From Mona Eltahawy of the Progressive Muslim Union of North America in the Christian Science Monitor, with thanks to Ali Dashti:
NEW YORK – In January last year, the US-backed Iraqi Governing Council incurred the wrath of Iraqi women by ordering that Islamic law, or sharia, replace the civil code that had governed family and divorce law since the 1950s. Women from Iraq's different religious sects denounced the decision in street protests and conferences that eventually led to sharia being listed as just one of several sources of legislation in Iraq's temporary constitution. It is that image of Iraqi women braving the streets of occupied Baghdad to protest sharia that makes it impossible to understand what former Ontario Attorney General Marion Boyd was thinking when she recommended Jan. 17 that the province allow sharia tribunals to settle family disputes for Muslims. Her report examining the issue was commissioned by current Attorney General Michael Bryant, as Ontario considers whether to let Islamic law be used in private arbitration of civil and family-law disputes when all parties agree to it. As a Muslim woman who is familiar with the many ways sharia is abused and used against women in my own country, Egypt, and in several other Muslim countries I have reported from, I urge Mr. Bryant and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to reject Ms. Boyd's recommendations.Many Canadian Muslims agree. The Canadian Council for Muslim Women has called Boyd's recommendations naive. A coordinator of the International Campaign Against Sharia Court in Canada has warned that these tribunals will compel women to stay in abusive relationships. Tarek Fatah, a founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, denounced the former attorney general's report as "multiculturalism run amok."
Boyd's recommendations seem to be aimed at compensating Muslims for the ugly Islamophobia that has surfaced in North America in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But women must not pay the price for liberal guilt.
According to most interpretations of sharia, women are not treated equally to men. For example, a woman inherits half of what a male relative does. Even more problematic, there is no consensus on sharia, which is derived from the Koran and the life and sayings of the prophet Muhammad.
So whose interpretation of sharia would Ontario Muslims follow? And who would have the authority to decide?
Read it all.
Islamic law should be practiced in two places only: 1. The Middle East 2. Hell
What a bold step BACKWARDS!!
D.C. Watson, unfortunately Ontario WILL say yes to this proposal. I read your posts and admire what you say, but I think you underestimate the extent to which Canada embraces "multiculturalism".
My employer recently circulated a newsletter written by the "diversity committee" ( yes, diversity committee). In it they told women not to feel insulted if a Muslim male refused to shake their hands. Open acts of blatant misogyny are portrayed as charming cultural "customs". The newsletter ended by encouraging us to "take the opportunity to learn more about Islam".
I am now expected to tolerate intolerance in my workplace......or suffer the consequences.
It's beyond stupid, beyond even Monty Python!
In fact, even though I'm in my 18th year with this employer, and even though I make quite a good salary with all the benefits, I'm still consdering leaving
Very sorry to hear that, John. What a shame it is that such a beautiful country like Canada has to be trashed by IslamoRacists that have infested our neighbor to the north like locusts.
I welcome all sane Canadians to feel free to move to the U.S., and leave your idiotic liberal multiculturalist countrymen to deal with the Islamic chaos in Canada.
The world's best bet is to stop trying to weed out good Muslims from bad ones, and deport them to the Middle East, where they can bleed to death living their shari'a dream.
There can be no acceptable and compelling arguments in favor of imposing any form of sharia in Canada, unless one can say that Canada has lost its Identity,its established foundations, and its laws to govern as established by its constitution. It could end up being laughed at, and ridiculed if it sets different standards of law based on a persons religious values if they imbrace multiculturism that wants to please and appease the totalitarian movements of Islam .
Whatever happened to "Oh Canada,Oh Canada". What will their new flag look like, or will they have a flag at all? since we don`t want to offend anyone by showing that racist flag that represents Canada. Yes maybe they will go the way of the Netherlands, and Sweden, or maybe all the EU countries so as to appease the Muslims who say their way is the only way "yep; now there`s multiculteralism for you".
I'm not sure whether countries like Canada will just continue to be slowly undermined and overtaken with hardly a wimper or whether there will be real trouble. Either way, it won't be the virus of Islam that takes most of the blame - after all they are just like the Borgs in Star-Trek "you will be assimilated" and are doing what their Koran demands of them. Rather it will be people like Ontario's Attorney General Marion Boyd. People who hate reality, individualism and western values and probably themselves, and who seek to undermine the west at every opportunity. They are the real enemy, the enemy within.
Forgive the levity, but Canadian sharia-enabler, Marion Boyd, inspired me to fits...of verse (to be more specific, a clerihew):
Marion Boyd
Was extremely annoyed
That so many thought her doc
Was a crock.
Wonder how ol' Marion feels about wearing a burka. Mind you, as long as it's filled with goose down, it could keep you nice and warm up here.
How sad, mohammedan women of canada,
your taste of freedom and equality
was so tiny, just enough to tantalize
and radicalize a few of you
but not enough to wash away
the patriarchial patterns of the past.
Your future will soon
be cast in stone by shameless men
and you will find yourselves
alone again with all the burdens
you thought you'd left behind.
The delusional mind of your evil prophet
still holds you captive and will forever
until you have the courage to see the truth,
that you'll never be free until you rebel
against the tyranny of his tribal cult
and break the bonds of your living hell.
CAIR-Canada has been a proponent for Shariah and Sheema Khan has the nerve to be with CAIR while she's now on a board for the Canadian Civil Liberties Council that's mainly a legal body with some outsiders.
Sheema has pulled a scam on Canadians by telling people how it is Liberating for Muslim females and gives more Rights than our Charter,CAIR fought for Shariah-law under the Religious Rights in the Charter,but with the latest exposure of murders under Shariah-Law(Van Gogh for one example) CAIR now avoids the term Shariah and
their site calls it the "Family arbitration act"
that is completely different from the Shariah
they want imposed on Muslim females.
This week there was a call for "Black-only" schools so minorities can excell through a cultural based system,one of the persons on the panel looked familiar and I discovered they were heading the campaign by Mosques to have the Quran and Islam taught in aschools under the guise of their "Racism and Islamophobia" workshops that brainwash kids and tell them the 9/11 attack had noting to do with Muslims.
I've read the literature and even found budget documents from the Governemnts showing over a million dollars of tax-money sponsoring the classes while hiding the sources for the documents. The Imams and Mosques avoid tax-laws by using community groups to push the Islamic agenda in public schools and Sheema Khan is well aware of the scam because CAIR is the major whiners for screaming Racism and Islamophobia.
Shariah-law won't stop at the divorce issues,it will expand year by year until the Saudis get their way in Canada and force their Wahabbism on all Canadians.
For clarification, Boyd's reserved approval of the arbitrary tribunals for muslims in Ontario happened only after the main Canadian Jewish group, Bnai Brith Canada, filed papers with her commission in support of the islamic tribunals.
Ontario's arbitration act allows any two people to refer to arbitrators to resolve civil issues, not just religious but any arbitrator, and the decision would be legally binding.
The only options were to either abolish the act altogether, or grant permission to muslims the same as others. Strong support from Jewish groups who have their own religious court system forced Boyd to choose the second option.
Seena wrote "Ontario's arbitration act allows any two people to refer to arbitrators to resolve civil issues, not just religious but any arbitrator, and the decision would be legally binding."
Now that makes more sense than the way this was originally presented. Unfortunately it is a perfect example of the law of unintended consequences. Civil Arbitration was intended to reduce the spiraling cost of civil justice. But its effect is to replace the millenium-old common law with something else, probably something worse. Governments need to think longer and harder than they do before they make any changes to the law or pass any new laws.
F'rinstance, it would be just as valid to say that the reason that the costs of justice are spiraling is because there are more lawyers than there should be, and they stir up more work for themselves, plus they all expect to be well paid. A government could turn that around by mandating a maximum legal price for each legal service. It would immediately reduce the wealth of lawyers, deter young people from joining the profession, and drive the lawyers who are only after money out of practice. Plus it might reduce the number of lawyers in politics. These would all be good things.
But I'm certain that something bad would come of it, something awful that I didn't think of. Like a sudden surge of really stupid lawsuits, poorly argued, about crap that wouldn't have been litigated before because the bozos bringing the suits couldn't have afforded it before the price got cut.
You see? Unintended consequences.
Lorenzo
This is just sick. I hate this country. I posted a few months ago on my blog about Canada going downhill. Some historians pin-point this moment to Trudeau, the Commie.
Find it in the archives of http://ibn_rushd2.blogspot.com
Seenathepersian:
Not sure what reports you're reading for your facts but womens groups are already using the Charter of Rights to get rid of this bias Arbitration system that overrides individual rights.
The ACT never should have been allowed and you know our Constitution lets injustices happen so they can be brought to the Supreme Court for a ruling,the same-gender marriage issue is a perfect example,7 provinces had Judges that allowed the definition of Marriage to be changed based on individual rights,now the Supreme Court
had reviewed the case and gave it back to Parliament so it can approve the change to the Social status for marrying another person.
Also in 1984 a Judge ruled that tourists were a minority group and therefor should have access to all social programs that were previously reserved for Immigrants and Citizens,the ruling caosts us about 600 Million per year to house and care for non-Citizen that decide to stay in Canada and fight any attempt by the Governemnt to remove them.
In the last 20 years I have yet to see one Church use the Arbitration Act and I don't know where Muslims are finding those practises by Christians. The rulings are subject to meeting the Canadian Charter protection and I've heard Muslims say that the Quran supercedes man made laws and the Charter allows Sharia as the foundation for settlements.
It's a paradoxical irony,if Sharia is allowed
for divorce matters it's negative bias towards females will negate its use and therefor be in violation of the Charter Muslims value so much.
When Palestinians get their own state it will automatically default to a "Terrorist producing nation" and be cut off any foreign aid and risk U.N. sanctions. Don't be fooled into believing the Hamas will be absolved of any connection to terrorism as a Political party,Palestinians will rue the day they supported a Jew-hating party that makes the Nazis look like Boy Scouts.
Our Charter was drafted by a rich kid that stayed in Canada during the second world war and let the sons of poor families go off to die and protect HIS freedom and Liberty,do you really believe a person like that gives a damn about the poor and Human rights,he was also a Lawyer and the Charter took away more rights than it gave.
"The Australian " friday, Febr.04 /05 frontpage news:
Gang rape pair avoid new trial:
Australias most infamous rapists could receive of up to 10 years reduction in their prison terms after one of their victims said she could not go through the ordeal of a retrial. The pictures show a smiling Mohammed and brother Bilal...
"The Australian" Saturday, Febr. 05/05, frontpage:
Habib released! At a cost of $ 500.000.00 to the taxpayers Hamdouh Habib has been released from Gitmo. A private plane and a whole entourage looking after him accompanied him. The Mufti of Sydney, radical cleric Sheik Halali prepared the welcoming circus.
Habib was picked up in Afghanistan while he was looking for "a good muslim School" for his kids. he is 'innocent' of course and is going to sue the US for incarceration.
The table is turned in Iraq:
Iraq is now getting tough on 'insurgents': Captured terrorists are being paraded in front of TV cameras and just like in the beheading videos they have to confess in front of masked men and running camera to the crimes committed. Some of them are totally spooked and tearfully come across repentant, in other words we can see what kind of whimps and cowards they are.
Promptly comes intervention from Amnesia International: The 'human rights' of these poor souls are not being respected and that is reaseon for much concern...etc. etc.
"Boyd's recommendations seem to be aimed at compensating Muslims for the ugly Islamophobia that has surfaced in North America in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks."
Oh, for God's sake! "Compensation"???? For what? For a lie dreamt up by sly Muslims who wanted to deflect blame for one of the most disgustingly cowardly attacks against the US & the free world, by mewling "Victim! I'm a victim! Boo Hoo!". It's amazing how people can be filled with such self-loathing, such lack of pride, to go around feeling they need to compensate evil scum, by sacrificing everyone's rights, and bowing before some idiotic, backward, hateful tribal nonsense.
Sharia is stupid! It is backward. It makes no sense. It brings misery, intolerance, inequality, even death onto people for the most benign slights. Why don't these idiots in government understand that? Oh, I forgot, they're politicians. I've answered by own question. They're not supposed to be intelligent, or forward-thinking, or care for the average joe. Only for themselves, their seats, their perks, and their future gold-plated pensions.
"MS.Boyd" should have tipped you off from the start of her push for Sharia,I find her very "Butch" and wouldn't be shocked if she was bi-sexual or just a lesbo.
Do you really feel a female misognyist would give a damn about heterosexual females being abused,several medical journals have covered the cases of females that hate other females and the idea that it only men is a myth.
The truth about domestic violence and infancide is never exposed in the media,the vast majority
of child murders by a parent is by the mother or female relative,the twisted logic is that females believe that killing a child to protect it from future harm is actually humane.
Remember Andrea yates,susan smith,and many others that resort to murder to protect kids from harm,these numbers are facts on Federal sites that track National Murders and the breakdowns of the killers and victims.