Tariq Ramadan: Visa denied to scholar

The U.S. State Department has again denied a visa to Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss scholar teaching at the University of Oxford, who has been invited to speak and teach in the United States. In June, a federal judge ordered the government to either grant a visa or provide an explanation of why it would not do so. The visa was denied on the basis of donations Ramadan made to charitable groups in France that the State Department says support terrorism through Hamas. Civil liberties and academic groups are attacking the visa rejection, noting that Ramadan disclosed the donations, that the groups he gave money to are registered charities in France, and that Ramadan is seen by many as a leading Muslim voice against terrorism. Roger Bowen, general secretary of the American Association of University Professors, said he was “deeply distressed” by the latest action. “At this time more than ever, it is crucially important that academic discourse remains unfettered, and the government has struck a blow against that fundamental principle.”