Britain: discontent about sharia and erosion of rights

from People of Shambala:

Britain: discontent about sharia and erosion of rights Posted: 21 Jan 2012 11:53 AM PST According to the International Civil Liberties Alliance, "an important meeting, organised by ‘The Centre for Enquiry UK’ will take place in London’s Conway Hall (25 Red Lion Square, Holborn) on Saturday 28 January 2012. The title for the event is “BLASPHEMY!” Over the last week we've seen that censorship is alive and well. A Tunisian tv executive will stand trial for blasphemy, for showing a cartoon movie. An atheist is on trial in Indonesia for writing "God does not exist" on Facebook. The Maldives have removed "offensive" statues from view. And Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani has been threatened with execution for a nude photo shoot published in Madame Le Figaro. The ICLA reminds us that in 2006, in the aftermath of the Danish cartoon crisis, which saw riots break out across the globe in response to several cartoons of Islam's prophet, Mohammed, being published by the small Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, the March for Free Expression (MfFE) took place in Trafalgar Square, London. The ICLA says "The MfFE event publicised the problem of the erosion of the right to freedom of expression caused by the actions of religious agitators who demand respect for their opinions and unquestioning obedience to their dogmas." Since then, however, "not only have [British] politicians not addressed the problem but have actively made it worse and in the process made the people of Britain less free. Now, nearly 6 years later the campaign against free speech has reached the point where it is on the verge of formal abolition within the European Union." Tickets for the Blasphemy event cost ten pounds sterling (around $18) and eight pounds for students. You can find more details at the website for the Centre for Inquiry. Great Britain 2011: a young Muslim posts up stickers declaring areas "Shariah Controlled Zones. Another initiative to limit the effects of sharia in the UK, the ICLA also reminds us, is the Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill "put before the United Kingdom Parliament under the sponsorship of Baroness Caroline Cox and received its first reading on 7 June 2011." The ICLA hopes it will "make good progress in 2012." Great Britain has at least 85 operating sharia courts, although some researchers estimate that there are at least several hundred, with the majority operating out the back rooms of shops, mosques and other types of premises. In 2011 one Muslim organization began calling for several British cities to be made into autonomous, sharia-run city states. There was also a campaign to enforce sharia in certain areas of Britain. "This Bill," the ICLA says, "seeks to amend the 1996 Arbitration Act which was one of the biggest steps backward for women’s rights in British parliamentary history. The 1996 Arbitration Act allowed sharia courts make legally binding rulings based on the iniquitous and discriminatory principles of sharia such as the testimony of a woman being worth half that of a man. The Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill seeks to remedy this situation and restore full equality before the law to Muslim women. A person’s religion should not impact on their equal rights as a citizen."