Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan, a vocal critic of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, said Wednesday that the State Department has lifted a five-year ban that has prevented him from entering the United States.
“The decision brings to an end a dark period in American politics that saw security considerations invoked to block critical debate through a policy of exclusion and baseless allegation,” the Oxford University professor said in a statement published by Reuters.
“Under the Bush administration, academics and intellectuals were frequently excluded on the false pretext of security. Today’s decision reflects the Obama administration’s willingness to reopen the United States to the rest of the world, and to permit critical debate.”
The Swiss-born Ramadan, a grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna, was to begin teaching at the University of Notre Dame in the fall of 2004 when the Department of Homeland Security revoked his visa. Officials cited a donation he made to the Swiss-based Association de Secours Palestinien, which the Bush administration said provided funds to Hamas.
Ramadan has said he was unaware of any connections between ASP and terrorism. In his statement, he said the reasons given for the ban “were nothing more than a pretence to prohibit me from speaking critically about American government policy on American soil.”
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging his exclusion on behalf of the American Academy of Religion, the American Association of University Professors and the PEN American Center.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said Wednesday that it welcomed the order signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to reverse the ban.
“We welcome this move by the Obama administration to permit a respected scholar and voice for religious moderation to enter our country,” CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement. “This is a step toward beginning to repair the damage to our image among Muslims worldwide.”
