Maryam Namazie with Douglas Murray at an OLFA meeting in London in January
In Britain, Maryam Namazie’s campaign against sharia law has earned her plenty of hate mail. But what really bothers her is the silence of parts of the media and the inaction by the British government over what she says are sharia’s attacks on the fundamental rights of Britain’s Muslim citizens.
Her group, One Law for All, has been fighting since 2008 to stop what she describes as the rise of political Islamism in Britain.
She is in Australia for a week-long speaking tour in the hope of helping ensure this country learns from the mistakes of Britain, where sharia tribunals enjoy a form of legal recognition in family law. “You are facing quite a lot of similar issues in Australia. It might not be as entrenched as it is in Britain, but you can see a lot of similarities,” Ms Namazie said.
Ms Namazie, who is an Iranian exile, said any form of legal accommodation with sharia “is like trying to incorporate apartheid into a non-racist system of law – they are simply incompatible”.
Yet she says her message is frequently ignored by some British newspapers and broadcasters. “A lot of the media that is considered liberal does not want to touch it because it is seen to be racist.”