Excerpt:
Tariq Ramadan was in the Netherlands to talk about his dismissal by the city of Rotterdam and the Erasmus University because of his ties with Press TV in Iran. 'It is all about the local elections.'
Tariq Ramadan (47) made a quiet yet combative impression as he told of his disappointment in the Rotterdam city executive, the board at Erasmus University, and above all, Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb. The mayor should have stood up for him, he said, when the city council asked for his dismissal because of his connection to the government-financed Iranian television station Press TV.
He is especially piqued by a remark Aboutaleb made in April during a debate in the city council about Ramadan's alleged homophobic statements. "We could sit out this construction, but my advice would be: never again."