Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Rape Accusations Rip the Mask Off Tariq Ramadan's "Pose"



Steven Emerson, Executive Director
October 30, 2017

Rape Accusations Rip the Mask Off Tariq Ramadan's "Pose"

by Abigail R. Esman
Special to IPT News
October 30, 2017
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"Islam has no problems with women," Tariq Ramadan once said, "But Muslims clearly have serious problems with them."
The controversial Islamist speaker would know. Two French women came forward last week to accuse him of sexual abuse, and it is rumored they are not alone. In one case, Ramadan allegedly forced himself on a physically disabled woman, beating her and keeping her imprisoned in his hotel room overnight. Throughout, reports Paris Match, he subjected her to "repeated humiliations."
"The more I screamed, the more he struck me," the woman, a convert to Islam, has said.
The allegations came only days after French Muslim activist Henda Ayari filed a complaint accusing Ramadan of attacking her at a congress of the Union of Islamic Organizations of France (UOIF) in 2012. Ayari is well-known in French circles as a former Salafist who now works to empower Muslim women against fundamentalism and misogyny and to promote secular ideals.
She even wrote about the incident in her 2016 book, I Chose To Be Free (J'ai Choisi d'Etre Libre), , giving her assailant the name "Zoubeyr." Concerns for her privacy and safety, particularly when "Zoubeyr" threatened the lives of her children if she went public, have kept her silent since.
But Ayari felt emboldened after the Harvey Weinstein allegations transformed into a social media movement with the hashtag "#metoo." She revealed Zoubeyr's true identity on her Facebook page, and announced she had filed a complaint with the Rouen public prosecutor's office.
The details of what Ayari suffered at Ramadan's hands closely resemble those of his other accuser, as well as stories Ayari claims to have heard from several more women: insults, beatings, repeated humiliations. "It isn't so great for an ethicist of Islam," she wrote in I Chose To Be Free. "Yet, he continues to give lessons in Islamic morality, to pose as an enlightened philosopher, calm defender of a modern Islam."
The word "pose" is apt. Ramadan, the grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna, and son of Brotherhood leader Said Ramadan, grew up in Switzerland, where his father was forced to flee after being expelled from his native Egypt. He is fluent in several languages, is a professor at Oxford, and in 2004, was offered another teaching position at Notre Dame University. Yet revelations about donations he had made to charities that support Hamas soon created concerns among American officials. Days before Ramadan and his family were to relocate to Indiana, his visa was revoked. It was restored in 2010 after a court fight.
In 2007, the Dutch government invited Ramadan to advise on "bridge-building efforts" in Rotterdam, inspired by his speeches advocating integration by Western Muslims. But two years and €1.79 million later the government fired him, disturbed by his statements against homosexuality and his regular broadcasts for Press TV, the media propaganda arm of the Iranian regime.
Ramadan's "pose" has given him a reputation as "Janus-faced," or as French journalist Caroline Fourest has put it, leading a "double life." For all his talk about Muslims integrating into Western culture, he refused to denounce the stoning of adulterers in a 2003 debate with former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. He has called homosexuality "deviant" and "a sickness." Of women, he has written, "When walking in the streets austerity requires that you always cast you eyes down to the pavement." And of Islam in Western culture, he has stated, "We are in favor of integration, but it is up to us to decide what that means. ... I will abide by the laws, but only insofar as the laws don't force me to do anything against my religion."
If the allegations in Ramadan's case are proven, it seems "what that means" includes the right to sexually violate women. And as he himself notes, that appears to be a common "problem" for Muslim men in general.
Take, for instance, Mohammed Abdullah Saleem, the founder of the Institute for Islamic Education in Elgin, Ill., who pleaded guilty to multiple accounts of sexual molestation in 2016. One of his victims, a student at the school, was 14 at the time.
But that would not surprise people like the hundreds of women attacked in Cologne on New Year's Eve 2015. Nor would it surprise someone like writer Sufiya Ahmed. In a recent article for the Independent, Ahmed revealed the stories of several women who, despite being covered, had been sexually molested in the UK, sometimes by strangers. Many Muslims believe that lack of "modesty," or dressing in Western clothing, encourages sexual assault. "We receive calls on the helpline from Muslim women who disclose sexual assault and rape," Shaista Gohir, the chair of a helpline for Muslim women, told Ahmed. "They have been fully dressed. Some have been wearing the headscarf, [full robe], and even the face veil. The offenders have included family friends, family members, and also respected religious leaders in the community."
Such public statements, let alone the filing of charges against him, must come as a shock to someone like Ramadan, who has counseled, "Do not respond to attacks with attacks. Respond with mercy and respect." No doubt, "mercy" was exactly what he and his fellow rapists have been counting on. Instead, their accusers listened to another of his messages: "Be committed! Be courageous!" These women, coming forward with the truth, have been exactly that.
Abigail R. Esman, the author, most recently, of Radical State: How Jihad Is Winning Over Democracy in the West (Praeger, 2010), is a freelance writer based in New York and the Netherlands. Follow her at @radicalstates.

