Following his recent trip to Algeria, David Cameron said that Britain would do all in its power to tackle Islamist extremism at home and abroad, adding that we must "address the poisonous narrative they feed on". He said this fight could take a generation, but it would could well take longer than that if the British government continues to ignore the extremism right under its nose; the extremism that is the Islamic Sharia Council, the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal, and all the other sharia bodies springing up with increasing regularity in Britain - acting as courts and hearing and deciding upon matters of family and criminal law, and representing an intolerant and misogynistic version of Islam.
The terrorists in Algeria are Islamists - as they are in Mali, as they were on 9/11 and on 7/ 7 and on date after notorious date. Terrorists from all over the world are fighting a jihad for the return of the caliphate and the installation of sharia on a global scale. This is extremism; Islamist extremism. One of the first thing Islamists do is oppress women - it is a high priority. In the various 'Arab Spring' countries, in to which sharia law is sneaking, debates about veiling and divorce often dominate. The oppression of women is the first step on the road to a totalitarian and theocratic state. It has always been so.
The Islamic Sharia Council of Britain believes a woman's word is worth half of a man's, it also believes that men should be allowed to beat and rape their wives and that divorce should be the right of a man but available to women only with male permission.
The kind of society they wish for - an Islamist society - is one where death is the punishment for homosexuality and adultery, where apostates are killed and non-believers subjugated, and where freedom of speech is blasphemous.
Perhaps the most disgusting aspect of sharia in Britain however is the sanctioned rape of thousands of young girls (some as young as five) under the guise of "marriage" and carrying on with impunity in sharia councils and mosques all over the country. The Sunday Times has proved that this is happening, as has the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation.
The Islamic Sharia Council is an extremist and misogynistic body run by theocrats; some of whom are linked with the "moderate" Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). Suhaib Hasan, secretary of the Islamic Sharia Council (and spokesman for the MCB), was secretly recorded on Channel 4's "Undercover Mosque" as saying: "Allah has decreed this thing that I am going to be dominant. The dominance, of course, is a political dominance". He also believes that stonings and amputations will "turn Britain in to a haven of peace". Haitham al-Haddad, also of the Islamic Sharia Council, believes that "a man should not be questioned why he hit his wife". These are the men who operate a sharia-based family arbitration system which is growing rapidly as the government looks on.
Sharia 'courts' are not the only manifestation of Islamist extremism going unchecked in the UK. The East London Mosque regularly hosts speakers who openly call for the murder of homosexuals and Jews, and the enslavement of women. No hate speech or incitement laws ever seem to be applied however. At Regent's Park mosque, congregants have been told that those who leave Islam should be killed. Women who "act like men" (and of course homosexuals) should face the same fate. No incitement laws applied here either. Children are being beaten at madrasas (Islamic schools) and the teaching of contempt for non-Muslims is widespread.
The men who believe in this version of Islam believe also in its supremacy, they believe in the punishment of those who dissent or disagree, they believe strongly in the brutal oppression of women and in discrimination against non-Muslims. These are the men who run sharia in Britain, and they seek to establish Islamic states here under their rule.
One Law for All has repeatedly asked the government why it allows sharia councils, with their blatant disregard for human rights and democracy, to yield power in such important areas as family and criminal law; the government response? It doesn't prevent people from living in accordance with culture and faith. I have yet to receive an answer as to the limits of what can be defined under these headings. Is child rape covered by "culture" and "faith"?
David Cameron once said that multiculturalism had failed - he has yet to prove that he means it. There is no better opportunity than this; he should shut down the sharia councils (or any other body that facilitates the rape of children and encourages violent misogyny) that his government currently defends in the name of culture, prosecute hate speech and incitement to murder, prosecute child marriage as rape, end cultural relativism and racist separatism once and for all..... and enforce One Law for All.