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Ramadan
issued a point-by-point rebuttal of what he described as the
malicious allegations linking him to Al-Qaeda figures
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CHICAGO,
September 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Over a dozen US
academics on Wednesday, September 1, joined a chorus protesting
against a revocation of a visa for Tariq Ramadan, as a leading
American newspaper dismissed the move as a punishment for the
prominent Muslim intellectual's views on Iraq invasion and Israeli
policies.
In
a letter, the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) asked
US Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge to issue a work permit for the
Swiss national.
"Although
Dr Ramadan has voiced criticism of some US and Israeli policies in
Palestine, the war in Iraq, and US support for authoritarian regimes
in the Middle East, such opinions constitute no reason to deny him a
visa," the center's board of directors said in the letter carried
by Agence Franc-Presse (AFP).
The
Washington-based organization brings together some of the foremost US
scholars on Islam, including professors from Georgetown University in
Washington and Cornell University in New York state, in the interests
of promoting a better understanding of Islam and democracy.
The
41-year-old scholar was scheduled to take a teaching post at the
University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, last week, but was
barred at the last minute when the US State Department revoked
his visa.
US
authorities have refused to comment in detail on Ramadan's case, but
the move has been widely criticized by US academics, who suspect that
Ramadan had been barred because of his criticism of US foreign policy.
Against
‘Academic Freedom’
The
concerns were echoed by the American Association of University
Professors, a Washington-based advocacy group for academic freedom, in
a letter posted on its website Monday, August 30.
In
the letter to Ridge and US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the
association rebuked authorities for a decision that it said appeared
to be at odds "with our society's respect for academic
freedom."
"Foreign
scholars offered appointments at an American institution of higher
learning should not be barred by our government from entering the
United States because of their political beliefs or associations or
their writings," said Robert O'Neil, the head of the
association's special committee on academic freedom.
O'Neil
concluded by urging the State Department to reinstate the visa that it
yanked on the advice of Homeland Security officials.
Newspapers
Step In
A
leading American paper joined the foray with editorial and letters to
the editors being published to urge the US administration to change
its visa revocation.
"If
he is being refused permission to teach in this country purely because
of his views, the government has an obligation to Notre Dame and the
American people to acknowledge that -- and to specify which of his
opinions endangers public safety," the Chicago Tribune
said an editorial on Tuesday.
In
another piece in the International Herald Tribune on
Tuesday, Ramadan issued a point-by-point rebuttal of what he described
as the malicious allegations, linking him to Al-Qaeda figures.
He
pointed out that he had been invited to speak at the US State
Department in the past and said he made no apology for "taking a
critical look at Islam and the West."
Jewish
Influence
Professors
at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA, added a voice of
solidarity to those calling for canceling the revocation of Ramadan's
work visa.
In
a letter to the editor of the Guardian on Wednesday, Fellow of
the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the university
said the revocation of Ramadan's work visa bears the imprint of those
influential supporters of Israel's rightwing government in the
Pentagon.
"To
cancel the revocation of Ramadan's work visa bears the imprint of
those influential supporters of Israel's rightwing government in the
Pentagon. These pro-Sharon neocons have been at the centre of the Bush
administration's foreign policy," he wrote.
Walshe
said a close scrutiny of Ramadan's work reveals an "erudite,
provocative scholar; one committed to the further evolution of Islam's
understanding of its revelation and religious practice."
"He
is readily charged with being anti-Semitic - a tactic widely used by
pro-Sharon elements in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
and those in the Pentagon who would intimidate and silence critics of
the current government of Israel," the British professor said.
He
accused that this tactic is being widely used by neoconservatives, for
example Daniel Pipes, whose campus watch website encourages students
to report professors who contest Israel's policies.
The
decision on Ramadan - rated by Time magazine as one of the 100
most influential people in the world - came a few weeks after the
Board of Deputies of British Jews has launched a vile campaign against
prominent moderate Muslim scholar Yusuf Al-Qaradawi's visit and
presented an alleged "dossier" for his prosecution.
However,
the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had concluded that there was no
legal ground to prosecute Sheikh Qaradawi, and the London
mayor Ken Livingstone apologized to the Muslim scholar for the fuss.
Valuable
Contribution
Ramadan
is known for his calls on Muslims in the West is to avoid standing on
a defensive line and to present Islam as a universal message. He had
told IOL in an earlier interview that secularism was not a
problem for Muslims living in Europe.
Notre
Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies appointed him as
Henry Luce professor of religion, conflict and peace-building earlier
this year after a thorough vetting procedure.
Many
see Ramadan as a moderate voice in the Muslim world who could make a
valuable contribution to the US debate about Islam.
