Tariq Ramadan
Normally when someone in academia is accused of rape or some other form of sexual predatory activity, the forces of feminism form a lynch mob. As Hillary Clinton once famously said, women who charge rape deserve to be believed (except when they accuse her husband, Bill). Another exception is when the accused perp is a Muslim man. Throughout the Islamic world, sharia law dictates that a woman who charges a man with rape must have four male witnesses to be believed. It is part of sharia law.
Now we have the case of Tariq Ramadan, the Swiss-born Oxford University professor and Muslim intellectual, who just happens to be the grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al Banna. Multiple women have accused Ramadan of forcing himself upon them in France, and so he sits in a French prison awaiting trial and denied bail.
That has led to a worldwide letter writing campaign on his behalf on the part of mostly Muslim university professors demanding that he be let out on bail. Below is the letter in question to which so many have added their names.
https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/articles/2018/outrage-at-tariq-ramadan%E2%80%99s-unjust-treatment
Make no mistake. This list is a who's who of questionable academics, Israel-bashers, and Islamic chauvinists including several from the Islamic Republic of Iran, not exactly noted for its own sense of justice. This is a country that hangs gays from construction cranes, and they are complaining about French justice. Note also the signatories from Qatar, a country that supports Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and God knows who else.
I also note from Turkey the name of Sami al Arian, who was once a University of South Florida professor until he was arrested and charged with supporting Middle East terrorist organizations. He was deported from the US to Turkey.
I also note the name of al Arian's son-in-law, Jonathan Brown (a Muslim convert) at Georgetown University who has even written in defense of the old Muslim practice of taking sexual slaves. Who needs exorcisms when you have Jonathan Brown at Georgetown? There is also John Esposito at Georgetown, one of the biggest apologists for Islamist extremism in the US. Speaking of apologists, the UK has no bigger apologist for the beauties of Islam than Karen Armstrong. Of course, you won't see Armstrong advocating for the release of activist Tommy Robinson, who sits in a UK prison surrounded with screaming Muslim fellow prisoners calling for his head just because he filmed the outside of a courthouse where the latest gang of Pakistani sexual groomers was on trial. Ditto for all the other UK signatories.
Yasir Qadri, a controversial Muslim leader in Memphis, is also on the list. While his critics have charged him with being against Christians and Jews, he insists he is a moderate, but he has implied that none other than the US Government is running ISIS.
"I am becoming more open to the idea that the people running the show amongst ISIS are not Muslims at all, but rather those who wish to portray Islam in the worst possible light.
One simple fact: before ISIS's brutal beheadings, the American population was so weary of war that they did NOT want to send troops or get involved in the Syrian crisis. Now, after ISIS has beheaded so many Western citizens, public opinion has changed and it appears war is imminent. Coincidence? Or convenience? Allah knows best."
Also signing on is the controversial Dalia Mogahed, a US-based Muslim female activist who has praised the benefits for Muslim women under sharia. Here is one entry for Mogahed from the Investigative Project on Terrorism. Let's just say that while she may have been an advisor to President Obama (a scary thought), moderate Muslims do not consort with people from Hizb-ut-Tahrir, an Islamic supremacist organization.
How about University of California at Berkeley professor Hatem Bazian, co-founder of the little brown shirts of Students for Justice in Palestine, the (Palestinian) man who once called for an intifada in the US? Bazian, as I love to point out, is a two-trick pony whose issues are bashing Israel and whining about Islamophobia. He is the co-founder of something called the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Center at UC Berkeley. Sounds impressive, but when I checked it out a few years ago, all I found was a broom closet located in room 638 of Barrows Hall. Of course, nobody was there.
Dr Khaled Abu-El Fadl at UCLA is another dime a dozen Islamic victicrat. He has a hook with the LA Times, which is always ready to publish one of his whining op-eds. When it comes to issues of sexual abuse under Islam, this guy is a real expert. In fact, he has spoken on the subject at UCLA.
http://dailybruin.com/2015/04/09/ucla-professor-to-addresses-islamic-states-abuse-of-women-in-lecture/
“This event addresses misconceptions about Islam and ISIS,” Tricic said. “People often think that Muslims are responsible for ISIS or that ISIS is a representation of Islam.”
Tricic said she reached out to Abou El Fadl because he is an expert in Islamic law."Here is more on El Fadl:
https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/articles/2010/ucla-s-professor-of-fantasy-on-khaled-abou-el-fad
Then there is Richard Falk, professor emeritus from Princeton, former special UN rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, who blames Israel for all the world's ills. No matter how many atrocities the Palestinians commit against Israelis or their own people, Falk always blames it on Israel. He was a perfect fit at the UN.
And speaking of Princeton, last but not least is the always quirky Norman Finkelstein. He once was a professor until he got canned by DePaul. The last time he came to speak at UC Irvine (against Israel, of course) , he was billed as "independent scholar with a PhD from Princeton". Finkelstein is widely regarded as an unstable crackpot.
I will not bother to research and comment on the names I am unfamiliar with. Let me return to Ramadan. I heard him speak twice in Southern California in 2012 when he was on tour (after Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state, lifted the entry ban on him). He is an impressive speaker, and if you don't listen carefully, he comes across as a real moderate, which I don't believe he is. I actually had a chance to chat with him briefly one on one at Loyola Marymount University during a break. I asked him about his call for a moratorium-not abolition- but a moratorium on stonings.
The point is that I don't know whether Ramadan is guilty or innocent of the charges in France. Either do the signatories to this letter. There may be valid reasons for pre-trial detention if the French believe he is a flight risk, will try to pressure witnesses, or presents a public danger.
But when you look at the names I have singled out who are on this letter, it strikes me as nothing more than solidarity with Ramadan because he is a prominent Muslim man accused of rape by women. While some of the signatories are non-Muslims (and women), most are Muslims who believe in sharia law, which includes provisions that a woman must have four male witnesses to a rape. In some cases, signatories come from countries like Iran where legal protections mean nothing. Even the UK (note the Tommy Robinson case) has cast aside freedom of speech.
In short, the letter stinks.
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