Join an International Demonstration Against
Azar Majedi - 08.09.2004 02:16
Wednesday, September 8, 2004 12:00-2:00pm in Canada, UK, Germany Islamists plan to establish an Islamic court in Canada in order to impose Islamic laws in addressing civil disputes for people living there. They deceptively say an Islamic court in Canada will be a promotion of 'minority rights' and equitable, tolerant, and fair; in fact it is anything but these. Using civil rights terms cannot and will not conceal the stark realities of Sharia law and its regressive implications for human beings and Canadian society.
Join an International Demonstration Against the Sharia Court in Canada
Wednesday, September 8, 2004 12:00-2:00pm in Canada, UK, Germany Islamists plan to establish an Islamic court in Canada in order to impose Islamic laws in addressing civil disputes for people living there. They deceptively say an Islamic court in Canada will be a promotion of 'minority rights' and equitable, tolerant, and fair; in fact it is anything but these. Using civil rights terms cannot and will not conceal the stark realities of Sharia law and its regressive implications for human beings and Canadian society.
To begin with, Sharia law is inherently unjust and unfair even if it's only being implemented in the area of 'mundane' civil disputes as proponents say. Discriminatory family and personal status codes are important pillars in the oppression of women in Islamist societies. Much of the struggle for women's rights has taken shape in countries like Iran vis-à-vis these very aspects of Sharia law. Discrimination and sex-based persecution are reasons why many women flee Islamist societies and seek refuge in Canada and the west. These so-called 'mundane' disputes have cost many a woman and girl her rights and life there; it now aims to do the same in Canada.
Secondly, it is sham for proponents to say that those who avail of the court will 'choose' to do so 'voluntarily'. This becomes clearer when you hear Mumtaz Ali who spearheaded the initiative say: '...On religious grounds, a Muslim who would choose to opt out [after s/he has committed to it by their prior consent] for reasons of convenience would be guilty of a far greater crime than a mere breach of contract--and this could be tantamount to blasphemy-apostasy' - the penalty of which is execution under Islamic law in places like Iran.
It is interesting how pro-women's choices the political Islamic movement becomes when it is vying for power in the west. Where are the choices for women in Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan under Sharia law and Islamic states? The political Islamic movement is renowned for threatening, intimidating, mutilating, maiming and killing all those who refuse and transgress. Women and girls are always its first victims. Even a limited Sharia Court in Canada will increase intimidation and threats against innumerable women. It will open the way for further conquests by this reactionary movement.
Thirdly, the claims of fairness and equity are mere propaganda; it is in fact discriminatory and unfair to have different and separate systems, standards and norms for 'different' people. A Sharia Court will maintain fragmented 'minority communities' leaving people at the mercy of reactionary and parasitical elders and imams. It will increase marginalisation and the further ghetto-isation of immigrant communities. It will further make immigrants and new arrivals forever minorities and never Canadian citizens equal before and under the law.
The Canadian government cannot excuse itself from its responsibility towards all citizens living in Canada. It is duty-bound to defend the rights of all equally often times despite differing opinions and beliefs. Everyday, the state intervenes to protect people - not necessarily because it wants to but because civil society and established norms force it to. It must do so here as well. A Sharia Court in Canada must be stopped. Full Stop.
Join us to protect women's rights, secularism and human dignity When: September 8, 2004 12:00-2:00pm Where: CANADA: Toronto: at Queen's Part, Ontario legislation, contact Homa Arjomand at 416-737-9500; Ottawa: at Parliament, contact Soheila Bayat ( soheila_d@hotmail.com); Vancouver B.C.: 800 Hornbi (in front of Family Court) downtown, contact Mina Behrouzi at 604-727-8986; Victoria, B.C., Parliament, contact Abass Mohammadi ( vicc22@hotmail.com); British Columbia: Penticton B.C., at Gyro Park, from 8AM-8PM
UK: At the Canadian High Commission, 38 Grosvenor Street, London W1K 4AA, (Bond Street Tube), Contact Azar Majedi, 00447970643243.
GERMANY: At Canadian Embassy, call Mina Ahadi at ( minaAhadi@aol.com)
For more information, contact International Campaign against the Sharia Court in Canada, F.P.P.O, P. O. Box 45546, 747 Don Mills Road, Toronto, Ontario M3C 3S4 Canada Tel: +1-416-737-9500; E-mail: homawpi@rogers.com; Website: www.nosharia.com Organisation for Women's Liberation, P.O. Box 636, Wembley, London HA9 9GQ, UK Tel: +44(0)7789801250; E-mail: azadizan@yahoo.com; Website: www.azadizan.com Worker-communist Party of Iran-Britain, BM Box 8927, London WC1N 3XX, UK Tel: +44(0)7719166731, E-mail: m.namazie@ukonline.co.uk; Website: www.wpiran.org; www.wpibriefing.com
 E-Mail: minaAhadi@aol.com  Website: http://www.wpiran.org
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