The US Blacklisted Me. Let’s Talk.
The US shouldn’t exclude academics who are critical of its policies.
Living in a democratic society that grants an individual’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is the cherished privilege and pride of Western citizenry and the dream longed for by the rest of the world.
Countless have fought and died to secure these rights in the West, and millions the world over are dying for them today - dying to be free to worship, free to associate, free to speak, free to participate in the governance of their own countries.
But the struggle for the protection of rights and civil liberties in the West is not a finished chapter in our history. The constitutions of Western democracies and the rights they enshrine do not protect themselves. The preservation of these liberties requires a vigilant, critical, and courageous citizenry that can be neither complacent in times of security nor compromising in times of fear and insecurity - citizens who understand that the violation of the basic rights of one is a violation of the rights of all. Loyalty to country and constitution demands that we speak up against injustice, uphold our ideals, and hold our leaders accountable.
For years, I worked tirelessly in academic and public circles to dismantle the barriers erected by those who see Islam and the West as mutually exclusive, to build bridges of mutual understanding and respect. Since 2001, I have also intensified my work to remind my fellow Western citizens of the fragility of our societies and the precariousness of our civil liberties as we are thrust into this so-called war on terrorism. Since the end of 2004, I have done this primarily in Europe through my academic work, debates, and public lectures and by working closely with European politicians, governmental agencies, and civic institutions. But I have been prevented from doing this work on American soil.
In the summer of 2004, I was poised to start a dual professorship at Notre Dame University and eager for a more concentrated academic and public engagement than was previously allowed by my numerous but brief visits to the United States.
But that was not to happen. My visa was canceled at the last minute at the behest of the Department of Homeland Security, supposedly under a provision of the Patriot Act. This revocation not only cost me my academic post, it deprived me and Americans of a much needed mutually enriching dialogue and debate. It also fueled fantastical allegations of terrorism support and of shadowy associations that tarnished my reputation and cast a cloud of suspicion over my character and work.
After American organizations sued, the government abandoned its initial reason for excluding me but came up with a new one - that, between 1998 and 2002, I had contributed small amounts of money to a Swiss charity supporting humanitarian work in the Palestinian territories. The government is relying on a “material support” law that didn’t exist until 2005 - long after I made the donations - and it is holding me accountable for donating to a charity that still operates lawfully in Europe today. And while the US government has blacklisted the charity, it didn’t do so until 2003 - a year after I made my last donation. Many US organizations believe that I am being barred from the country not because of my actions but because of my ideas. The conclusion seems inescapable.
The US government’s shifting arguments in my case might be absurd - even comical - if the stakes were not so high. But, in the name of defending the country against terrorism, the government seems to be trampling over the rights that make democracies worth defending. In a time when we are inundated with the daily rhetoric of ideologues, exclusivists, and merchants of fear, we are in dire need of engaged academics and public intellectuals who can write and speak authoritatively on the topics of the day and who also provide visible public models for ethics of citizenship. Yet, publicized as my case might be, it is not the only example of this administration’s exclusion of academics critical of its domestic and foreign policies.
Bleak as this picture might seem at times, I remain hopeful. I am encouraged by the unwavering support I have received from ordinary Americans, civic groups, and particularly from scholars, academic organizations, and the American Civil Liberties Union, which argued my case in federal court last week. I am heartened by the emerging debate in the US about what has been happening to our countries and ideals in the past six years.
I am hopeful that justice will prevail and I will be allowed to enter this country so that I may contribute to the debate and be enriched by dialogue. It is much more important than a personal vindication for me; it is a matter of protecting of collective ideals and academic freedom, a cornerstone of democracy.
Tariq Ramadan is a senior research fellow at Oxford University and author of more than 23 books, including “Western Muslims and the Future of Islam.”
Copyright © 2007 The Christian Science Monitor
Tariq Ramadan says: But the struggle for the protection of rights and civil liberties in the West is not a finished chapter in our history. The constitutions of Western democracies and the rights they enshrine do not protect themselves. The preservation of these liberties requires a vigilant, critical, and courageous citizenry
Sounds like Animal Farm. Can you just picture that pig in the White House with an eraser and editing pencil?
It is the way right-winged governments are whether you are talking about human rights or health care (as if the two are mutually exclusive!)
Tariq Ramadan says: For years, I worked tirelessly in academic and public circles to dismantle the barriers erected by those who see Islam and the West as mutually exclusive, to build bridges of mutual understanding and respect.
