Sharia in the Dock at the United Nations

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Some of the most fearless individuals from many nationalities and backgrounds have come together to put the very concept of ‘Sharia’ on trial at the United Nations. 

On 8^th March, otherwise known as International Women’s Day, champions for women’s human rights came together to lodge a formal complaint to the United Nations. The complaint (Ref: WHRC 5964) is titled, ‘Thematic complaint to the Human Rights Council, United Nations on the worldwide and consistent patterns of gross, reliably attested, and continuing violations of women’s human rights caused by sharia’.

This must be one of the most important developments internationally in recent decades. The complaint covers issues such as violence against women, the role of Sharia and the role of Islamic culture. These warriors fighting for the rights of women must be commended. In the world we live in, we have witnessed how the voice of women and those who fight for their rights are so often stifled. Those who stifle this voice are leaders of many of the world’s leading institutions. The United Nations is one such organisation that provides rhetoric and platitudes on human rights and women’s rights with great ease, but in practice and in my opinion, it is probably one of the worst culprit that remains silent whilst women are abused mentally, physically, and emotionally by some cultural, religious, and ideological practices.

I asked some of the signatories for their reasons for supporting the complaint and their responses bring light and hope to women everywhere.

Leslie S. Lebl – Former Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State. Author of Hidden Struggle: The Challenge of Sharia in the West (June 2023) said, ‘I doubt that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will respond, as called for in the Complaint; after all, many of its most prominent members are currently promoting the worldwide adoption of Sharia. However, one must start somewhere, and the Complaint is an excellent place to do so. It highlights the discrepancy between what the “international community” says in public and what actually happens. Its arguments stand on very firm ground and no one should under-estimate the power of simply saying the truth in public’.

Another signatory, Soraya M. Deen the Founder of Muslim Women Speakers and co-chair of Women’s Working Group (International Religious Freedom Roundtable DC) said, ‘I strongly believe that Sharia laws (that are manmade) disfavours women. Women’s bodies have always been controlled and valorised by most religions. Patriarchy is a disease where men assume moral superiority in religious matters. In the Muslim world it is mainstream. And Religious Freedom issues have always trumped gender discrimination. And I strongly believe it is high time that we challenge, question and change those laws’.

Every signatory has a story to tell, a view to share, an inner strength to stand up for women, the power and the resilience to challenge tyranny and be the voice for those without a voice.  Millions of Muslim women right across the world are silently praying that the United Nations will find a spine to investigate this complaint properly and expeditiously.

The truth however if often very different. The United Nations are known for appeasing to Islamists. Even worse, leading nations sitting at the top table often turn a blind eye.  So the challenge I have today for every member state is, will you demand formally that the UN investigates this well-articulated complaint immediately and with full transparency? I have read the complaint and let me assure you all, if an independent jury sat on the evidence presented, they would find Sharia guilty as charged.  It is incompatible with the rights of women – full stop.

Mathew Giagnorio from Ontario, Canada and Founder of A Further Inquiry put it nicely: ‘I proudly add my name to the list of signatories because, unlike previous UN Human Rights Complaints that address a single case, this complaint is the first to present a detailed case study to address the worldwide harmful effects of Sharia on Muslim and non-Muslim women’ adding, ‘There is a fundamental contradiction between Human Rights which includes Women’s Rights as understood by the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, liberal secular democratic countries, and how it is understood by Sharia’.

Dr Lakshmi Bandlamudi, Professor at LaGuardia Community College and of City University of New York made an important observation stating, ‘I was horrified and appalled by UN’s silence even after learning about the horrific nature of barbaric rape, abductions, and sexual assault on Israeli women on October 7. Since I felt so strongly about it, I decided to be a signatory to this petition’. 

The sentiments expressed by Leslie S. Lebl, Soraya M. Deen, Mathew Giagnorio and Dr Lakshmi Bandlamudi are shared by millions of people right across the globe. They have thrown the gauntlet down to the United Nations, it’s time to eradicate the abuse and violation of women by those imposing Sharia.

And we also have Rahul Sur, a retired UN official (of more than 20 years) who held the key position of Chief of Peacekeeping Evaluation in the Office of Internal Oversight Services.  He said, “Given that the United Nations has a robust and internationally accepted normative framework for upholding women’s rights, especially the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the strength and objective evidence in the complaint, including UN documents, it is incumbent upon the United Nations to act decisively on the issues raised. Failure to do so will reinforce perceptions of UN’s ineffectiveness”.

I shall add more comments from some exceptional people from right across the world, so keep checking and be ready to be amazed with the term, ‘power to the truth‘.

The motto for this campaign for truth and justice is, ‘# I Stand with Her’.  So today I declare that, ‘I Stand with Her’. The question I pose to you all, with whom do you stand? The victims of Sharia? Or with the perpetrators? 

Below I share the comments received from some of the signatories:

Lily Shohat, Ph.D, Coordinator and Professor of Psychology at LaGuardia Community College made a number of interesting observations, ‘I believe that all women should have all the rights as men in all aspects of life, everywhere in the world. Violence against women is a crime’. Adding, ‘I am not an expert on Sharia laws. Also there are many interpretations of the different laws. However, my understanding is that Sharia laws discriminate against women. Women’s voices are silenced in many Muslim countries, and they do not have the same rights as men, and they have actually a lower status, especially in divorce cases. In many Muslim countries they cannot serve as judges. Sharia-linked violence against women was demonstrated in Iran for the last few years. For example, women are harassed in Iran if they do not cover their heads, and they are tortured if they demonstrate against the authoritarian regime‘.

BELOW I PRESENT THE SUMMARY OF THE ACTUAL COMPLAINT LODGED WITH THE UNITED NATIONS:

The Fall of Iran?

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When Iran launched some 300 drones and multiple ballistic missiles at Israel, my immediate thought was, the line that should not have been crossed has been breached. For decades Iran has managed to get away with its terrorist activities primarily because it played a smart game of funding and using proxies to carry out its directives.  Nations found it hard to hit back since whilst everyone knew who was behind many of these terrorist attacks, attacking Iran or making it accountable was proving to be challenging.  Hence the sanctions that were meant to cripple Iran and bring it to its knees.  The only problem, it was western nations who were first in line to break those very same sanctions and continue to make billions with various trades with Iran.

The message Iran received was very simple, the west was all mouth. The USA and its allies talk big, but when it came to tangible action, they just did not have the spine.  It was very different when the west attacked Iraq.  After all, Iraq was led by a below average lunatic whose only modus operandi of control was the use of death and fear on his own people. Iran however is an altogether a different proposition. Behind the mullahs and the ayatollahs are thousands of very intelligent Iranians.  Their strategic thinking and planning have allowed it to get away with murder, literally.

It is therefore alarming to see that they breached that line and orchestrated a direct attack on Israel from Iranian soil.  Their assessment I guess must be that the west will restrain Israel from any escalation.  Banking on the fear of the whole of the middle east going up in flames. Many western leaders have already come out attempting to caution Israel from taking any precipitous action against Iran. 

So what should Israel do? If they don’t give a fitting reply directly to Iran, then they give a green light to every terrorist nation in the middle east to have a pop at it. It also confirms to the terror nations that when it comes to it, the west has no stomach for escalation fearing a middle eastern ‘World War III’. 

My view has always been consistent, if you appease today, then ready yourself to be abused and attacked tomorrow. It is that simple. History shows us that appeasement has never worked with any aggressor, it may delay the inevitable, but the end game will have to be played out at some stage.

I am reminded of the Pakistani terrorist state and its 2008 attack on India in Mumbai. At that time the USA and allies warned India not to retaliate. The then PM Manmohan Singh of Congress Party gave in and did nothing sending a clear message to Pakistan that India was open to all forms of attacks. And guess what, Pakistani proxies continued their attacks. It was only when PM Modi came to power and gave a fitting response for Uri and Pulwama, that Pakistan today thinks very hard before attempting to play its games. Pakistan knows if they dare to conduct a major terrorist attack on Indian soil, it means their destruction.

Israel must remain true to itself.  There are nations in the middle east that wish peace and an end to terror and conflict. Those who support Iran are very few, and most are incompetent subordinates.

Israel should take its time before it teaches Iran a lesson. Iran has already threathened to destroy all western outposts in the middle east, as well as many oil refineries. Which means the west needs to make sure they are on the same page as Israel, and in a position to protect those assets. The difficulty will be in destroying Irans infrastructure to such an extent that its military have little capacity to attack anyone, and at the same time making sure the Iranian public are not harmed.  An impossible equation in any war situation.  However, there is scope that if the Islamists top tier and their revolutionary guards are uprooted, there may well be an opportunity for ordinary Iranians to rise up and bring about a more democratic, peaceful and open society.  

