AP- Muslim 'Scholar' Denied Entry Visa, Another Mean USA Story

NewsBusters.org ^ | 9/26/06 | warner todd huston

[Mobile Vulgus]

On the 25th, The AP reported that a Muslim "scholar" was denied a temporary business and tourism visa by the State Department for one Tariq Ramadan, resident of Switzerland.

The story, however, makes the State Department's actions seem petty and uninformed. It makes the denial of the visa seem more a result of "racism" than one based on substance. In fact, the reasons that this "scholar" was denied a visa were given short shrift whereas a defense of Ramadan was given full throat.

All Ramadan's "reasons" that he and his attorneys ascribe to the supposedly illegitimate government action are included in the article, but only one small paragraph explores the State Department's reasons for denying the visa... and that in the words of the ACLU!

The American Civil Liberties Union said the U.S. government notified Ramadan he was being excluded because he donated $765 to French and Swiss organizations that provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

That was it. No further delving into the possible reasons why Ramadan might be an undesirable element and shouldn't be allowed into the US, even for a visit.

Yet, the story bristles with multiple defenses of Ramadan from lawyers, to the ACLU, to his own protestations of innocence.

All in all, the story, since it wastes no time giving the reasons that Ramadan should be denied entry to this country in this time of radical Islamism being utilized to attack the USA, gives Ramadan all the benefit of the doubt as well as the platform to spread his assessment of the evils of the US State Department.

"I think it's clear from the history of this case that the U.S. government's real fear is of my ideas," he said. "I am excluded not because the government truly believes me to be a national security threat, but because of my criticisms of American foreign policies in the Middle East; because of my opposition to the invasion of Iraq; and because of my criticism of some of the Bush administration's policies with respect to civil liberties."

But, there MUST be more reasons that the government wants to keep Ramadan out than a mere $765 donated to a shady Muslim "charity"?

Well, let's review some of Ramadan's REAL past history as revealed by a New York Sun article by Daniel Pipes.

-He has praised the brutal Islamist policies of the Sudanese politician Hassan Al-Turabi. Mr. Turabi in turn called Mr. Ramadan the "future of Islam."
- Mr. Ramadan was banned from entering France in 1996 on suspicion of having links with an Algerian Islamist who had recently initiated a terrorist campaign in Paris.
- Ahmed Brahim, an Algerian indicted for Al-Qaeda activities, had "routine contacts" with Mr. Ramadan, according to a Spanish judge (Baltasar Garzón) in 1999.
- Djamel Beghal, leader of a group accused of planning to attack the American embassy in Paris, stated in his 2001 trial that he had studied with Mr. Ramadan.
-Along with nearly all Islamists, Mr. Ramadan has denied that there is "any certain proof" that Bin Laden was behind 9/11.
-He publicly refers to the Islamist atrocities of 9/11, Bali, and Madrid as "interventions," minimizing them to the point of near-endorsement.

And here are other reasons, dug up by Jean-Charles Brisard, a former French intelligence officer doing work for some of the 9/11 families, as reported in Le Parisien:

-Intelligence agencies suspect that Mr. Ramadan (along with his brother Hani) coordinated a meeting at the Hôtel Penta in Geneva for Ayman al-Zawahiri, deputy head of Al-Qaeda, and Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind sheikh, now in a Minnesota prison.
-Mr. Ramadan's address appears in a register of Al Taqwa Bank, an organization the State Department accuses of supporting Islamist terrorism.

Well, that is a whole different kettle of falafel!

Ramadan is not as innocent and oppressed as the AP wishes him to appear!

[Mobile Vulgus]

We need to start keeping MORE of them OUT of the USA. Let's start by cancelling ALL student visas to Muslim nations!

[mtbopfuyn]

Let's start by cancelling ALL student visas to Muslim nations!

Beat me to it.

[Mobile Vulgus]

HA!!!

I DID, didn't I?

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

They should ALL be denied visas, and those who are here expelled.

[wastedyears]

They'd deny their history, even when it's presented to them on a piece of paper.

[goldstategop]

Exactly. There is no RIGHT for foreigners to enter the United States. Its a PRIVILEGE that can be extended and revoked depending on their attitudes to our country and upon observing how they've conducted themselves as guests in other countries. Tariq Ramadan is an Islamofascist apologist and to my mind, an undesirable alien. True, the State Department made the stupid mistake of extending to Iran's Mohammed Khatami an entry visa; it doesn't need to compound it by extending it to the likes of Ramadan.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Republicain]

Tariq Ramadan is the grand-son of Al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brothers Party in 1929.

[Publius6961]

How many American Christian Scholars have been granted visas to any of the following enlightened countries?

(I will leave it to the reader to find a common thread among them...)

The OIC Member States

                    Currently, the OIC has 57 Member and 3 Observer States:

State	Year of accession
Afghanistan	1969
Albania, Republic of	1992
Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of	1969
Azerbaijan, Republic of	1991
Bahrain, State of	1970
Bangladesh, People's Republic of	1974
Benin, Republic of	1982
Brunei Dar-us-Salaam, Sultanate of	1984
Burkina Faso	1975
Cameroon, Republic of	1975
Chad, Republic of	1969
Comoros, Federal Islamic Republic of the	1976
Cote d'Ivoire, Republic of	2001
Djibouti, Republic of	1978
Egypt, Arab Republic of	1969
Gabon, Republic of	1974
Gambia, Republic of the	1974
Guinea, Republic of	1969
Guinea-Bissau, Republic of	1974
Guyana, Republic of	1998
Indonesia, Republic of	1969
Iran, Islamic Republic of	1969
Iraq, Republic of	1976
Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of	1969
Kazakhstan, Republic of	1995
Kuwait, State of	1969
Kyrghyzistan, Republic of	1992
Lebanon, Republic of	1969
Libya, Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	1969
Malaysia	1969
Maldives, Republic of	1976
Mali, Republic of	1969
Mauritania, Islamic Republic of	1969
Morocco, Kingdom of	1969
Mozambique, Republic of	1994
Niger, Republic of	1969
Nigeria, Federal Republic of	1986
Oman, Sultanate of	1970
Pakistan, Islamic Republic of	1969
Palestine, State of	1969
Qatar, State of	1970
Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of	1969
Senegal, Republic of	1969
Sierra Leone, Republic of	1972
Somalia, Democratic Republic of	1969
Sudan, Republic of the	1969
Surinam, Republic of the	1996
Syrian Arab Republic	1970
Tajikistan, Republic of	1992
Togo, Republic of	1997
Tunisia, Republic of	1969
Turkey, Republic of	1969
Turkmenistan, Republic of	1992
Uganda, Republic of	1974
United Arab Emirates, State of	1970
Uzbekistan, Republic of	1995
Yemen, Republic of	1969

The OIC Observer States

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of

Centeral African Republic

Thailand, Kingdom of back

Tolerance, my porcine butt!

[observer5]

The ASSPress is some of the worst insult to journalism out there!

They'll publish any crap, as long as it bashed the Bush and the US.

[OkieDoke]

"a muslim `scholar'"
Is that something like an Arkansas Rhodes scholar?
Yep, he's literate and can `cipher'--Shazam, Allahu fubar!