And this is why he is considered a threat - because it make people more upset when they hear about “Collateral Damage” in Iraq and Afghanistan - Because Tariq makes them seem more human and more like the rest of us.
Tariq Ramadan says: It also fueled fantastical allegations of terrorism support and of shadowy associations that tarnished my reputation and cast a cloud of suspicion over my character and work.
So the old strategy of engaging in character assassination rather than questioning his ideas directly. The old “don’t listen to him because he is a pooh-pooh-head and if you listen to him then you are a pooh-pooh-head too” strategy.”
Tariq Ramadan on The Hour:
http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1248
Apparently any attempts at making Progress when it comes to Open Dialog in problem solving is unacceptable. Suppresion rules. This country is suitable only for Mad Comics and Saturday Night Live and even that is questionable. We just get dumb and dumber…
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are part of the declaration of independence and are just a document, the constitution is mostly about property rights and little about human rights. Tariq is dreaming if he expects changes to his status in these United States, once on the list stay on, even death won’t change that status. Stay in Oxford, the scenery is better and its fertile ground. It is better to view the slide into fascism and then a one party state theocracy from afar.
The only way smart people like you can overcome the ignorance in this country is to have a lot of money.
Our own citizens who protest cannot go to Canada anymore. Anyone who has ever attracted any official notice from the judicial may eventually never be able to leave the U.S.
We need the money and clout of the telecoms to get legislation passed to retroactively make our actions legal.
The utter hypocrisy of Tariq’s (and many unnamed others like him) treatment sends up a stench.
Tariq Ramadan is not the only one having problems with this black list. Americans cannot even find out who is on The List! Not only are people having trouble getting INTO this country, but Americans can’t get OUT either. Not even to Canada!
The lesson here is that we have already LOST the fight for our freedoms. And Congress is not doing a damn thing to get them back for us.
Impeachment is the only first step that will even begin to address the issue. So, how do we make that happen?
the US Government prefers to keep the people ignorant
and their administration even more ignorant.
“Ignorant” has two meanings. :evil
Tariq says:
Living in a democratic society that grants an individual’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is the cherished privilege and pride of Western citizenry and the dream longed for by the rest of the world.
The Declaration of Independence says:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…
The rights we have are not granted to us by a benevolent government. They are by nature ours to be exercised and defended, only secured by the government that we consent to. Rights that are granted can also be taken away. If you view rights as inherent to your existence as a person, you are more likely to resist when they are infringed upon.
The current United States government would love all of us to view our rights as grants. It is much easier to violate and/or repeal them if they are seen as a gift from those in power.
ALL people EVERYWHERE have these rights. It is their duty to claim them and defend them from those who would try to take them away.
Well, at least Tariq has not been placed under house arrest, yet. Arar has been completely exonerated by the Canadian government with a public apology for its part in his kidnapping by HS and his rendition to Syria for a year of torture.
The US will not apologize, had his case thrown out of court on the grounds of HS and he is still barred from even transiting the United States.
It won’t be long before we’ll be reliving Casablanca right here, with people wheeling, dealing, and killing for letters of transit to get the hell out of here.
EZEFLYER, TORPEDOFISH, DAFOE: great comments. Too true…
Harper is trying to turn Canada into a US puppet regime: harsh drug laws (he’s trying to recriminalise marijuana), military adventurism, welfare for the rich, cuts in social services, and US control of border policies. The RCMP always wanted watching closely — like any band of brothers in uniform with guns — but now they are getting downright Amurkan in their cowardice and brutality (cf recent lethal tasering at Vancouver International). Harper, Fox and W are making noises about an Anschluss — Fortress NordAmerika with a unified currency and “harmonised” (i.e. run by finance capital and weapons/energy industry) economic and social policy.
Mexico and Canada aren’t as far from US power as they were when Ambrose Bierce ran away to the south, or when US refusenik soldiers ran away to the north. When will Canadians wake up and defend their national independence and their sane, relatively benevolent social and political system from Bushification?
Oh well the author must also be Anti-semitic too! cause apparently everyon is now adays
“After American organizations sued, the government abandoned its initial reason for excluding me but came up with a new one - that, between 1998 and 2002, I had contributed small amounts of money to a Swiss charity supporting humanitarian work in the Palestinian territories.” That’s his real crime - to care about the suffering of Palestinians. I hope he didn’t stop to curry favour with anyone.
