are right.

But really, what is the difference between the politics of the Halawas and let’s say that of Far Right figures such Britain’s Nick Griffin or Frances Marie Le Pen?

Both, despite differences in geography and skin colour, endorse similar authoritarian, fascist, absolutist outlooks. Islamofascism is no different to any other forms of fascism.

Would the Liberals and Trendy Left be out protesting if Nick Griffin or Marie Le Pen were imprisoned due to their beliefs?

I sincerely doubt it, and in the case of Ibrahim Halawa, I certainly won’t be waving any flags for him.

While I respect the right of the Halawas to practise any religion they choose, I cannot hide the fact I find their Islamist credenda to be a detestable barbaric philosophy and I would oppose them ever trying to influence theocracies anywhere else on this earth.

You would think my fellow Left travellers would join me in those sentiments.

What brings home this glaring hypocrisy, is the total deliberate avoidance by the mainstream Left and Liberal class of the gross injustices here in Ireland when it comes to republican prisoners.

Particularly in the cases of the Special Criminal Court in the 26 counties and the low level use of internment in the 6 counties. 
In the Special Criminal Court, defendants endure a scenario in which they are simply accused of membership of an illegal organisation, evidence is not required and there is no Jury in place only a Judge, and all it takes to be found guilty is the finger point of a high-ranking guard.

The Special Criminal Court is condemned under protocol set out by the European Convention on Human Rights.

And in the North, the British government have been literally kidnapping individuals off the streets, throwing them in jail cells with no trial or due process in sight.

This is currently the case for Derry man Tony Taylor who is 500 days interned without trial.

These political prisoners are revolutionary and progressive in outlook which is the cruel irony in the Trendy Left ignoring them.

Where is the media outcry over what Tony Taylor and his family are enduring?

Where are Solidarity, People Before Profit, Amnesty International and the prominent celebrity activists to denounce this gross injustice in our country?
Are we now at a juncture where it is more beneficial and attractive to fight the corner of Islamic protesters in Egypt over that of Irishmen subjected to EU and internally condemned Diplock courts and internment by remand on their own soil?

It boggles the mind!