A fight worth fighting

Hello

Thank you so much to those of you who sent in donations following our December appeal for One Law for All. We managed to raise £2,700 and now have ten 100Club donors supporting us every month.

With the money we’ve raised we are sending out letters to all Members of Parliament (including Peers) calling for an amendment to the Arbitration Act in order to stop Sharia courts from dealing with civil, family, and criminal matters and violating civil rights. We shall also be holding a debate in the Houses of Parliament to highlight the issues and gain support amongst MPs. In our next letter we shall be asking you for help in contacting your MP in order to secure support for our campaign and give you further information on the meeting in Parliament.

In the meantime, we have organised an International Conference on Women’s Rights, Sharia Law and Secularism on 12 March at the University of London Union from 10.00-19.00. The one-day conference marking International Women’s Day will discuss religion’s impact on women’s rights; religion and secularism and religion and the law. Speakers include Philosopher A.C. Grayling, Honorary Speaker of the Belgian Senate Anne-Marie Lizin; National Secular Society Vice President Elizabeth O’Casey; and women’s rights campaigner Yasmin Rehman. There will also be a showing of Ghazi Rabihavi’s play, Stoning, which Harold Pinter has described as ‘a very strong and powerful piece of work, beautifully constructed.’ You can find out more about the conference and booking a space via our website. You may register on the day at the door but it would help us if you could pre-register.

Other recent activities that may be of interest to you are: a letter we have written to the Prime Minister; a Seminar entitled Enemies not Allies that was recently held in January (a report is forthcoming); a press release exposing the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal as liars after our correspondence with the Director of Public Prosecutions; and finally, a statement on the Channel 4 Dispatches: Lessons in Hate and Violence as well as on solicitors offering Sharia advice. Links to all of these can be found in the notes below.

I want to personally thank you again for your donations and/or support. Please do continue to support our work – every penny does make a real difference to us. And nothing we do would be possible were it not for your help.

We look forward to hearing from you and hope to see you at our 12 March event.

Warmest wishes

Maryam

Maryam Namazie
Spokesperson

NOTES:

1. Find out more about our most recent activities here:
* One Law for All’s Fury as Firm of Solicitors offers Sharia advice
* Our joint statement with the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain on Channel 4’s Despatches: Lessons on Hate and Violence on Islamic schools
* Anne Marie Water’s Letter to the Prime Minister
* Letter from Director of Public Prosecutions to Spokesperson Anne Marie Waters on the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal’s deceptive claims regarding decriminalisation of domestic violence and marital rape and our press release on it.
* Video footage of Enemies not Allies Seminar.

2. Our International Conference on Women’s Rights, Sharia Law and Secularism will be held at the University of London Union, The Venue, Malet Street, London WC1E, on 12 March from 1000-1900 (Registration begins at 10am for a 1030am start). The one day conference marking International Women’s Day will discuss Religion’s Impact on Women’s Rights; Religion and Secularism and Religion and the Law. Philosopher AC Grayling will give the keynote address. Speakers include: Helle Merete Brix (Journalist); Patty Debonitas (Iran Solidarity); Nadia Geerts (Rappel); Maria Hagberg (Network against Honour-related Violence); Anne-Marie Lizin (Honorary Speaker of Belgian Senate); Maryam Namazie (One Law for All and Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain); Elizabeth O’Casey (National Secular Society); Yasmin Rehman (Women’s Rights Activist); Gita Sahgal (Women’s Rights Campaigner); Nina Sankari (European Feminist Initiative Poland); Sohaila Sharifi (Equal Rights Now); Annie Sugier (la ligue du Droit International des Femmes); Michele Vianes (Regard des Femmes); Anne Marie Waters (one Law for All); and others. There will also be a showing of Ghazi Rabihavi’s play Stoning. Entry fee: £10 individuals; £3 unwaged and students. To register, click here.

3. To donate to the crucial work of One Law for All, please either send a cheque made payable to One Law for All to BM Box 2387, London WC1N 3XX, UK or pay via Paypal.

We need regular support that we can rely on and are asking for supporters to commit to giving at least £5-10 a month via direct debit. You can find out more about how to join the 100 Club here.

4. The One Law for All Campaign was launched on 10 December 2008, International Human Rights Day, to call on the UK Government to recognise that Sharia and religious courts are arbitrary and discriminatory against women and children in particular and that citizenship and human rights are non-negotiable. To join the campaign, sign our petition here. The petition has already been signed by over 27000 individuals and organisations.

5. For further information contact:
Maryam Namazie
Spokesperson
One Law for All
BM Box 2387
London WC1N 3XX, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 7719166731
onelawforall@gmail.com
www.onelawforall.org.uk