In the past, I would have said to Tariq, “we will tell our newspaper, and they
will surely see to it that justice is done.” It would have been nice to be able to reassure him that justice will prevail. I actually would have believed it. Investigative shows on the media present themselves that way. How is a youth to know that they are somewhat selective. But now I realize that any attempt at fostering understanding between ourselves and our so called enemies could put you in Guantanamo Bay.
When do you all think that the general public will wake up to the fact that a fascist corporate oligarchy has taken over the U.S. without a shot being fired?
Loss of liberties with nothing happening to restore them seems like a coup to me.
Tariq Ramadan seems like a real hero and idealogue.
The “coup” as you refer to it is still in the process of being conducted.
Try to understand that it is taking place….in many locations simultaneously as we speak. It is not, I repeat not, merely an “American corporate lunatics” phenomenon.
It is global.
The war for our liberties has hardly ended “without a shot being fired…”.
It has yet to begin.
Sharp-eyed citizens of the planet can see this more and more clearly as the days go by.
It is that near to all of us now.
God Speed.
Retroactive is not a legal concept in the united states. Someone cannot be punished for something he did before it became a crime, and immunity cannot be granted by making a new law.
Sure Mr. Butterfield.
And Habeus Corpus is the right of every citizen.
Along with all the other liberties granted by we the People that now count for nothing until we the people stand up to defend our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and the rights of humanity as such.
We no longer need a “United Nations” for the very concept of “nations” is now seen for what it has been allowed to become;
a hoax that ensures continuous war, continuous xenophobia, continuous aggression, and continuous bogus representation of human interests and global needs, created by criminal corporate interests and sustained by characterless criminals posing as “peoples representatives”.
We now need the “United Peoples” across the entire planet, at the same time, at the same moment, to exercise their right of nonparticipation, to shut it down.
Hard to do?
Jump to the facts:
Are demonstrations by millions across the planet against the criminal acts of western corporate interest regimes having any impact on the events on the ground, across the planet?
Hardly.
Are “free and fair” elections of those claiming to uphold truth and justice giving the planet relief from the ongoing crimes as we speak?
On the contrary, those individuals “elected” are supporting the expansion of the crimes being commited.
Are public statements of rejection by established, recognized, and qualified members of the global community causing any form of rational response on the part of the known criminals among us?
Regrettably and demonstrably, the U.S. rogue regime and it´s accomplices prove that repetition of fallacious actions in the face of known truth is the definition of insanity… or deliberate criminal intent.
The media, being largely controlled by vested material interests deliberately withholds and/or distorts the known truths in support of the criminals that pay them.
Consequently, there is no longer any reasonable basis for continued rational dialogue for there is no counterpart with whom one can conduct such, as proven over the last several decades and culminating in “The American Century” …of vast disrepute.
Those wholly odious individuals of little character and even less intellectual reach actually believe that their scheme will work, that their modus operandi is satisfactory to their deranged material goals.
What they are not capable of realizing is that we the People, on a global scale, are ALWAYS capable of simply ceasing operations as societies, as functioning daily units of all manner of production if you will, whenever we choose and whenever we mobilize to do so, if forced by criminal threats to our human as well as global survival.
Tell me you get my drift.
We now need a Global Strike, a Global Nonparticipative Event, so to speak.
This can be achieved, and you know just as well as I do that on that single day, stock markets will tremble and corporate criminals will literally speaking lose their minds due to the sheer financial impact of such an event.
Never fight the enemy on the ground of their choosing.
Never fight the enemy with the weapons of their choice.
Never use force when maneuver will suffice.
Never use mass when dispersion is viable.
It seems any individual or group whose members may impart actual, factual information what is occurring in the Middle East (especially Iraq)is not allowed to sully our pristine borders.
For example, has anyone wondered why very few Iraqis are allowed into the US? Jordan and Sweden are taking many of them. Most are well educated and experienced professionals that speak English; any elite of an English-speaking country would love to use them to lower the wages of native professionals.
My spin on it is that they aren’t allowed into the US of A because the average US citizen (?) might be exposed to these refugee’s well articulated descriptions of events in Iraq ; I assume their descriptions would run counter to the Administration’s.
Additionally, if a million or more Iraqi refugees were admitted into the US, I am sure most of them would support the Democratic Party after gaining citizenship.