On 26 January 2011 One Law for All held an important seminar to expose ‘Enemies, not Allies,’ which focused upon the far-Right and pro-Islamist Left groups.
According to One Law for All’s Spokesperson, Maryam Namazie, ‘standing up against Sharia law and Islamism is crucial in this day and age but how and why it’s done is important too. It has to be done to protect humanity, secularism and universal rights for it to bring about change for the better. Groups like the English Defence League and Stop Islamisation of Europe are using real concern about Sharia law in order to promote their racist and anti-immigrant agenda. Like the Islamists, they blame everyone who they consider Muslim for the crimes of Islamism. Pro-Islamist Left groups like Stop the War Coalition, United Against Fascism and Respect Party are no better. They excuse and justify Islamism at the expenses of the lives, rights and freedoms of innumerable people.’
One Law for All will be publishing a report on this issue soon.
Video footage of the seminar is available here:
Maryam Namazie
Douglas Murray & Rahila Gupta pt1
Marieme Helie Lucas & Shiraz Maher pt1
Ghaffar Hussain, audio only, pt1 & 2
Maryam Namazie Douglas Murray Q&A
Shiraz Maher, Rahila Gupta, Mariem Helie Lucas Q&A
30 Comments
Jean Clark
Wish I could have been at the conference. I can understand the principles and values shown by all the presenters, but a lot more of Douglas Murray needs to be heard.
The thing that struck me was the intellectualism, or high levels of intelligence, shown by all on the stage. Great, that’s exactly what is required, intelligent people leading a movement. My worry is that the words used, the structure and vocabulary, is way over the heads of many of the normal people of Britain and Europe.
How can movements such as One Law For All win over the masses when the masses don’t understand what they are saying?
This is why the EDL and issues such as immigration do get the masses. The same statements are made, but in simpler language, and these people can then be moulded by the rhetoric and the arguments that they hear.
An example is the denigration of football supporters by Maryam Namazie. Football is traditionally a working class sport, followed the general populus of Britain. By calling all football supporters “hooligans”, and by assuming all “hooligans” are far-right is nonsense and shows a singular lack of understanding of both the population of Britain and the followers of sport.
Douglas Murray is right. There will be times when you need to compromise, if only slightly.
But I am sure he also has some ideas on how to reach out to the general population, and to win them over in the right way, instead of leaving them to slowly slide towards the EDL and then be lost to that organisation’s rhetoric and argument.
Your principles may be the single thing that ensures OLFA remains on the fringe, resulting in a membership too small to make any difference.
Stephen Gash
Maryam,
Please post the text here where I used the word “filthy” to describe Muslims, communists or anybody.
The only reference to “filthy” I can find on SIOE’s site is in this sentence:-
“The attitude of the Arab world to the plight of the Palestinians, allowed to rot away in their filthy refugee camps as long as they are of some political utility there, is extremely instructive in this regard.”
It is bad enough being falsely accused of racism without words being put in my mouth. Of course that is what communists do, render others guilty by association and put words into the mouths of others in order to discredit them.
Therefore, you owe it to your supporters and your own reputation to allow this post of the quote you inaccurately made:-
“Totalitarian systems are not just some kind of ethereal ideology; they require people to make them work, in other words members.
Nazism needs Nazis, communism needs communists, internazism requires international socialists and Islam needs Muslims
Totalitarian systems are not necessarily racist, although Nazism undoubtedly was. Communism, internazism and Islam are irrefutably totalitarian, expansionist regimes, just like Nazism, but they do not have a racial context
Islam comprises many races and Muslims kill non-Muslims of all races. Race is not an issue either for Muslims or anti-Islamists
Not all Germans were Nazis – all Nazis were/are Nazis
Not all Russians, East Europeans and Chinese etc were communists. All communists were/are communists
Not all Arabs, Pakistanis, Indonesians etc are Muslims. All Muslims are Muslims
Not all Nazis were Gestapo, SS or concentration camp guards. All Nazis were Nazis
Not all communists were Politburo or KGB. All communists were communists
Not all Muslims are Al-Qaeda or Taliban. All Muslims are Muslims
There are no moderate totalitarianists, whether they be Nazis, internazis, communists or Muslims”
Here is the link so people can read the full article themselves
http://sioe.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/the-new-totalitarianism-internazislam/
I stand by every word said in that article and readers will not find “filthy” anywhere..
Carry on the good work, but stick to what you say you are really about, that is, stopping sharia law. Falsely accusing others of things they haven’t said or done discredits you, not those you wrongly accuse.
Stephen Gash
You really are a loathsome bunch of people with your lies and censorship.
Why did you not post my response correcting your slander against me?
Truth is an impossible concept for Maryam Namazie.
Sareeta Webra-Bharaj
Sorry to gatecrash the namazie totalitarian party… but may i suggest that you bother to get to know people before you commit slander against them, especially when they are my long term friends. Mr Stephen Gash is a great supporter of the BRITISH RAJ SIKHS & HINDHUS of both GREAT BRITAIN & INDIA. if you have any problems with his anti-racist stance; may I suggest that you contact me. SAREETA WEBRA-BHARAJ [SIKHS AGAINST SHARIA]
MaryamNamazie
We have written an entire book to provide evidence on why SIOE, EDL and so on are on the far-Right, are anti-immigrant and racist. You would need to provide evidence for your allegations though I think name-calling is what the far-Right prefers. And by the way, because one is a minority doesn’t mean that they can’t be far-Right. Islamists are one example of this. There can also be examples found amongst Sikhs, Iranians and so on. Far-Right politics is not just about race; it is also about politics and clearly your politics fits SIOE’s well. Fair enough. We just want to make clear that far-Right politics has no place in a human, progressive and anti-racist fight against Sharia and in defence of one law for all, including for Muslims.
Stephen Gash
So why do you persistently reduce everything to race if by your own admission far right politics is not just about race?
You are clearly an extremist of the Stalinist ilk. There is nothing progressive about your stance. You are actually what you accuse others of being.
MaryamNamazie
It may be about politics but it doesn’t mean that political movements aren’t racist. I think it best you own the fact that SIOE is a far-Right organisation and defend your position rather than pretending Stop Islamisation of Europe is anything but to dupe the public. We are a campaign that is rights-based and pro-citizenship rights and equality. Many of our allies are Muslims and immigrants. We oppose SIOE politics as we do the pro-Islamist Left. We are building a movement against Islamism, a far-right movement. SIOE has more in common with Islamists than with us. Now go and do your work and let us do ours. People can judge for themselves which campaign they want to support. Name calling will not get you anywhere. We have a report on why we think SIOE is an enemy not an ally. Our position is clear now move on. We have nothing in common.
Proquci
Maryam, you are a communist. I think that tells me everything I need to know. There is only you who name calls, quite evidently name calling and bitching about all the others. You are like some spoilt little girl who throws her toys outta the pram, and screams and screams when she cant get her own way.. Grow up woman.
ilios
1.The BNP is not fascist,it is fascist for the convenience of the liberal left who need demons to make their world real.I am English and I want to live in England not a dark skinned multi culti shit hole.
2.It is not racism to oppose the third world immigration invasion of my country,anti racism,like cultural marxism is an assault against western culture and civilisation.Anti racism is used to silence those who dare to be heretics against the liberal leftist dogma of our age. Saying the wrong things about race will get you thrown in to prison at the behest of the liberal left ‘elite’ that infects the body politic and media in Britain.
3.The EDL is clearly a State manipulated front.Calling EDL nazis is absurd when the group is clearly pro Israel going by the Isreali flags on display and they have had pro zionist speakers at their rallies.Are zionists racist? I think zionism is a murderous cult and heres the contradiction. The EDL are not racist because they support israel but zionism justifies murder and land seizure in Palastine against a clear ethnic group called the Palastinians.The EDL never seem to get their meetings banned even though they are a clear threat to public order.The BNP on the other hand have to fight endless legal battles to secure their democratic rights.
I believe in the liberties handed down by my forefathers,and I will fight for them against the anti white racist bigots of the extreme and liberal left
ilios
Awaiting moderation? Don’t you mean censorship?
Proquci
Of course it is censorship. Maryam the commie cant have folk whipping her arse.. One law for one and all??? Yea, right.. as long as it is a commie law… FOR US ALL.. sling it.. We dont want it..
P Keyes
The left side of this argument says they don’t want to be hijacked by the right. They judge the far right for being angry and venting at what is probably a couple of decades of personal aggravation as they see their family members and neighbors harassed on the street, raped, and beat up, all the while the police standing by silently, and their politicians ignoring their very legitimate concerns. The left’s victim-mentality, the fawning response to abuse from muslims, enrages the right even more! The elite in the arts stand in fear of the muslims. WHY WON’T THEY SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER?
Here you have the right, who are free and whole enough to stand up and call abuse ABUSE. This is the answer to the left’s fear! Stop judging the folks you see as uneducated and simple-minded, and join hands! There are actually very few people on the right who actually want to kill a muslim with their bare hands. If the smart folks who condescend to them would just give a damn to protect them, they would be happy to see this whole mess resolved peacefully. NO ONE WANTS VIOLENCE. I would remind you that when the EDL marches, THEY ARE ATTACKED, and the police do not defend them. They ARREST THEM! It’s absurd! You’ve got hundreds of muslims throwing rocks and beating them with pipes and sticks, and the EDL members get arrested??? It’s inconceiveable, and it is the left’s fault.
I also find the left has very poor listening skills. The left should be defending and tempering the right, not creating deeper distrust. If the left is so smart, so handy with words, then start creating common ground. I can seen remarkable progress in Tommy. He’s coming out and stating that it is islam, not the people who are trapped in it, that is the problem. That is a huge step of growth. It ought to be encouraged. The EDL is maturing and thinking.
The left would also grow and mature in their thinking if they stopped equating all religious writings as “all the same” or “equally irrelevant.” While all organized religions have their weird aberrational sects, if you look at source documents, the koran, the Bible, the Baghadvadgita, you will find their foundational principles to be quite different. The God of the Bible is certainly NOT the allah of the koran. The principles that drive jihad are not found in the Bible, when it is read in context for itself, and not merely seen through the lenses of tenured professors at a liberal college.
You will fix this issue when both sides come together in unity. Jesus provides the answer to this. He asks that both sides LOVE EACH OTHER. To do less is to prove that you are not seeking truth, or justice, or goodness, but only pride.
MaryamNamazie
No-one is being censored. Please don’t get carried away. We are inundated with spam and must have moderation. And given our busy schedule we don’t get to moderate on a daily basis.
Hassan Radwan
Maryam, I loved what you said at the “Enemies not Allies” talk and we must NEVER join with EDL – they are our enemies!
I disagree with Douglas Murray, but can’t help liking him personally and I think that he is a voice that is needed – even though I disagree with him.
However we can never entertain the EDL as long as they clearly have fascists and racists amongst them. That doesn’t mean we don’t understand or will join with those who have concerns about immigration – but we will NEVER join with a group that so clearly contains such detestable elements.
Get rid of them and stop all the football hooligan nonsense and maybe we can talk.
Until then – forget it.
P Keyes
Dear Hassan,
The people you would pigeon-hole as racist may in reality be people who have no place to go with their fear and their rage at being ignored by the government, whose only legitimate job is to protect them from physical attack. People are not static, their hearts are not carved in stone. If people of your viewpoint are so smart, then prove your loyalty to England. Embrace the culture and the people who create that culture daily from their hearts. Make a genuine decision to engage in deliberate friendship with someone who is not like you. Even though they may not please you in every way imaginable. If you cannot do this, you are weak, and extremely short-sighted.
Just about everyone I know chooses to act in a way that they genuinely believe is the right thing to do. The EDL is standing up for all the victims of abuse by muslims over years of living side by side. Imagine the feelings of betrayal that the average neighborhood feels now, after having welcomed immigrants out of goodwill, and finding that the recipients of the goodwill have been plotting all this time to cut their heads off!
If you can’t see through the emotion and see the EDL as real living breathing people who care for their friends and family members more than their own dignity, then you are blind. These are regular people who go to work everyday, and come home at night, and just want to live at peace in their own street. They didn’t ask for trouble, and it has taken a great many offenses to finally bring them to an angry outburst. Their patience has been admirable over all these years, and their anger should not be a surprise, if not a little too late in coming.
Anger is an amoral emotion. It is not right or wrong, it just is. I’m sorry that the bombastic language in a very few cases has jaundiced your view of a very large movement. But you must see past the cuss words to the incredible frustration and bravery it took for those first EDL members to decide to stand up against the politically correct establishment. That it still takes. The bark is bigger than the bite.
If you chose to alienate them, then you are an unkind fool.
Proquci
WOW… Classing the EDL as you do but side with a communist who loves the slaughter of tens of millions of innocents for the sake of politics? You need your head looking at..
bob
edl=racist,facist football hooligans?
you are mistaken
the edl is full of working class ppl, to call them anything else shows your own class prejudice
the edl stance on olfa is WE DISAGREE WITH YOUR VIEW OF THE EDL BUT WELCOME YOUR INPUT ON THE ANTI ISLAMIST MOVEMENT
i hope the leaders and members of your org can see past there prejudice and at least have a dialogue with the edl
ps if douglas murray is ever in close proximity to a edl rally he can count on at least 5000 pints being bought for him, i wish the edl had a man of his intellect and standing within its ranks
GehirnerweichungNein
Don’t tell me what I mean and think you communist leftis woman Maryam Namazie!
