The convergence of the Left and Islamists continues

World: Via HotAir, you have Zawahiri calling Powell and Rice House Slaves with talking points if you deleted his name you would have guess it came from someone on the Daily Kos or DU or Harry Belafonte.

Of all the liberal tropes he’s coopted, this is my favorite. Perfectly disgusting, perfectly hypocritical given Wahhabists’ own highly nuanced views of slavery, and perfectly typical of the far-left cretins and fellow travelers who revel in aiming this sort of racist invective at minority conservatives. All that’s missing is the minstrel-face photoshop and snarling reference to Clarence “Uncle” Thomas. And to think, I wasn’t going to link Captain Ed’s post this morning about the alleged leftist/Islamist convergence. I’m linking it now.

This is nothing new and various commentators in Europe such as those at Harry's Place have been decrying it for a while as you can see from the search results. Nick Cohen "What's Left: How Liberals Lost Their Way." is all about this relationship that seems odd but is purely based on hating Bush/Blair and everything that isn't leftwing. Its not uniform leftists views as there are more people realizing this "relationship" seems a bit off. Most recent example is in Denmark

Now there's a new debate raging. Last week, a young Danish politician of Iranian descent, Asmaa Abdol-Hamid, was selected as a potential candidate for parliament by Enhedslisten (the Unity List), a leftwing Eurosceptic party. Ms Abdol-Hamid, who is Muslim, insists she will wear her hijab (religious veil) if elected to parliament, and would refuse to shake hands with male colleagues in compliance with her religious beliefs. This has produced an outcry in Denmark from rightwingers fearful of allowing politicians into parliament who put the Qur'an above the Danish constitution, as well as leftwingers who feel hijacked by a Muslim agenda. The Danish Imams have unanimously endorsed Abdol-Hamid and advocate that the Muslim community vote for her in the next election. Before Abdol-Hamid became a member of Enhedslisten, she was a member of Socialdemokraterne (the Danish equivalent of New Labour), but she was refused a candidacy to run for the local council on the grounds that her insistence on wearing religious headwear that symbolises the oppression of women was irreconcilable with the party's official policy. Socialdemokraterne are probably pleased that she's gone. With the present focus on her person, there may be many votes in having Abdol-Hamid in the party, but more votes could be lost as the Danes, according to polls, continue to be sceptical about Islam's role in democracy. So Abdol-Hamid ended up on the political far left. The extraordinary thing about this is that the left was previously seen as strictly secular, but all of a sudden it is allowing staunch believers to join its ranks. Advocates of Abdol-Hamid see this as a way of defending minorities against society's xenophobic tendencies. A former minister of culture from the social liberal party, De Radikale, Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen, recently put on a hijab to sympathise with her colleague, claiming her action symbolised freedom of speech. However, on the political left there are also several voices of concern. Manu Sareen, a prominent politician of Moroccan descent from the Socialist People's Party (a moderate socialist party), along with several other leading ethnic politicians, warned that Abdol-Hamid does not speak on behalf of immigrants and that her views on the role of Islam in modern society are radical.

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