As coverage of the Islamic State’s ongoing atrocities continues to horrify Canadians, I can only conclude what so many progressives have failed to see. The rise of Islamist extremism in the Middle East is arguably the most important progressive cause in a generation.

I refer specifically to progressives because I — like most Canadians — believe in many of the same values espoused by progressive activists. I believe in the equality of men and women, the inviolability of religious freedoms and individual conscience, the need to protect minorities, and the importance of combating racism and hatred in all its forms. As a criminal defence lawyer, I dedicate my professional life to upholding the tenets of liberal democracy, including the rule of law, the rights of the accused to a fair trial and the pursuit of justice through due process.

I also know what it means to live in a country without these values. I escaped Iran in 1987 as a young girl. My parents concluded that they could not raise their children in a country overtaken by a repressive, theocratic dictatorship. In the years since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, untold numbers of Iranians have been brutalized under the regime’s strict Islamic law.

Women are stoned for allegations of adultery. Gay men are executed in public hangings. Political activists are arrested and disappear into oblivion. Religious minorities, particularly Baha’is, languish in prison.

The regime’s victims are those with whom progressives would sympathize: groups with a long history of being weak, marginalized and vulnerable. As someone who regularly campaigns to raise awareness of Iran’s human rights abuses, I am astonished at how few progressive activists I meet at rallies, lectures and events about Iran. Canada is a country brimming with liberal voices that have a long record of activism on a range of worthy left-of-centre causes. For some reason, these same progressives seem to have a blind spot when it comes to the Middle East.

Today, conservatives are predominantly — almost exclusively — among those calling for government action to support victims of Islamist extremism. This is problematic for various reasons.

First, it inaccurately portrays the issue as one that can be fixed at a set point along the left-right spectrum. This is preposterous, given that no mainstream Canadian in the 21st century (regardless of their voting preferences) could possibly be neutral toward groups like ISIS. Just as there is a clear political consensus against murder, rape and torture (all of which the forces of ISIS and the Iranian regime commit), there can only be consensus about the growing Islamist threat to human rights in Middle East.

Second, the predominance of conservative voices makes it easy for some to dismiss the cause as reflecting nothing more than Islamophobia. While this may be true for some, it is grossly unfair to make such generalizations of the many well-meaning conservatives who are motivated by the overwhelming merits of the issue. Our disgust with those few Canadians who are bigoted toward Muslims should by no means prevent us from acting to help the millions of Muslims victimized by their co-religionists in the Middle East.

Third, the absence of liberal voices against rising Islamism effectively means that we have been unable to leverage the immense talents and energy of progressive activists on this issue. Canadians who campaigned for women’s and LGBT rights, for example, need look no further for a cause that pits liberal values against the world’s most retrograde forces.

The absence of left-of-centre activists on this issue is a tragic failing given the urgent state of affairs in the Middle East. Events today may change the region for generations to come.

Two equally violent and decidedly illiberal forces are in a bloody fight for control: Sunni and Shia extremists, both backed by wealthy patrons in the Persian Gulf. Radical Sunni forces like ISIS and Al-Nusrah battle their Shia enemies, including Hezbollah and other Iran-affiliated factions. Other equally brutal groups transcend both camps, such as Hamas — which serves as the main Palestinian wing of the movement to establish an Islamist theocracy. Since seizing control of Gaza in 2007, Hamas has received immense funding and support from both Sunni Qatar and Shia Iran to fight its endless, suicidal “holy war” against Israel.

The players change and the relationships are complex, but the agenda is clear. All of these groups seek to build an Islamist theocracy that transcends borders. Such a theocracy — whether Sunni or Shia — would represent nothing less than a religious police state characterized by misogyny, racism, homophobia and intolerance.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Today, millions of the weakest citizens of the Middle East are under assault, as are the core values of liberalism. Progressive activists have a long history of defending the weak. They should not hesitate to do so today.

Sayeh Hassan is a criminal defence lawyer in Toronto and a pro-democracy activist fighting to change Iran’s Islamic regime.

Read more about: