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McGuinty likened to Taliban for sharia stance
By KEITH LESLIE
Thursday, September 8, 2005 Updated at 6:12 PM EDT
Canadian Press
Toronto — Angry demonstrators likened the premier of Ontario to Afghanistan's extremist Taliban leaders Thursday as they urged Dalton McGuinty to dismiss the idea of allowing the use of sharia law to settle family disputes.
About 300 people gathered outside the Ontario legislature for a protest billed as a global campaign to discourage the province from becoming the first Western jurisdiction to permit the use of religious rules critics consider an affront to human rights.
Speaker after speaker told the crowd Mr. McGuinty was naive to suggest that women's rights would not be trampled if Ontario allowed the controversial sharia principles to be used to settle Muslim divorces, custody fights and inheritance disputes.
"These words are not coming from Ayatollahs (or) from Taliban leaders," Iranian refugee Mahmoud Ahmandi told the crowd.
"It's coming from the leader of Ontario's government; shame on you," he said as the protesters chanted "shame, shame."
That sentiment was echoed by Homa Arjomand, who helped to co-ordinate a series of protests Thursday across Canada and Europe comprised of members of 100 different women's and human rights groups.
"Either he (McGuinty) is naive, or he thinks people are stupid," Ms. Arjomand said. "Mr. McGuinty, don't tell me that all these 100 organizations are all a bunch of man-hating criminals who do nothing but make a fuss over an imaginary threat."
Amanda Dale of the YWCA warned McGuinty there would be a political price to pay if his government agrees to include sharia law in the province's Arbitration Act, as recommended in a report last year by former attorney general Marion Boyd.
"I have one very important message for the premier of Ontario: we know the women's vote got you in," Ms. Dale said. "It can also get you out."
Ontario's flirtations with sharia had critics across Canada and around the world standing up in protest.
In Montreal, about 100 people turned out in the rain to protest against the use of sharia law in Ontario. Quebec has passed a law against the use of Muslim tribunals in the province.
Elahe Chokrai-Machouf, head of the Association of Iranian Women in Montreal, said sharia law hurts the rights of women.
"We came here with the hope of living in a free and democratic and secular country," Ms. Chokrai-Machouf said.
Similar rallies were scheduled for Ottawa and Victoria, and Ms. Arjomand said smaller protests were held earlier Thursday in London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dusseldorf, Germany, where about 25 protesters picketed outside the Canadian consulate.
Since December, the Liberal government has been sitting on Ms. Boyd's report, which recommends that the province allow and regulate sharia religious arbitrations in much the same way it does existing Catholic and Jewish tribunals.
Earlier this week, Mr. McGuinty said Attorney General Michael Bryant was still reviewing the report on Shariah and would make his recommendations at some point in the future.
Mr. Bryant's office issued a statement promising "there will be no binding family arbitration in Ontario that uses a set of rules or laws that discriminate against women."
Not everyone at the protest in Toronto was there to oppose Shariah, however.
Mubin Shaikh of the Canadian Muslim organization Nasjid-el-no was verbally attacked by some women at the rally as he tried to dispel what he called the many myths being propagated about sharia, which he supports.
"It is partly racism, because you can see from the comments that people were making, like, 'Go back to where you come from,"' said Mr. Shaikh. "Well, I'm from here."
Mr. Shaikh said the behaviour of Islamic extremists with rigid interpretations of sharia should not be considered mainstream views in the Muslim community.
Ms. Arjomand, meanwhile, said several women who were treated unfairly under Shariah law were afraid to appear at Thursday's rallies because of possible recriminations, which she warned could halt future attempts to stop sharia from being adopted in Ontario.
"If anything happened to these women, the campaign would be ended," she said. "The fear among these communities would be so high, that no one would come out and talk."
"This is a clear message to Mr. McGuinty that we are organizing ourselves internationally," said Ms. Arjomand. "We women, and all human rights organizations, realize this is an attack and it's happening globally, and we have to fight it globally."
