Dear friend

Successful debate on Sharia law in Britain at House of Commons

One Law for All and the National Secular Society held a successful debate on sharia law at the House of Commons on Tuesday 28 June 2011 chaired by Jim Fitzpatrick MP. One Law for All co-spokespersons Maryam Namazie and Anne Marie Waters spoke against sharia law and called for an end to its practice under the Arbitration Act 1996 whilst Aina Khan, a Sharia lawyer, and Omer El-Hamdoon, President of the Muslim Association of Britain spoke in favour. Keith Porteous-Wood, Executive Director of the National Secular Society made closing remarks.

The event was over-subscribed and the audience included members of Parliament, journalists, and representatives of women’s rights and other groups. Prior to the debate, One Law for All wrote to every MP and Peer and included a copy of One Law for All’s report entitled ‘Sharia Law in Britain; A Threat to One Law for All and Equal Rights.’

You can find audio links to the debate here. A follow up meeting will be arranged to accommodate greater audience numbers.

Upcoming events and speaking engagements

11 July 2011 is the International Day against Stoning. Please join us in demanding an end to the barbaric practice of death by stoning and demanding the release of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and others facing stoning sentences. You can find more information here. Please note that Anne Marie or I will be speaking on Sharia at the Nozstock Festival during 29-31 July, in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia during the last two weeks of August 2011 and at the conference on secularism on 10 September. You can find out more about the various speaking engagements here.

Third edition of One Law for All’s International Art Competition

The third edition of One Law for All’s international art competition, Passion for Freedom, will take place at UNIT24 Gallery London during 29 October – 5 November 2011. This year’s edition will present selected works from artists and writers whose work is mainly concerned with human rights and one secular law for all citizens. Competition judges include Polly Toynbee (Writer and Columnist), Francisco Laranjo (Artist and Head of School of Arts at Porto University) and Deeyah (Singer and Composer). Passion for Freedom invites submissions from visual artists involved in painting, sculpture, drawing, print, photography, mixed media, installation and video. You can find terms and conditions, submission forms, archive images from last year’s edition and more here.

Support us

If you haven’t already signed up to the One Law for All campaign, please join the over 27,800 people and groups that have done so here.

For your information, see the prominent personalities and groups that support One Law for All, including Southall Black Sisters, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Gita Sahgal, Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan, PZ Myers and Polly Toynbee.

Let me thank each and every one of you who has donated to our important. We wouldn’t have come this far without your support. If you’d like to donate or become a 100Club member, visit here. Every little does go a long way in the fight against Sharia and for secularism and rights.

Warmest wishes
Maryam Namazie
One Law for All Spokesperson