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Indystar – December 14, 2004
Muslim scholar resigns appointment to Notre Dame
By Tom Coyne
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A Muslim scholar who was to teach at the University of Notre Dame until his U.S. work visa was revoked because of security concerns has resigned his appointment, the school said today.
Tariq Ramadan notified the university on Monday, citing the stress on him and his family from the uncertainty of their situation as the reason for his resignation, said R. Scott Appleby, director of Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.
"I'm abandoning the idea of moving to the United States," Ramadan told The Associated Press. "I want to maintain my dignity."
Ramadan, whose studies focus on showing how Islamic values are compatible with those of secular European society, has denied accusations he has ties to Islamic militants. He claims he has been the target of allegations because he encourages Muslims to be outspoken about government policies they oppose.
Ramadan, a Swiss citizen, has been teaching at the College of Geneva and the University of Fribourg, both in Switzerland, and has gained a popular following among European Muslims.
He was scheduled to begin teaching at Notre Dame on Aug. 24. The State Department issued Ramadan a work visa in May but revoked it in July after he had already shipped much of his family's belongings to the United States.
Ramadan and the university have said they have received no explanation why his visa was revoked. At the time, the Department of Homeland Security said the decision was based on "public safety or national security interests" and pointed to federal law applying to aliens who have used a "position of prominence ... to endorse or espouse terrorist activity."
Ramadan said today there was nothing in his files to justify the ban. "In fact, this is an obstacle to academic freedom of expression," he said.
He said U.S. authorities should release details of its investigation of him in order to clear him of the "untrue and humiliating" accusations he has faced for months.
Ramadan taught one Notre Dame class by teleconference in September, the school said.
In October, he applied again for a work visa. The school said it never received word on the status of that application.
"We are disappointed that Professor Ramadan will not be joining our faculty," Appleby said. "Faculty and students at Notre Dame and at other U.S. universities were looking forward to engaging him productively on a variety of issues central to our times. Such dialogue, we believe, is an essential requirement to a deeper understanding of the complexity of the Muslim world
http://www.indystar.com/articles/1/202121-5251-102.html
Reuters – December 14, 2004
Islamic Scholar, Visa Withheld, Gives Up U.S. Post
By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA - A prominent Swiss-based Islamic scholar on Tuesday gave up plans to teach at a leading U.S. university after waiting in vain for a visa and accused the Bush administration of trying to silence him.
Tariq Ramadan, an intellectual influential among Muslims throughout Europe, said he had sent a letter of resignation earlier this week to University of Notre Dame in Indiana, where he had been due to take up a tenured post as professor of religion.
Ramadan was issued a U.S. visa last May, but it was revoked with little explanation in early August -- days before he was to move to the United States -- after the Department of Homeland Security changed its position.
Notre Dame, a Catholic university, said then it was "deeply disappointed and concerned," but was optimistic the issue would be resolved and Ramadan would be allowed to take up his post.
The withdrawal of the visa triggered protests in intellectual circles, and Ramadan said the U.S. authorities had encouraged him to re-apply.
He was interviewed in early October at the U.S. embassy in the Swiss capital, Berne, but had heard nothing since then and had now given up, he told Reuters.
"I sent a letter of resignation ... This has been extremely difficult for my family," said Ramadan, speaking in Geneva where he has lived in limbo with his wife and four children since their furniture was sent to South Bend, site of the university.
"The U.S. administration does not want my voice heard. I consider this an attack on academic freedom," he added.
A University of Notre Dame official was told recently by a contact in the State Department that no decision on the visa was in view, leading him to abandon his plans, he said.
Ramadan, who is the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, the Egyptian founder of the first modern Islamic radical group, the Muslim Brotherhood, has condemned the use of violence in the name of Islam.
Nevertheless, he is a controversial figure even in Europe. Critics in the media in France -- home to some five million Muslims and where Ramadan is particularly well known -- have portrayed him as two-faced, preaching a moderate Islam in French but a fundamentalist, radical Islam in Arabic.
On Tuesday he said his aim was to promote dialogue and build bridges. "I am a voice for dialogue, for reconciling universes. It is the basis of my work.
In revoking the visa, the U.S. authorities merely cited the Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism law adopted by Congress in October 2001.
"I expect the U.S. authorities to clear my name because there is nothing in my file (to justify that)," he said.
He was named head of the program in religion, conflict and peace-building at the Joan Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame. It was set up by the billionaire widow of Ray Kroc, founder of the fast-food chain McDonald's.
He was also named professor in Islamic studies in the university's classics department.
"We have seen no evidence that he poses any threat to our national security. In fact, we believe the world could be a safer place if he is allowed to continue his work," Scott Appleby, director of the Kroc Institute, said in a letter posted on its Web site in late August. "Tariq Ramadan is a strong but moderate voice in a world plagued by extremism," he added.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7090102
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