McGuinty likened to Taliban for sharia stance
By KEITH LESLIE
Thursday, September 8, 2005 Updated at 6:12 PM EDT
Canadian Press
Toronto — Angry demonstrators likened the premier of Ontario to Afghanistan's extremist Taliban leaders Thursday as they urged Dalton McGuinty to dismiss the idea of allowing the use of sharia law to settle family disputes.
About 300 people gathered outside the Ontario legislature for a protest billed as a global campaign to discourage the province from becoming the first Western jurisdiction to permit the use of religious rules critics consider an affront to human rights.
Speaker after speaker told the crowd Mr. McGuinty was naive to suggest that women's rights would not be trampled if Ontario allowed the controversial sharia principles to be used to settle Muslim divorces, custody fights and inheritance disputes.
"These words are not coming from Ayatollahs (or) from Taliban leaders," Iranian refugee Mahmoud Ahmandi told the crowd.
"It's coming from the leader of Ontario's government; shame on you," he said as the protesters chanted "shame, shame."
That sentiment was echoed by Homa Arjomand, who helped to co-ordinate a series of protests Thursday across Canada and Europe comprised of members of 100 different women's and human rights groups.
"Either he (McGuinty) is naive, or he thinks people are stupid," Ms. Arjomand said. "Mr. McGuinty, don't tell me that all these 100 organizations are all a bunch of man-hating criminals who do nothing but make a fuss over an imaginary threat."
Amanda Dale of the YWCA warned McGuinty there would be a political price to pay if his government agrees to include sharia law in the province's Arbitration Act, as recommended in a report last year by former attorney general Marion Boyd.
"I have one very important message for the premier of Ontario: we know the women's vote got you in," Ms. Dale said. "It can also get you out."
Ontario's flirtations with sharia had critics across Canada and around the world standing up in protest.
In Montreal, about 100 people turned out in the rain to protest against the use of sharia law in Ontario. Quebec has passed a law against the use of Muslim tribunals in the province.
Elahe Chokrai-Machouf, head of the Association of Iranian Women in Montreal, said sharia law hurts the rights of women.
"We came here with the hope of living in a free and democratic and secular country," Ms. Chokrai-Machouf said.
Similar rallies were scheduled for Ottawa and Victoria, and Ms. Arjomand said smaller protests were held earlier Thursday in London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dusseldorf, Germany, where about 25 protesters picketed outside the Canadian consulate.
Since December, the Liberal government has been sitting on Ms. Boyd's report, which recommends that the province allow and regulate sharia religious arbitrations in much the same way it does existing Catholic and Jewish tribunals.
Earlier this week, Mr. McGuinty said Attorney General Michael Bryant was still reviewing the report on Shariah and would make his recommendations at some point in the future.
Mr. Bryant's office issued a statement promising "there will be no binding family arbitration in Ontario that uses a set of rules or laws that discriminate against women."
Not everyone at the protest in Toronto was there to oppose Shariah, however.
Mubin Shaikh of the Canadian Muslim organization Nasjid-el-no was verbally attacked by some women at the rally as he tried to dispel what he called the many myths being propagated about sharia, which he supports.
"It is partly racism, because you can see from the comments that people were making, like, 'Go back to where you come from,"' said Mr. Shaikh. "Well, I'm from here."
Mr. Shaikh said the behaviour of Islamic extremists with rigid interpretations of sharia should not be considered mainstream views in the Muslim community.
Ms. Arjomand, meanwhile, said several women who were treated unfairly under Shariah law were afraid to appear at Thursday's rallies because of possible recriminations, which she warned could halt future attempts to stop sharia from being adopted in Ontario.
"If anything happened to these women, the campaign would be ended," she said. "The fear among these communities would be so high, that no one would come out and talk."
"This is a clear message to Mr. McGuinty that we are organizing ourselves internationally," said Ms. Arjomand. "We women, and all human rights organizations, realize this is an attack and it's happening globally, and we have to fight it globally."
