[Dean's World] Aziz P: Tariq Ramadan and the false godesses of muslim moderation

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Aziz P:
Tariq Ramadan and the false godesses of muslim moderation
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1159973363.shtml


     But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections
     on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be
     necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor
     internal controls on government would be necessary.

   ([1]Federalist Papers #51)

   Mary Madigan posed some [2]interesting questions a couple of days ago,
   and then [3]followed up with some answers, assessing whom the US
   Government considers an ally and who it considers an enemy in the war
   on terror. In my opinion, her answers betray a profound and dangerous
   naievete.

   This naievete is most evident in her unthinking acceptance of the
   government's arguments regarding Tariq Ramadan. She notes that he was
   recently denied a visa to enter the US (for an invited profesorship at
   the University of Notre Dame), for allegedly providing "material
   support" to a "terrorist organization". [4]Western Muslims and the
   Future of Islam In actual fact, Tariq Ramadan has never provided
   material support to a terrorist organization. Rather, he himself
   voluntarily disclosed to the US government that he had donated a small
   sum of money to Palestinian relief charities. Of these donations,
   [5]Ramadan says,

     ...the State Department cites my having donated about 600 Euros to
     two humanitarian organizations (in fact a French organisation and
     its Swiss chapter) serving the Palestinian people. I should note
     that this was not something that the State Departmentâs
     investigation revealed. To the contrary, as the State Department
     acknowledges, it was I myself who brought these donations to the
     State Departmentâs attention. The U.S. government apparently
     believes that the organizations to which I gave small amounts of
     money have in turn given money to Hamas. But the organizations to
     which I donated are not deemed suspect in Europe, where I live. I
     donated to these organizations for the same reason that countless
     Europeans - and Americans, for that matter - donate to Palestinian
     causes: not to provide funding for terrorism, but because I wanted
     to provide humanitarian aid to people who are desperately in need
     of it.

   Now you may be of the opinion that all Palestinians are terrorists,
   and that all organizations that seek to provide them relief from their
   miserable existence are really fronts for active terror orgs. I will
   mince no words - such a view makes you a [6]jafi, and a traitor (in
   effect, if not in intent) in the war on terror. A more reasonable and
   non-traitorous interpretation is that some such organizations are
   indeed terror fronts, and that some people's donations have indeed
   ended up in the pockets of Hamas. I don't think that is in dispute.
   But Mary assumes foreknowledge and intent to actively finance
   terrorists on Tariq Ramadan's part. On what basis? Ramadan is a role
   model for his lengthy life's work in [7]articulating the neccessity of
   muslim assimilation into European society - a body of work that Mary
   has assuredly not read. I urge people of less prejudiced inclination
   to read [8]Tariq Ramadan's own words on the issue and judge for
   yourself.

   Based on her willful acceptance of this slander against Tariq Ramadan,
   Mary goes on to conclude,

     Some self-proclaimed pious, moderate Muslims still consider Ramadan
     to be a role model despite his involvement with terrorism,
     instantly negating their claims of being pious or moderate.

   Then for the record, I am not moderate, nor do I wish to be considered
   as such. (With respect to being pious, I invite Mary to reflect on her
   own piety before judging mine.)

   Instead of an actual moderate like Tariq Ramadan, whose life's work in
   fostering a Western muslim identity directly supports our long-term
   goal in the war on terror of transformative change in muslim
   societies, Mary instead cites Wafa Sultan and Ayaan Hirsi Ali as
   archetypical muslim moderates. In other words, Mary prefers a
   definition of "moderate" that is extreme rather than mainstream - a
   truly Orwellian feat.

   The recent National Intelligence Estimate concluded that "[9]the
   Muslim mainstream emerges as the most powerful weapon in the war on
   terror" and this is a theme that Dean has attempted in his own way to
   [10]force conservatives to understand. Muslims like Irshad Manji, Wafa
   Sultan, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali are not the muslim mainstream - they in
   fact are opportunists who profit by positioning themselves outside the
   mainstream. 'Aqoul recently had a three-part series on these three
   women entitled "Anger as Analysis" ([11]I, [12]II, [13]III) that is a
   must-read, for anyone sincerely interested in why muslims such as
   myself instantly dismiss the credibility of anyone purporting to use
   these them as role models for "moderate" muslim behavior.

   In essence, this is the basic conundrum at the heart of the Bush
   Administrations' approach to the war on terror. As Mary notes, the
   official US government position on Tariq Ramadan is to exclude him,
   and the official position on Hirsi Ali and Wafa Sultan is to embrace
   them. Why? Ramadan argues,

     I am excluded not because the government truly believes me to be a
     national security threat but because of my criticisms of American
     foreign policies in the Middle East; because of my opposition to
     the invasion of Iraq; and because of my criticism of some of the
     Bush administrationâs policies with respect to civil liberties.

   In other words, the official government position is to reject the
   genuine ideological ally - the one who can appeal to the muslim
   mainstream. And embrace those who utterly reject and who are rejected
   by the mainstream, lauded by the very enthusiastically pro-war
   conservatives like Malkin and Robert Spencer as genuine moderates. The
   rationale by which an ally or an enemy is defined, then, is not
   whether they would provide support in our long-term goal of promoting
   Enlightenment values in the muslim world (values which Ramadan has
   internalized and forms the basis of his critique against the
   Administration). It is simply whether they provide "muslim cover" to
   the war in Iraq.

   In this sense, the war on Iraq has been an abject failure, because it
   has become the sine qua non of the war on terror. All other avenues by
   which we might pursue our objectives are rendered secondary to it.
   Even on the most important front of all - the front of the mainstream
   muslim mind, we are essentially cutting and running, so that political
   support for the ground war in Iraq can be maintained.

   Aside. As it is Ramadan, I have very little time for much other than a
   drive-by, so my post here will have to stand on its own merits without
   my active defense against the inevitable chorus of dissent in the
   comments. If that is insufficient, so be it.

References

   1. http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa51.htm
   2. http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1159811117.shtml
   3. http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1159902377.shtml
   4. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195183568?ie=UTF8&tag=unmedia-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0195183568
   5. http://www.tariqramadan.com/imprimer.php3?id_article=788
   6. http://cityofbrass.blogspot.com/2005/07/jafi.html
   7. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195183568?ie=UTF8&tag=unmedia-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0195183568
   8. http://www.tariqramadan.com/imprimer.php3?id_article=788
   9. http://dean2004.blogspot.com/2006/09/transcript-of-nie-executive-summary.html
  10. http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1159404710.shtml
  11. http://www.aqoul.com/archives/2006/05/anger_as_analys.php
  12. http://www.aqoul.com/archives/2006/06/anger_as_analys_1.php
  13. http://www.aqoul.com/archives/2006/06/anger_as_analys_2.php