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Barred Oxford Professor to speak in New York

An Oxford Professor accused of donating money to Hamas is making his first visit to America since his visa was revoked.

On the 8th of April, Professor Tariq Ramadan will speak at the Cooper Union in New York City, on the subject of “Secularism, Islam and Democracy: Muslims in Europe and the West”. This will be his first visit to America since 2004 when he was barred from visiting the country under the Patriot Act.

Professor Ramadan was accused of donating $1,300 to a charity that funnelled money to Hamas, which is viewed as a terrorist organisation in the United States. At the time he was working at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Following this accusation, Ramadan’s American visa was revoked by the Department of Homeland Security. He subsequently resigned from his post at Notre Dame.

The Professor maintained that he did not realise where or to whom the money was going and sued for the reinstatement of his visa. In July 2009, a Federal Appeals Court reversed the ruling against him. In January 2010, the restriction against Ramadan was lifted, so that he could reapply for a visa.

Professor Ramadan is currently the Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at the Oriental Institute at St Antony’s College, Oxford. He was employed by one of Oxford’s academic departments in 2005, one year after being was barred from the United States.

The University Press Office declined to comment on the issue, stating “It is a matter for Professor Ramadan.”

 

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