European Islamist scion Tariq Ramadan was banned from the U.S. by the Bush administration in February 2004 for his financial support of a charity that funded terrorist groups. In January 2010, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton overturned that ban. Clinton personally approved a visa for the controversial grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Now, Tariq Ramadan is facing multiple accusations of rape and sexual assault of minors.
Hillary Clinton’s visa for Tariq Ramadan was seen as part of the new Obama administration policy of embracing more hardcore Islamists.
The New York Times reported in 2010:
Six years after using the Patriot Act to revoke the visa of a prominent Muslim academic, the United States State Department reversed itself and said Wednesday that it would no longer bar the scholar from entering the United States.
The decision came in the form of an order signed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. It paves the way for the scholar, Prof. Tariq Ramadan, to apply for a new visa free of the authorities’ former accusation that he had contributed money to a charity connected to terrorism.
Here’s a copy of the signed Clinton order clearing the way for Tariq Ramadan’s visa to the U.S.:
Since last month, Ramadan has been the target of multiple rape claims.
The National reports:
Mr Ramadan, who is professor of contemporary Islamic studies at Oxford University, has been accused of rape and sexual assault by three women in the past 10 days.
One of them, French writer Henda Ayari, says Mr Ramadan raped her in a Paris hotel room in 2012. Ms Ayari, 41, who lodged a rape complaint against the 55-year-old Swiss national on October 20, claimed that for Mr Ramadan, “either you wear a veil or you get raped”.
“He choked me so hard that I thought I was going to die,” she told Le Parisien on Monday.
Mr Ramadan is also accused of raping another woman in a hotel room in 2009. The unnamed 42-year-old, who is reported to have disability in her legs, said on Friday that the professor had subjected her to a terrifying and violent sexual assault.
A third complainant, identified as Yasmina, told Le Parisien in an interview on Saturday that Mr Ramadan sexually harassed her in 2014 and blackmailed her for sexual favours.
Mr Ramadan has denied the accusations and has filed counter-charges for libel.
Read @carlottagall’s NYT profile of first woman who accuses Muslim scholar & preacher #TariqRamadan of rape. https://t.co/4YrR26KGVT pic.twitter.com/cAPLmNqQKk
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) November 5, 2017
In light of @TariqRamadan scandal, I have published an EXCLUSIVE account of his unwanted sexual advances on a friend https://t.co/JXf34QeCQe
— Aymenn J Al-Tamimi (@ajaltamimi) November 3, 2017
French prosecutors investigate claims Oxford professor raped feminist campaigner https://t.co/enazdJZp3f pic.twitter.com/iG3LCi6obu
— FRANCE 24 (@FRANCE24) October 25, 2017
Following the rape charges, Ramadan was accused of molesting four of his underage pupils in Geneva during the 1980s and 1990s:
Oxford professor accused of sexual misconduct with Swiss minors https://t.co/QfwpabhxO9
— Telegraph World News (@TelegraphWorld) November 5, 2017
Oxford’s initial response to the rape and molestation accusations was to entertain support for Ramadan in an effort to protect Muslim students from “Islamophobia.” Eugene Rogan, director of Oxford’s Middle East Center, said during a meeting with students:
It’s not just about sexual violence. For some students it’s just another way for Europeans to gang up against a prominent Muslim intellectual. We must protect Muslim students who believe and trust in him, and protect that trust.
Last week, Ramadan announced that he was taking a leave of absence:
Please see @UniofOxford’s official statement on Professor Tariq Ramadan, here: https://t.co/uJssnFhI7q pic.twitter.com/PPUt7J8ANS
— Oxford University (@UniofOxford) November 7, 2017
Why was Oxford so slow in responding to the accusations? Some observers had some theories:
IMPT reporting from @TheNationalUAE w/context on why it took Oxford 18 days to put Ramadan on leave amid rape charges:
1) "Qatar poured £11 million into the new building" at @UniofOxford.
2) @QF funds gave #TariqRamadan his endowed Oxford job https://t.co/zXhwWC4cxH— Asra Q. Nomani, #FlattenTheCurve (@AsraNomani) November 10, 2017
Interestingly, Ramadan rose to the defense of American Islamist media darling Linda Sarsour earlier this year in response to “Islamophobic attacks”:
He also defended a Muslim Brotherhood leader in Virginia who openly advocated for female genital mutilation (FGM) at a Washington D.C.-area mosque:
.@TariqRamadan: female genital mutilation is "part of our tradition" & matter for internal discussion among Muslims. https://t.co/EZX8lGtw9h pic.twitter.com/5qES8nSS5c
— Middle East Forum (@meforum) June 19, 2017
Notwithstanding Ramadan’s extremist stands, he still has his Western defenders:
An actual intellect & scholar of Islam – rather than the charlatans you see on HBO & YouTube – @TariqRamadan: https://t.co/GRPirFZWe0
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 3, 2017
In response to the rape accusations against his brother, Hani Ramadan appealed to Islamic law to clear Tariq, invoking sharia that four witnesses are required:
.@_HaniRamadan, brother of @TariqRamadan, insists that Koranic injunctions be applied to Tariq, meaning 4 men of good reputation must witness his sex acts in flagrante delicto. Otherwise, there's no case.
Me: (1) You must be kidding. (2) Shari`a's handy.https://t.co/3lBpIapePQ
— Daniel Pipes دانيال بايبس (@DanielPipes) November 11, 2017
Hani Ramadan, who runs the mosque founded by their father in Geneva, was deported from France earlier this year.
The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, whose staff was murdered by Islamic terrorists nearly two years ago, had an famous take on the Tariq Ramadan scandal:
https://twitter.com/J_F_Page/status/926472603686129665
That promptly produced death threats in support of Ramadan:
The threats came after the satirical weekly's cartoon of Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan, who faces rape allegations https://t.co/Vf9ooFdidQ
— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 7, 2017
Thus far, Hillary Clinton has not publicly spoken about her decision to overturn Tariq Ramadan’s visa ban, or on what information she might have had about Ramadan’s sexual abuses at the time.
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