On 26 January the One Law for All campaign hosted a debate at Conway Hall in London. Its provocative title ‘Enemies not Allies’ made it clear from the outset that one of the objectives of the organiser – Worker Communist Party of Iran Central Committee member Maryam Namazie – was to seek to place beyond the pale elements of the counterjihad movement such as the English Defence League (EDL) and Stop the Islamisation of Europe (SIOE). However, one of the speakers invited onto the panel was the conservative (small 'c' rather than party affiliated) commentator Douglas Murray.
Unlike Namazie, Murray approached the theme of discussion with a refreshing lack of prejudice, and instead of damning the EDL and portraying it and its supporters in the blackest of possible colours, he rightly drew attention to the irrationality and deliberate nature of leftist ‘no platform’ policies, as well as the Left’s tendency to force opponents and rivals into predetermined ideological boxes without looking at what they actually believe in and how they behave. I have already covered the differences in orientation and approach of the various movements and parties that take a counterjihad stance in a previous article - England: an Anatomy of the Counterjihad and Lessons from France – as well as some of the more notable demonstrations by One Law for All. Like Murray, I am in favour of collaboration irrespective of ideological differences.
What emerges in the initial half of the first of the following videos is Murray’s spirited advocacy of working with the EDL (he speaks until approximately 6:40). In the second video, he robustly demolishes the refrain so commonly heard that ‘Islam is a religion of peace.’ Namazie however appears to be a politician cast in the old Stalinist mould of the type who branded Polish patriots 'fascists' because they didn’t want their country overrun by the Soviets. The One Law for All campaign may have a noble goal in fighting against Sharia, but Namazie’s willingness to condemn the EDL and SIOE as ‘far-right’ and ‘racist’ in an offhand fashion demonstrates her unappealing Marxist-Leninist credentials.
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