“I will not have my credibility damaged this way,” said Tariq Ramadan, on holiday in Morocco, after he was fired as an integration adviser and a visiting professor in the Netherlands’ second city.
Are you surprised by this decision?
“Instead of listening to both sides of the argument and basing its decision on facts, I received an sms from the city board saying I would be informed after their meeting. Don’t I get a chance to defend myself? I was appointed to improve the dialogue in the city, but the municipality, of all institutions, is incapable of communicating. I had to hear from a journalist, no less, that the board planned to get rid of me. I am still waiting to hear from Grashoff [the responsible city executive].
“Is there such a thing as decency and consultation in your country? I am deeply concerned about the Netherlands. Those who treat their guests like this can never expect them to embrace the prevailing norms and values.”
You are saying the municipality is hypocritical?
“Panic rules in the Netherlands, thanks to politicians like Geert Wilders. They dominate the integration debate with their populist language. Rotterdam is susceptible to those sentiments as well. Yes, even the university is.
“I am also a professor at the prestigious Oxford university. Questions were raised in England as to my work for Press TV as well. In Rotterdam, however, people were waiting for a reason to cast me aside. My dismissal says more about the worrying political state of your country than about my person.”
You should have distanced yourself from Press TV, the city and university are saying. The appearances are against you, they say.
“I weighed my decision after consultation with Iranian friends and colleagues. With my show I open the door to sensitive issues such as the position of women. I can discuss those without any interference from the authorities. Watch the shows! Your city executive should try to understand the complex political situation in Iran. I would have liked to explain certain things to them, but the city didn’t give me that opportunity. Talk about respect.
“There was one telephone call that lasted less than five minutes on Friday. I sent a written reply and we agreed to get back to each other on the issue. That too appears to have been a lie. I didn’t hear anything for five days, until that journalist phoned me.”
Why didn’t you notify the municipality of your work for Press TV?
“I am attacked for not having been transparent. Again, the opposite is true. My involvement with the channel has been mentioned on my website for quite some time. Not for the first time, they are turning things around. Both the city and the university should have done their homework. Their failure is now pushed on my plate. I call that scandalous and their judgement short-sighted.”
What have you accomplished in Rotterdam?
“More than they are saying. I have held very constructive conversations with a variety of population groups. I wrote four reports, only one of which was published. Nothing was done with the others by the municipality. Again, I wonder who is outside of reality here?”