Whether it is now, or in the near future, I am certain that the end for Islamists in Iran is nigh. Iran will fall, and one hopes it will rise again to become a better lead nation in the middle east. I did say, ‘hope’. Nothing is certain in the middle east!

Explosive Views of British Muslims?

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I returned from my holidays to be faced with a report from the Henry Jackson Society that had commissioned a very specific survey (conducted by J L Partners) of attitudes held by the British Muslim community and referenced those with attitudes of the British public in general.  The results are explosive.

The mainstream media and many commentators seem to feel that this was a huge surprise, but those reading Kapil’s Khichadi would have already known that for decades I have been exposing these underlying sentiments.

So what am I talking about?  What is so explosive that one is rendered speechless?  I have looked at the datasets of the survey, and whilst most commentators have just gone with a few headlines, I will share with you a lot more and do a comparative study to provide a context.

Let’s start with the very basic issue of voting intentions that shows that 61% of the Muslim community would vote for Labour. This is marginally lower than the 72% who voted for Labour in the last election. This is quite a surprise because 56% of the same respondents felt that the Israel/Palestinian conflict would be a major issue for them at the next election. Labour has taken a hit, but in the scheme of things they will accept this and feel they have got away with their stance on Gaza. 

Interestingly, 72% of the Muslim respondents felt that Israel was a racist endeavour. Contrast this with the general British voter where only 28% felt that Israel was a racist endeavour.

It gets worse, 49% of the Muslim respondents felt that Israel DID NOT have a right to exist as a Jewish homeland. Basically, echoing the same sentiments as Hamas. Whereas 57% of the British public felt Israel DID have a right to exist.

Astonishingly only 24% of Muslim respondents felt Hamas had committed murder and rape in Israel on October 7th (shamefully 39% felt Hamas DID NOT commit murder or rape). Contrast this with the general British voter where 62% felt Hamas had committed murder and rape.

It actually gets even worse, 46% of Muslim respondents felt sympathy with Hamas (16% in the general population), and 29% expressed a positive view of Hamas (only 8% in the general population). Add to this that 52% felt Hamas attacked Israel because it wanted to forward the Palestinian cause. This raises the issue, for me at least, is there really a difference between Hamas and Palestinians?  After all, those in Hamas come from the families of the Palestinians, don’t they?

It’s not a surprise therefore to find that 74% of Muslim respondents had a negative view about Israel.

Coming back to Britain, 32% of the Muslim respondents would like to see the implementation of Sharia Law here. 57% felt that Halal food should become compulsory in schools and hospitals.  And 32% also felt that Islam should be declared as the national religion. Not sure what King Charles would say about that!

Just these few indicators lay bare the massive gap between the views of some in the Muslim community and those of the British public in general. A headline everyone should take note of, 79% of the British public felt that Islamist extremism is of concern to them.

There is a lot that is embedded in this survey. The underlying attitudes of some in the Muslim community have now been exposed. Some people attempted to hoodwink us by saying that these extremist views were held by a very small minority.  What this survey shows is that quite a significant proportion of the Muslim community hold views that are at odds with the British public, and one could go further and say, very much incompatible with British values.

The legitimate question arises about parallel communities, ghettos, and integration. Mainstream media will conflate this by painting all minorities with the same tainted brush. Let me make it clear, the Jewish, Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities are the most integrated, the most law abiding and the most productive in the UK. It’s time mainstream media commentators had the spine to tell the truth, rather than hide behind appeasement platitudes and rhetoric. Call a spade a spade.

The General Election will not solve any of these issues. In my view, if Labour secures governance, this situation will get worse. Labour is contaminated with appeasers of these extremists. They have even promoted some to their leadership front bench who have championed causes in foreign lands whilst ignoring their own constituents. Can you trust a Labour government to look after the interest of the British public? I await for Keir Starmer to nail his colours to the mast and openly declare that under Labour he will expose the extremists, that he will root out the lunatics on the left who promote anti-Semitism and anti-Hindu sentiments, and that he will not have on his front bench MP’s who are ideologically embedded in supporting extremists here and abroad. His very first step should be to clear out the Shadow Cabinet of such rogues. If he needs help in identifying them, all he has to do is contact me!