Political Islam must be stopped!
Worker-communist Party of Iran UK - 20.09.2002 23:27
'Rally for Islam' in London cut short as communists and women’s rights
activists hold a counter-protest.
26 Aug 2002
Political Islam must be stopped!
'Rally for Islam' in London cut short as communists and women’s rights
activists hold a counter-protest.
26 Aug 2002
When a bunch of Islamic reactionaries, who go under the name of Al-Muhajiroun, tried to hold a rally at Trafalgar Square in London on 25 August 2002, they were met by the determined protest of socialists and
women’s rights activists from Iran, Iraq and the Middle East. A small and despised voice on the margins of British society, the Al-Muhajiroun, nevertheless, enjoys a wider, largely undeclared, support amongst
Islamic activists and self-appointed leaders in some communities in the UK.
They had come there to repeat and recite their grim and horrible message for humanity; to spread Islamic fanaticism, bigotry and intolerance; to promote hatred of women, of secularists and atheists.
A counter-rally, organised by the Worker-communist Parties of Iran and Iraq, made sure that this message of hate and violence did not go unanswered. In speech after speech, resonating throughout the Square
and cheered on by bystanders, who initially, in amazement, had tried to make sense of the words of these preachers of doom and gloom, they were denounced for what they are: a group of ultra right bigots, misogynists
and Taliban supporters. In the end, they were forced to cut short their
rally and leave half way through the event.
Ever since the September 11 tragedy, in which two huge vertical cities along with their human inhabitants were turned into a heap of ash and rubble in a matter of minutes, a tragedy matched in its enormity,
savagery and disregard for human life only by USA militarism and state terrorism itself, these people have been cheering for the likes of Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban. They are part and parcel of a foul and fascistic movement, political Islam, which has held humanity hostage for over two decades.
This movement is not just a system of reactionary thought and life style; it
is not a religious society of pious worshippers whose sensibilities have
been hurt by a 'sinful world'. It is a political killing machine. It beheads, hangs and stones people to death. It bombs unsuspecting innocents to
pieces. It exists as governments in power, as well as in opposition.
Its heart lies in Tehran - in the bloody shape of the Islamic Republic of
Iran; its fringes are a network of regimes, movements and terrorist cells
spread out in the whole of the Middle East, in Central Asia and in the West
itself. In Iran, this movement has carried out one of the most horrific
genocides of the last century - an Islamic Holocaust - in which over
100,000 people were executed and routed. It has terrorised whole populations and subjected millions to a life of perennial fear and misery. It scorns people's rights, human dignity and human joy and happiness.
It stands for darkness and ignorance, for mourning and misery, for blood and death. It scorns life itself.
When in the late seventies and early eighties Arab nationalism failed
as an oppressive rallying force for the discontented masses in the Middle East, political Islam stepped onto the stage. Risen from the dead, already on the sidelines of Middle Eastern societies and despised by the masses, this political zombie got a lease of life in the historical context of the Cold War. It emerged as a reactionary political force, with the help of cash, arms and intelligence from the USA and other major Western powers, to oppose movements for rights and freedom in the Middle East. It was the only force at the time capable of drowning the Iranian revolution in blood.
When on September 11, this movement, now grown into a monster, paid a home
visit to the USA, the West’s policy towards it had to be modified from direct or tacit support, to one of containment and cutting down to size. Political Islam was fine as long as its victims were drawn from the socialists, workers, women and free-thinkers in the Middle East. It was fine, as long as its death squads created a macabre peace and tranquillity, a political cemetery, on top of the unmarked graves of labour, socialist and women’s rights activists. But by challenging its own creator, by biting the
hand that was feeding it, it had taken a step too far. It had to be put on a leash and restrained. It had to be made to know its limits.
Al-Muhajiroun belongs to this movement. Its leaders issue religious decrees (Fatwas) against anyone who questions or criticises their foul religion and policies. They support the Islamic Sharia law, a law enforced to the letter by the Islamic regimes in Iran, Saudi Arabia and similar states, according to which atheists, converts to other religions and homosexuals should be slain; women and men who engage in extra-marital affairs should be stoned to death; petty thieves should have their fingers, hands and arms amputated; nine-year old girls may be married off, and anyone who
challenges the authority of 'their god' should be put to death as an apostate:
'The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Apostle and
strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous
chastisement' (A verse from the Quran published in the Al-Muhajiroun
website).
This movement applauds honour killings and oppression of teenagers in Islamic communities in the UK and throughout Europe. It stands for forced marriages and compulsory veiling for women and young girls. It advocates segregation of men and women in workplaces, public spaces, schools and universities. It is against freedom of thought, expression and association and advocates a religious government. The list is endless.
In the Middle East, the Worker-communist Parties of Iran and Iraq are engaged in a determined fight against the monster of political Islam.
In Iran, the Worker-communist Party of Iran is fighting at the forefront of a massive movement of social protest and defiance for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic one of the main planks and sources of political Islam and the main barrier to secularism, civil liberties, women’s rights, welfare, prosperity and a free, modern and egalitarian human society in Iran and the Middle East. World-wide, both our organisations campaign to put an end to the hold of this reactionary and oppressive force on the life of people in various communities and the society at large.
Join this struggle. Political Islam must be stopped!
Worker-communist Party of Iran UK
Worker-communist Party of Iraq UK
 E-Mail: wpipr@ukonline.co.uk  Website: http://www.wpibriefing.com
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