From Maryam's blog:
4. Our next event is an evening seminar on 26 January entitled Enemies not Allies.
The seminar will expose far-right and racist organisations hijacking the issue of Sharia law to promote their racist and anti-immigrant policies and the European left’s appeasement of Islamism at the expense of people’s rights and lives. Confirmed speakers at the event are: John Adams (Emeritus Professor at the University of Hertfordshire), Adam Barnett (One Law for All), Rahila Gupta (Women’s Rights Campaigner), Marieme Helie Lucas (Secularism is a Women’s Issue), Douglas Murray (Centre for Social Cohesion), Maryam Namazie (One Law for All), Shiraz Maher (International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation) and Talal Rajib (Quilliam Foundation). A report on the issue will also be published on the day.
http://maryamnamazie.blogspot.com/2010/12/every-penny-counts-in-fight-against.html----
Seminar on ‘Enemies not Allies’
26 January 2011
18.30-20.30 hours
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
Entry fee: £5 individuals; £10 voluntary and statutory organisations
Confirmed Speakers are:
John Adams (Emeritus Professor at the University of Hertfordshire), Adam Barnett (One Law for All), Rahila Gupta (Women’s Rights Campaigner), Marieme Helie Lucas (Secularism is a Women’s Issue),
Douglas Murray (Centre for Social Cohesion),
Maryam Namazie (One Law for All),
Shiraz Maher (International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation) and Talal Rajib (Quilliam Foundation).
One Law for All will be holding a seminar to discuss the issues raised by their forthcoming report ‘Enemies Not Allies’, which will be published in the same week.
The report explores how far-right organisations like the British National Party, English Defence League and Stop Islamisation Of Europe hijack criticism of Islamism and Sharia law for their own ends. It also looks at the Stop the War Coalition, as well as its offshoots Respect and Unite Against Fascism, and presents evidence of their alliance with and support for Islamist and other extremist groups.
The seminar will be open to the public, and speakers will take questions and comments from the floor following their remarks.
Speaker Bios:
John C Adams is Emeritus Professor at the University of Hertfordshire. In an academic career of over 40 years John has taught, researched and examined in Economics in two UK and three overseas universities. He has authored over 150 books, articles and conference papers. John was formerly Chair (now Vice-President) of the National Governors Association, is a Founder Member, Judge and Fellow of the National Teaching awards and an executive member of the General Teaching Council. He has served on numerous government advisory boards in the UK and also advised the Education Department of the Russian Federation on the establishment of school governing bodies.
Adam Barnett is Research Co-ordinator for the One Law for All campaign. A writer and musician, he is the author of the forthcoming Enemies Not Allies: Exposing the British Far-right, and campaigns with Iran Solidarity UK.
Rahila Gupta is a campaigning journalist and has written several plays, contributed short stories and poems to many journals and has edited several anthologies. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, the Independent on Sunday and the Times Higher Education Supplement. She co-edited Flaming Spirit, a collection of short stories by Asian Women with Rukhsana Ahmad. She is the editor of From Homebreakers to Jailbreakers: Southall Black Sisters and co-author of Circle of Light, a book about the Sikh-British woman Kiranjit Ahluwalia, who was imprisoned for the manslaughter of her abusive husband. Her last book, Enslaved: The New British Slavery explores the role of immigration controls in enslaving people with no formal status.
Marieme Helie Lucas is an Algerian sociologist who taught epistemology in the social sciences in Algiers University. She is the founder and former international coordinator of the international network Women Living Under Muslim Laws that provides information, support and a collective space for women whose lives are shaped, conditioned or governed by laws and customs said to derive from Islam. She is also founder and present international coordinator of the network Secularism Is A Women’s Issue.
Douglas Murray is a bestselling author and political commentator, and Director of the Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC), a non-partisan think-tank in Westminster, London. Founded in 2007 to promote human rights, tolerance and greater cohesion among the UK’s ethnic and religious communities and within wider British society, the CSC is the first think-tank in the UK to specialise in studying radicalisation and extremism within Britain. He is the co-author of Hate on the State: How British Libraries encourage Islamic Extremism and Victims of Intimidation: Freedom of Speech within Europe’s Muslim Communities. Murray regularly appears in the British and foreign press and media. A columnist for Standpoint magazine, he writes for a variety of other publications, including the Sunday Times, Spectator and Wall Street Journal.
Maryam Namazie is a rights activist, commentator and broadcaster. She is Spokesperson of Iran Solidarity, One Law for All, Equal Rights Now and the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain. She is also National Secular Society’s 2005 Secularist of the Year award winner and an NSS Honorary Associate; Central Committee member of the Worker-communist Party of Iran; Vice President of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association; Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association; and Emeritus member of the Secular Humanist League of Brazil. Maryam was selected one of Elle Quebec’s top 45 women of the year in 2007. Her blog has been ranked one of the top 100 atheist blogs. She is the co-author of Sharia Law in Britain: A Threat to One Law for All and Equal Rights.
Shiraz Maher is a Senior Research Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) at Kings College London. He has worked as a journalist, reporting on terrorism, radicalisation and the Middle East for some of the BBC’s flagship current affairs programmes including Newsnight, Panorama, Our World, World News America, the World Service and Radio 4. In 2007 Maher was awarded a bursary by the Rory Peck Trust for Hostile Environments Reporting. His writings have also appeared in the Times, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Guardian, New Statesman, Prospect, Wall Street Journal and Standpoint. Maher was subsequently a Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange where he worked on Security, Counter-Terrorism and Foreign Policy. Last year he published Choosing our Friends Wisely: Criteria for Engagement with Muslim Groups, a detailed study of the ‘Prevent’ aspect of the UK government’s counter-terrorism strategy, exposing weaknesses in its application and practice. He is on the advisory board of Student Rights, a non-partisan group dedicated to supporting equality, democracy and freedom from extremism on university campuses.
Talal Rajab is the Aziz Bukhari Communities Officer and a senior Trainer at Quilliam, the world’s first counter-extremism think tank. He is responsible for delivering training seminars around radicalisation and providing consultancy services to a wide network of organisations. As part of his outreach work, Talal focuses on developing closer ties with grassroots Muslim organisations, organising lectures and seminars at schools and colleges and meeting high profile Muslim activists and personnel. Talal is the author of Reprogramming British Muslims: A Study of the Islam Channel, a research study on one of the largest Islamic satellite channels in the UK. Talal is a regular contributor to the media, appearing on Fox News, BBC London News, The BBC’s ‘The Big Questions’, BBC Asian News and LBC radio. He has also written a number of articles for ‘The Independent’ and has delivered lectures on radicalisation and extremism to military personnel and law enforcement officials across the UK and North America.
http://www.onelawforall.org.uk/2011/01/26/26-january-2010-seminar-london/