Alliance Between Islamists and the Left

Alliance Between Islamists and the Left

Peter Kopa, Prague, April 30, 2026

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Last August, we published an article on Islam in Europe: https://thinktanklatam.org/5117/

For years, the idea of a “red-green alliance” or “Islamo-leftism” has been circulating in European discourse, describing tactical convergences between sectors of the radical left and Islamist actors, particularly regarding the Palestinian cause, anti-imperialism, and the rejection of the Western liberal order.

The term first emerged in the 2000s in the work of Pierre-André Taguieff as a descriptive label for a “de facto” militant cooperation between Islamist and far-left circles in France, particularly in pro-Palestinian campaigns that had become a “new revolutionary cause.”

Strategic motivations for the convergence

The factors facilitating the alliance are primarily the rejection of Western “imperialism,” anti-Americanism, hostility toward Israel, and distrust of the liberal state. But the left pursues an egalitarian and secular society, while Islamism aspires to an authoritarian political-religious order. However, this difference does not prevent both sides from agreeing on the denunciation of the same “enemy”: the Israeli state, global capitalism, or the “liberal West” in the broadest sense.

But rather than an alliance of convictions, it is a strategy of mutual exploitation: Islamists seek legitimacy and protection from the left, while certain leftist sectors hope to expand their social base in predominantly Muslim neighborhoods, gain influence in street protests, and present themselves as spokespeople for “the victims of the system.”

National Scenarios

https://thinktanklatam.org/union-explosiva-del-islam-con-la-izquierda/

In Spain, the government is currently attempting to legalize half a million illegal immigrants—mostly Islamists from North Africa—in order to expand the electoral base supportive of the current administration. Most likely, this unjust initiative will not move forward.

In France, the debate has intensified around Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s La France Insoumise (LFI) party, accused by some former activists and observers of fostering an ambiguous relationship with radical Islamist networks. The Syrian-French writer Omar Youssef Souleimane, after infiltrating LFI, argues that there is a “growing alliance between extreme Islamists and the French radical left,” driven by electoral calculations regarding the Muslim vote and grounded in radical anti-Zionism, which in practice turns into anti-Semitism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgaVzJP8LNo

In Germany, the term “Islam-Linke” (left-wing Islamists) has been the subject of critical analysis by the Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung (Federal Agency for Civic Education) and by scholars studying the far left.

The Germans acknowledge that there are instances of cooperation between Islamist groups and far-left organizations—for example, regarding the Palestinian cause, in university protests, or at anti-Zionist demonstrations—but they insist on distinguishing between the democratic left and openly extremist factions.

Marxist-Leninist organizations of Turkish origin, such as “Young Struggle,” are also mentioned; these have been involved in anti-Israel actions on German campuses and in the explicit legitimization of the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack, reinforcing the perception of a radicalized convergence within specific segments of the extra-parliamentary left.

At the same time, there is a parallel debate in the German and Swiss press regarding the rise of political Islamism and the need to officially assess activist networks such as the “Muslim Brotherhood,” which are active in religious, educational, and social spheres. In other words, in Germany there is institutional concern regarding Islamic infiltration and the formation of structures parallel to the state.

In the United Kingdom, various analyses highlight the growing importance of the Muslim vote for the Left and the Greens in poor urban constituencies, such as Gorton and Denton in the Manchester area, where the Greens have won seats largely thanks to support from the Muslim electorate.

In general, the literature agrees that radicalized Muslims remain a minority within European Muslim communities, but a highly organized minority with transnational connections (the Muslim Brotherhood, funding networks from Qatar, etc.), capable of influencing the local political climate and the agenda of certain radical left-wing actors.

Anti-Semitism and the Crisis of Secularism

One of the most sensitive dimensions of this tactical alliance is anti-Semitism. Souleimane argues that when the radical left joins forces with extreme Islamists, “hatred between Jews and Muslims” and a climate of fear among French Jews and Muslims are deliberately promoted in France, with the aim of creating social chaos and then presenting themselves as the sole defenders of minorities.

The convergence between radical anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is expressed in slogans that openly call for the destruction of Israel, legitimize terrorist attacks, and normalize the presence of symbols and flags of groups such as Hamas or Hezbollah at demonstrations organized by left-wing organizations. This development concerns Muslim intellectuals who criticize Islamism, such as the French imam Hocine Drouiche, who as early as 2018 denounced the fact that much of the European left avoided condemning Islamism for fear of playing into the hands of the right, thereby contributing to the whitewashing of a reactionary religious discourse.

In several countries, there is also the challenge this convergence poses to secularism: tactical alliances may lead sectors of the left to erode principles of Judeo-Christian culture (religious neutrality of the state, gender equality, freedom of expression regarding blasphemy) so as not to lose support among conservative Muslim communities.

Some analysts warn that this dynamic fuels the narrative of the populist right, which presents itself as the sole defender of national identity and secularism against a supposed “Islamo-leftist front,” thereby reinforcing polarization and the growth of radical parties.