The right to asylum is a basic human right

Andy writes: I agree with your organisation on all aspects apart from "Defend the right to asylum for those who have fled Sharia." This has already destroyed my culture and everything that makes my country England. I am white, Saxon and proud of it! I will not allow anyone to take that away from me. And I will go beyond the limits to stop my country falling into foreign hands!

Maryam Namazie responds: Andy, you couldn’t possibly agree with our organisation. You clearly don’t understand where we’re coming from though it is very clear where you are coming from.

We are opposed to Sharia law because it is unfair, medieval, brutal, and barbaric in the same way that Canon law or any religious law is. It belongs to another era. You are merely opposed to it because you think Sharia law is ‘foreign,’ not ‘white’ and not ‘Saxon.’ You most likely have no problem with ecclesiastic courts and bishops in the House of Lords even today and probably long for the days of the inquisition and crusades.

Moreover, we are opposed to Sharia law because it violates rights and freedoms – and not just of people living in Britain but everywhere. You are opposed to it because you believe it has ‘destroyed [your] culture.’ You couldn’t care an iota for the ‘Muslim minority’ in this country or the masses languishing under Sharia in Iran, Iraq, Pakistan or Afghanistan. You think that ‘others’ don’t deserve the same rights and freedoms as you. And that is why you couldn’t begin to understand the need and right to asylum for those who have resisted or suffered under Sharia. In my opinion, Sharia law is so brutal, so inhuman, so intolerable, that every man, woman and child fleeing it deserves the right to asylum.

And by the way, it isn’t your culture being destroyed that we need to worry about – especially since you seem to have very little of a culture worthy of the 21st century. This progressive culture is something that has been fought for tooth and nail by the working class and progressive social movements in every corner of the world for centuries. It has been a battle fought for in Britain, Canada, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan… vis-à-vis the ruling class and very often vis-à-vis nationalism, ethnocentrism, fascism and religious dogma. It belongs to everyone and not just those who are ‘white’ and ‘Saxon.’

Also, I am not sure how long we – those of us who are not ‘white’ and ‘Saxon’ – will be considered ‘foreign?’ Is there a cut off date we should know about so we have something to look forward to?

Finally, you say you will go ‘beyond the limits to stop [your] country from falling into foreign hands.’ In this age of global capital where practically everything you eat, your football stadium, clothes and car are ‘foreign,’ an attack on vulnerable asylum seekers seeking protection is racism pure and simple.

Clearly, we too will do anything we can to build a vast social movement to stop this country and our world from falling into the hands of Islamists and fascists alike.

And we aim to win.