The IPT accepts no funding from outside the United States, or from any governmental agency or political or religious institutions. Your support of The Investigative Project on Terrorism is critical in winning a battle we cannot afford to lose. All donations are tax-deductible. Click here to donate online. The Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation is a recognized 501(c)3 organization.  

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France: New Anti-Terrorism Law Takes Effect

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  • Soeren Kern: France: New Anti-Terrorism Law Takes Effect
  • Judith Bergman: Surprise! Study Shows Islamic Terrorism is Islamic

France: New Anti-Terrorism Law Takes Effect

by Soeren Kern  •  October 31, 2017 at 5:00 am
  • The new law authorizes prefects to order the closure of mosques or other places of worship for a period of up to six months if preachers are deemed to express "ideas or theories" that "incite violence, hatred or discrimination, provoke the commission of acts of terrorism or express praise for such acts."
  • French police and intelligence services are surveilling around 15,000 jihadists living on French soil, Le Journal du Dimanche reported on October 9. Of these, some 4,000 are at "the top of the spectrum" and most likely to carry out an attack.
  • Of the 1,900 French jihadists fighting with the Islamic State, as many as one-fifth have received as much as €500,000 ($580,000) in social welfare payments from the French state, Le Figaro revealed on October 26.
Pictured: Police patrol the Champs-Élysées in Paris after a terrorist attack on April 21, 2017, in which one police officer was killed and another wounded. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
French President Emmanuel Macron has formally signed a new counter-terrorism law which gives prefects, police and security forces wide-ranging powers — without the need to seek prior approval from a judge — to search homes, place people under house arrest and close places of worship. The measure also authorizes police to perform identity checks at French borders.
The new law, adopted by the French Senate on October 18, makes permanent many of the previously exceptional measures imposed under a two-year-old state of emergency, which was introduced after the jihadist attacks in Paris in November 2015. That state of emergency was slated to expire on November 1.

Surprise! Study Shows Islamic Terrorism is Islamic

by Judith Bergman  •  October 31, 2017 at 4:00 am
  • Although the internet evidently did play a role in the radicalization process, the study showed that face-to-face encounters were more important, and that dawa, the proselytizing of Islam, played a central role in this process, as the men themselves became missionaries for Islam.
  • The third factor was the establishment of a "them and us" distinction between the radicalized men and the rest of the world, especially the belief that the West is an enemy of the Muslim world. The distinction also involved a rejection of democracy and a commitment to the establishment of a caliphate governed by sharia law, which the men want to bring about either through dawa (proselytizing) or violence (jihad).
  • "The Islamic State is a byproduct of Al Azhar's programs. So can Al Azhar denounce itself as un-Islamic? Al Azhar says there must be a caliphate and that it is an obligation for the Muslim world. Al Azhar teaches the law of apostasy and killing the apostate. Al Azhar is hostile towards religious minorities, and teaches things like not building churches, etc. Al Azhar upholds the institution of jizya [extracting tribute from non-Muslims]. Al Azhar teaches stoning people. So can Al Azhar denounce itself as un-Islamic?" — Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah Nasr, scholar of Islamic law, graduate of Egypt's Al Azhar University, explaining why it refused to denounce ISIS as un-Islamic, 2015.
In 2015, Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt -- a prestigious institution that educates mainstream Islamic scholars -- refused to denounce ISIS as un-Islamic. (Image source: Sailko/Wikimedia Commons)
Western leaders insist that Islamic terrorism has nothing to do with Islam. Evidence to the contrary appeared again this week from Mohamad Jamal Khweis, an ISIS recruit from the United States who said in a 2016 interview with Kurdistan24, "Our daily life was basically prayer, eating and learning about the religion for about eight hours." Khweis was sentenced to 20 years in prison on October 27 for providing material support to ISIS, according to CBS News.
As early as 2001, immediately after 9/11, then-President George W. Bush gave a speech in which he claimed that in the United States, the terrorist acts in which over 3,000 people were killed "violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith" and that "Islam is peace".
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TUESDAY Security Update: The Manafort Indictment: Not Much There, and a Boon for Trump

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The Manafort Indictment: Not Much There, and a Boon for Trump

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Do not be fooled by the "Conspiracy against the United States" heading.