Pedram Kazemi-Esfarjani
All the talk about “far right” and “imperialism” covers up the historic fact that Islam has from its conception been a violent, reactionary far far right Imperialist power. Islam was not provoked, nor victimized to attack Persia, Egypt, Byzantic Roman Empire, India and Europe, but did it because it is an Imperialist, military-political, totalitarian and very aggressive doctrine. I thank one of the speakers, once, mentioning that Islamists are far right, but no one other wanted to admit it, and no one mentioned that Islamic states are Imperialists attacking our nations, for what Salman Rushdie told American audiences at Bill Maher debate show: Islamists are not worried about Palestinians or alike, they are after World dominance, he said. I call it Imperialism. So, let us face it, that the so-called “pro-Islam left” are in fact far right, reactionary pro-Islamic Imperialist collaborators. Thank you and let us then refocus our efforts to combat Islamist Imperialist, here by civic, peaceful but decisive legal means, and show civil courage on the level of our soldiers’ military courage at the frontlines against Islamic Imperialist armies.
Pedram Kazemi-Esfarjani
The gentleman previously member of Hiz bu Tahrir, now claiming to oppose Islamism as an attacking militant force expressed no objectio to the Ground Zero Mosque, but only criticized its opponents, indirectly criticizing a coalition that includes families of the victims of the Islamic attack. Please remember that the Ground Zero Mosque is in fact a Ground Zero Mosque in that the building the Islamic Imperialist financiers and organizers are claiming was a functioning coat factory, Americans workers labouring there, untill Islamic Imperialists attack WTC and debris falling destroyed the building to condemnation status. It is yet another Islamic Imperialist conquest in our territories and I am all for those Americans, who try to launch public education and legal action to stop it.
Free
Marieme’s Speech is a Shame. Where does she have her Mind? She is ranting about far Right dominating here and there:
why doesn’t she ask herself why the mentioned Countries are wellcoming so many Immigrants, which go freewillingly there, obviously because they are quite pampered, not certainly mistreated?
And I noticed, and notice more and more, that as soon as one (Woman/Girl/Female) criticizes Islam, then she becomes “a Slut” (in Islamophilic Minds)
-> and I want you to remember that Women get mistreated, sexually abused and raped, and even tortured and killed, if they “do not submit”
(to Islam and its Obligations.
And Islam means Submission – don’t try and deny it, please, apply Decency not Lies and/or Taqyyia, or useful Idiocy or political Correctness or cultural Relativism -).
What do these Women (the various Mariem and Maryam at the Core of the Conference) have to say about RACIST RAPES by ISLAMIC People (a.k.a. People forcibly indoctrinated by Islam, or converted to Islam and indoctrinated by it – please refer to “Beyond Belief” by V. S. Naipaul -) against WHITE WESTERN Women and Girls?
Everyone knows (don’t they – Mariem, Maryam, and so -) that Islam requires to be an Arab (and embrace Arab Heritage in order to be a clean human Being, and not a dirty one …), and to embrace Islam (which discriminates against Others, calling them Kuffars, and providing discriminating Laws against Monotheists, and Death for Politheists and Atheists).
STOP PROTECTING ISLAMIC IDEOLOGICAL (IM)MIGRATION,
which is shamefully spreading all over the World,
and we have few international Declarations and Resolutions which confirm that (“Declaration of universal human Rights in Islam”, 1990, “Arab Chart on human Rights”, 2004/2008, “Resolution against Defamation of Religions” a.k.a. “against Islamcritics”, 2010),
and despite these Evidences you are calling Others (…) Racists and Phobes.
I’d rather think that you are Racists (against “Whites” or “Westerners”), that you like Apartheid/Discrimination, that you are, yes, Misogynists,
otherwise you will denounce Everything it has to be denounced,
and you’ll not support it, in any Way.
Kindest Regards, and thank you for sharing.
Free
By the way, sorry for disturbing you again, I wanted please to know what do you think about so called halal/kosher Slaughtering of Animals,
and about masculine genital Mutilation of Children,
since they are something that the “far Right” (brrr) dislike and criticize,
which belong to an (or a couple of) Ideology (Ideologies),
and DO NOT RESPECT ALIVE BEINGS’ RIGHTS,
which should include the Right NOT to be tortured, above all if totally innocent,
like Animals and Childrens are,
(and so called halal/kosher Slaughtering and genital Mutilation ARE torturing innocent alive Beings).
Please, let me know your Opinion about that: are you saying that Critics of Halal/Kosher and Circumcision are “far Right” (Fascists), Xenophobes, -phobes and Racist?
If so: weren’t you supporting “one Law for All” and “Rights to Beings, not to Ideologies”?
