AMSTERDAM (Al Arabiya)
The Dutch city of Rotterdam and its university have fired Tuesday Swiss Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan after he hosted a program on an Iranian television channel, a joint media statement said, as the scholar said he would take the council to court for its politically motivated dismissal.
The city of Rotterdam, where Ramadan has been an advisor to the mayor on issues of multi-culturalism since 2007, and Erasmus University, where Ramadan is a visiting professor of theology, said: "The reason is Tariq Ramadan's involvement with the Iranian television channel Press TV, which is incompatible with his functions."
" Although there is no doubt about the personal effort of Tariq Ramadan, both boards find this indirect relation with this repressive regime or even to be associated with it, not acceptable " Joint statement "Press TV is a channel that is financed by the Iranian government," said the statement, adding "although there is no doubt about the personal effort of Tariq Ramadan, both boards find this indirect relation with this repressive regime or even to be associated with it, not acceptable."
Rotterdam's mayor is Ahmed Aboutaleb, a Muslim who was formerly junior minister for social affairs and who has vowed to ease tensions between the city's native Dutch and a growing immigrant population.
Ramadan said he would take the council to court.
"I am going to sue the municipality. It is a question of honor and dignity," he told public broadcaster NOS.
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Political climate in Holland " When I accepted the offer to host a television show about Islam and current life, I choose the path of critical debate " Tariq Ramadan Ramadan said he took offence to being labeled a supporter of the Iranian government.
"When I accepted the offer to host a television show about Islam and current life, I choose the path of critical debate," Ramadan said in an open letter which was published in the NRC Handelsblad newspaper on Tuesday.
"To put me in a position where I am supporting the regime is just unacceptable," he said, adding that his television program was of a "religious, philosophical" nature.
The dismissal was "more about the political climate in the Netherlands than anything else", said Ramadan -- referring to the rise of far-right parties in Rotterdam and elsewhere. |
" The dismissal was more about the political climate in the Netherlands than anything else " Tariq Ramadan A Swiss citizen of Egyptian origin, Ramadan is an Oxford University professor and the grandson of Hasan al-Banna, an Islamist thinker and activist who in 1928 founded the Muslim Brotherhood, which opposed secular and Western ideas.
He is known for promoting a modernized form of Islam and for his opposition to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Last month, a U.S. federal appeals court reversed a lower court ruling barring Ramadan from entering the United States.
The U.S. government had revoked his visa several times, saying contributions were given in his name to a group banned by the United States, the Swiss-based charity, or the Association de Secours Palestinien (ASP). |