Clinton's secret sale of twenty percent of American uranium is far more of a disadvantage to America than a benefit to Russia. American patriots do not sell twenty percent of our essential American uranium. It is a stunning betrayal of America.

Soon we will know whether congress will assure a future competent EMP Commission - and I am not hopeful.

You probably hadn't heard because it didn't get a lot of attention, but David Daoud Wright was convicted in a Boston federal court last Thursday of conspiring to cut Pamela Geller's head off.

Manafort told to surrender on charges related to Russia probe

At every turn, Democrats get tangled in their own ‘collusion' web.

If "the best and the brightest" were involved in negotiating the nuclear deal, it appears they all were sitting on the Iranian side of the table.

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During President Al Sisi's press conference upon his visit to France a few days ago , a journalist asked about Egyptian human rights. The President replied that Egypt is suffering from disorder and chaos, adding, "I am keen to establish a modern and civil state."

I have watched the entire series, but canceled my subscription to the show via AMC when, out of the blue, it introduced Islam in a big way...

Demonstrating that it was never about Lee, Washington's plaque as well will be pried out of its pews at Alexandria's Christ Church -- in a unanimous vote.

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Eye on Iran: Steven Mnuchin Presses Allies to Tighten Iran Sanctions


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TOP STORIES


The Trump administration wants to work with Washington's allies to ramp up sanctions on Iran, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an interview Monday, but he stopped short of calling for special action against firms conducting business with Iran's military corps, which the administration has targeted for added scrutiny.


Iran's official IRNA news agency says the Iranian air force is holding its annual military exercise to show off its ability to safeguard the country's airspace. The drill is taking place near the central city of Isfahan, a region that is home to the country's key nuclear facilities, including the Natanz uranium enrichment plant.


Behrooz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said on Monday that Iran has put nuclear-propulsion system for vessels on its agenda as part of efforts to counter the anti-Iran U.S. moves. 

NUCLEAR & BALLISTIC-MISSILE PROGRAMS


The head of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard says the country's supreme leader has limited the range of ballistic missiles it makes to 2,000 kilometers, or 1,240 miles... The range of 2,000 kilometers would encompass much of the Middle East, including Israel and American bases in the region.

U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS


Iran says talks with the United States are unlikely without a "fundamental change" in American behavior.

SANCTIONS RELIEF


Imports of Iranian crude by major buyers in Asia rose in September for a third straight month to their highest since March, boosted by a surge in purchases in China and South Korea. 


With most sanctions lifted, Iran is going all-in on its potential to become a transport hub in the heart of Eurasia, returning the country to its traditional position as a vital link between East and West. However, Iran's transportation dreams have a major problem in the current reality: decades of sanctions have left the country's rail lines archaic and in disrepair. To fix this, Iran is devoting 1% of its oil and gas sales to rail development, amounting to a roughly $25 billion initiative to revitalize its existing rail network as well as add on 10,000 kilometers of new rail lines by 2025 - creating a yearly demand for roughly 8,000-10,000 new wagons in the process. Iran's rail ambitions are currently a shining beacon for rail engineering and rolling stock firms from all over the world, who are lined up at the gates of Tehran licking their chops in gleeful anticipation for the infrastructure building melee that is about to begin.

RUSSIA & IRAN


Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss the Syria crisis and energy cooperation with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iran's top authority supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei when he visits Tehran on Wednesday, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS


Iran condemned the "bloodthirsty Zionist regime" of Israel after the IDF destroyed a Hamas terror tunnel on Monday that crossed into Israeli territory. "

IRAQ CRISIS


Iranian Chief of Staff General Mohammed Baqeri announced on Monday that Tehran will remove border restrictions with Iraqi Kurdistan "within days" after they were closed in wake of the Kurdish independence referendum in late September. Tehran already re-opened the Bashmagh crossing last week. Baqeri warned that if Kurdistan implemented its plan to break away from Iraq, "there would be bloodshed in Iraq and neighboring countries would be affected", reported Reuters. The Iranian announcement comes a day after Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani said he would give up his position as president on November 1, after the referendum he championed backfired and triggered military action by the Baghdad.






Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eye on Iran is not intended as a comprehensive media clips summary but rather a selection of media elements with discreet analysis in a PDA friendly format. For more information please email press@uani.com.

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.