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Not worth the paper it\u2019s printed on?<\/div>\n

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For all the yearning for moderation in Islam and frank dialogue within the Muslim community about its problems, there has been a curious pattern recently in the targetting of Western Islamic scholars who attempt to visit the United States. Back in September, American authorities upheld their ban of noted Swiss academic Tariq Ramadan, who had a previous visa revoked in 2004 before he could begin a tenured position at the University of Notre Dame (he was promptly snatched by Oxford University in England). The final reason<\/a> given was a small contribution made to a Palestinian charity allegedly linked to Hamas (before the charities were blacklisted<\/a> by the US and the EU). Ramadan, whose efforts at modernisation have earned him the enmity<\/a> of more conservative Muslims, attributed the continued rejection to a fear of ideas<\/a>. \u201cI am increasingly convinced that the Bush administration has barred me for a much simpler reason,\u201d says Ramadan. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t care for my political views.\u201d In the few weeks since Ramadan\u2019s barring, the spate of scholarly refusals has continued. British Muslim leader Kamal Helbawy<\/a> was denied entry in New York on October 18, despite not being on any no-fly list and serving as an advisor to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Two South African scholars \u2013 Adam Habib and Fazlur Rahman Azmi<\/a> \u2013 were denied entry after reaching the US, visas in hand, prompting intervention<\/a> by the South African government, to no avail. \u201cDespite their claims of innocence, all of these people are problematic in some ways, and some of them are actual terrorists,\u201d said one anonymous State Department official. The office of Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes, which overlooks US relations with Muslims worldwide, acknowledged<\/a> the damage done to America\u2019s image. \u201cThere\ufffds no question that some of these incidents have created serious problems for us,\u201d said Dan Smith, Hughes\ufffds chief of staff. \u201cShe wants to find a way to fix this consistent with national security.\u201d Leaked documents show that the Department of Homeland Security is denying entry to those with \u201cirresponsible expressions of opinion\u201d (Yusuf Islam\u2019s decision to play guitar<\/a> for Dolly Parton, perhaps?). Investigative reports have shown that this \u201cType III\u201d list of people, who would not be barred under any other circumstances, can be denied entry to the US at the discretion of anyone who sees the list<\/a>. \u201cWhen we heard the name list or no-fly list \ufffd the eyes rolled back in my head, because we knew what was going to happen,\u201d says former FBI agent Jack Cloonan. \u201cThey basically did a massive data dump and said, \u2018Okay, anybody that\u2019s got a nexus to terrorism, let\u2019s make sure they get on the list,'\u201d That list includes, in addition to scholars, students, businessmen, and (cough) bloggers<\/a>. The irony in all this? At the same time Ramadan\u2019s visa and others were refused, former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami had his visa to the US personally approved<\/a> by President George Bush, who stated that he was \u201cinterested in what he had to say.\u201d For Muslim scholars and others based in the West, that interest appears to be waning.<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Zahed Amanullah is associate editor of altmuslim.com. He is based in London, England.\n<\/p>\n

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