Therefore, in case you do support Halal/Kosher and Circumcision, why do you support the Ideology, and you refuse to support the Beings’ Right not to be tortured?
Many Thanks.
And kindest Regards.
MaryamNamazie
I am against kosher/halal slaughter of animals as I believe it’s cruel. I am also against male ‘circumcision’ which is a religious practice that causes pain and suffereing to boy children as well as possible problems down the road. The One Law for All campaign does try and address all issues that are linked however its focus is Sharia and religious laws and courts.
Free
Many Thanks. 🙂
Proquci
And this post dearest Maryam, shows how uneducated and truly dangerous you really are. Do you actually know what Halal means? Do you understand what Haram means? Opposing halal just because you feel the way the animal is killed is very very uneducated to say thr least and extremely dangerous. Accepting halal means one is assisting and promoting islamic sharia, Maryam, I am shocked how pathetically idiotic you truly are.. But you are a communist.. So it figures.
Stephen Gash
I stopped coming to your site because it looked as if you censored my rebuttal to your absurd accusations against SIOE and me in particular. I thank you for publishing it so people may make their own judgement. I wish you did the same for all my comments.
However, I apologise for my subsequent email and my accusing outburst, that you also posted. I’m not usually given to apologising. More often than not my ripostes and rebuttals to accusations made against me and SIOE are censored, as in the Independent and Guardian for example. So, I may have been a tad hasty on this occasion.
However, I would like an explanation of how the co-founder of SIOE, who fathered two mixed race children, is a racist, and how pointing out this fact about Anders Gravers’s obvious non-racism (indeed anti-racism) is “an insult to people’s intelligence”.
Selecting the first part of SIOE’s slogan was also disingenuous. The full slogan is “Racism is the lowest form of human stupidity, but Islamophobia is the height of common sense!”
This slogan was not devised for the reasons you say. The left had nothing to do with it. The reasons for the slogan are clearly laid out on SIOE England’s website. I will not link as you probably would not then post this, but if people Google SIOE England and click the SIOE’s slogan tab they will see our explanation. The reasons were on the original SIOE site, but this was hacked and destroyed by the left. This is something I would not do as I believe in freedom for people to make their own minds up.
What you have to realise Maryam is we say what we mean and we mean what we say. You attempting to portray SIOE’s supporters as something they are not is unworthy and an insult to your intelligence, and also the intelligence of your supporters.
Maybe you could let me speak at one of your seminars, and subject me to questioning and criticism. I am unafraid of debate, as long as there is honesty surrounding the event. Twice now I have been misled, once by the Muslim Debate Initiative and once by the Cambridge Union Society and subsequently misrepresented in reports.
I trust you would not do the same.
Stephen Gash
Also, people may read our explanation about our disbelief in moderate Muslims. By all means attempt to discredit our assertions on this and other matters, but stick to what we actually say please.
Stephen Gash
Oh right. Me observing Maryam Namazie is a Stalinist is name-calling, whereas she calling my colleague Anders Gravers the father of two mixed-race kids a “racist” is perfectly reasonable.
I’ll explain once again. SIOE does not believe in moderate Muslims. We don’t believe a Muslim disavowing Islamism any more than you would a BNP member saying he or she is not racist.
I look forward to your condemnation of the USUK pro-Islam left condemnation. I may even show up for it with a Sikh, Hindu or Copt anti-Islamist.
MaryamNamazie
Oh here we go again. Isn’t there some anti-immigrant/anti-Muslim rally you need to attend? We have explained this a million times but you seem to not understand the issues at hand. Even minorities or (shock, horror) those with mixed race children can push forward racist politics. You dig a hole for yourself every time you speak; your statements – even just here – clearly reveal why we label your organisations as far-Right. You don’t believe there can be a “moderate Muslim” just like the Islamist does not believe there is a “moderate” westerner or Jew to use your terms. That is why they target civilians indiscriminately – no one is innocent in their minds. Your politics does exactly the same. No one is innocent; everyone is part of the Islamic movement even if they are dying left, right, and centre opposing it. Malala is not moderate according to you; the secular anti-Islamist politician assassinated in Tunisia is not moderate according to you… That is why your right-wing politics is so similar to the Islamists. It is inhuman, completely devoid of humanity. I can call your organisation racist because I can prove your politics are racist. You cannot however call me a Stalinist because I despise Stalin. See the difference? And please don’t show up to any of our events. It would be like an Islamist showing up to ours. The far-Right – like the Islamists – are not welcome.
Proquci
And hence why you support a totalitarian killing ideology called communism.. You truly are an evil woman. Grow up Maryam, your arguement with Mr Gash shows oyu to be very idiotic and inept.