GATESTONE INSTITUTE: Islamic Sharia law is "incompatible with the fundamental principles of democracy." — European Court of Human Rights
After members of the newly established Islam Party vowed to implement Islamic Sharia law in Belgium, Members of Parliament introduced a bill that would limit the power of Muslim extremists who win elected office at the local or national levels and isolate themselves from the political mainstream.
Addressing the Belgian Parliament on February 28, Alain Destexhe, an MP with the Reformist Movement[Mouvement Réformateur], the largest French-speaking classical liberal party in Belgium, and Philippe Pivin, a liberal MP who is also the deputy mayor of Koekelberg, a suburb of Brussels, said it is imperative to curb the power of elected Muslims whose beliefs are inconsistent with the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights ruled in February 2003 that Islamic Sharia law is "incompatible with the fundamental principles of democracy." The court said that a legal system based on Sharia law "would diverge from the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly with regard to the rules on the status of women, and its intervention in all spheres of private and public life in accordance with religious precepts."
The legislative proposal, which is currently open for signatures by other Members of the Belgian Parliament, argues that ultra-conservative Muslims who are elected to public office are unsuitable to run local governments or community bodies and should be impeached.
Destexhe said that as Muslim politicians in Belgium are creating isolated communities and parallel societies, the measure is necessary. He said: "The people of the Islam Party refuse to shake hands with women. They do not want to mix with others in public transport and other communal places. They advocate getting married and wearing a veil at 12 years old, based on Islamic law."
Destexhe continued: "Members of the Islam Party have refused to shake hands with Françoise Schepmans, the mayor of Molenbeek [a primarily Muslim neighborhood in Brussels]. I feel that some people do not understand how similar this is to the behavior of the extreme right, and how they are creating their own isolated community." » | Soeren Kern | Tuesday, March 19, 2013
