Those are one and the same thing. Communism is inherently totalitarian. Liberalism (in the classical sense) is the polar opposite of totalism. Therefore "striving for liberalism" within the Communist world was striving to destroy Communism. The two cannot coexist. By the same token Islamism is inherently totalitarian (a totalistic system) and cannot coexist with liberalism, or even with partial reform, such as the liberation of women for instance. The Islamists certainly realize this. That's why they seek to destroy liberalism in any form, both as imported from the "West" and from within Islam.
All I'm asking is that we don't HELP them in that effort!