This charming, erudite Muslim scholar is secretly out to destroy the free world.
That pretty much sums up the message critics of Tariq Ramadan sent Thursday at a press conference on the eve of two lectures by the controversial Oxford University professor at the Palais des Congrès.
“Tariq Ramadan has come here to make sure our children become the fifth column against Western civilization,” Tarek Fatah, founder of the Canadian Muslim Congress, told the conference organized by Point de Bascule, a group opposed to Islamic fundamentalism.
Zuhdi Jasser, founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy in Phoenix, Ariz., and Naser Khader, a Danish member of Parliament who is a secular Muslim, participated by Skype.
Controversy swirls around the handsome, eloquent Ramadan, a Swiss citizen who preaches that observant Muslims can make an important contribution to pluralistic Western society.
On his last visit in November, the organizers of Thursday’s press conference sponsored a full-page advertisement in Le Devoir accusing Ramadan of hiding his true views on Muslim fundamentalism behind a facade of moderation. That didn’t stop more than 800 people from attending the sold-out speech.
Jasser called Ramadan “a PR machine” whose goal is to promote Islamic regimes around the world.
“I would ask you not to take Ramadan at face value,” he said.
But Shelina Merani, Ottawa coordinator of Muslim Presence, an organization that promotes Ramadan’s ideas, said such charges are baseless.
“He’s trying to build bridges. They’re trying to burn the bridges,” she said of Ramadan’s opponents.
Last week, Ramadan visited the United States for the first time since 2004, when the Bush government barred him from entering for having made donations to a charity linked to Hamas, the militant Palestinian group. The Obama administration recently lifted the ban.
Critics say it’s almost impossible to nail down Ramadan on issues like the stoning of women. In 2003, Ramadan said in an interview he favoured a moratorium on the practice but refused to come right out and condemn it.
However, Fatah denied opponents want to prevent Ramadan from expressing his views.
“He should be allowed to speak but we have the right to expose him for what he is.”
mascot@thegazette.canwest.com
Tariq Ramadan will speak in English on “Muslims in the West: Beyond Integration” at 6 p.m. at the Palais des Congrès in Hall 710. At 8:15 p.m. he will give a talk in French.
