Middle East studies in the News

Court Rules on Muslim Scholar Barred from US [on Tariq Ramadan]

by David B. Caruso
Associated Press
July 17, 2009

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i-8VQuFyOi4oVBDZ8cs2CGVYZuUgD99GDB980

http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/7793

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that U.S. officials should have given a Muslim scholar a chance to show he was no supporter of terrorism before barring him from the country.

Tariq Ramadan, a professor sympathetic to Palestinian resistance to Israel, had his U.S. visa revoked in 2004 as he was about to take a tenured teaching job at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

His subsequent applications for a new visa were denied on the grounds that he had donated $1,336 to a charity that gave money to Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that it was legal for the government to bar Ramadan from the country, but said it had an obligation to inform him of the concerns about his donations and give him a chance to prove he didn't know his money would go to Hamas.

The three-judge panel said it was possible that a consular official had, in fact, given him that opportunity, but there was no record of it before the court.

The case will now return to a lower court and the government will be given a chance to figure out more about the exact details of the conversations between Ramadan and the consular staff in Bern, Switzerland that handled his visa application.

Ramadan could also reapply for the visa, the court said.

Note: Articles listed under "Middle East studies in the News" provide information on current developments concerning Middle East studies on North American campuses. These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of Campus Watch and do not necessarily correspond to Campus Watch's critique.

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