|
your government at work
US Department of Homeland Security renounces visa of scholar/writer Tariq Ramadan, under a section of the U.S. immigration law changed by the USA Patriot Act. (Chicago Tribune link; username: invisible-city, password: reader.) The new section "authorizes visa revocation because of someone's political activities if those efforts are seen as endorsing terrorism."
The Tribune describes Ramadan's work thusly: "Departing from traditional Islamic thinking, Ramadan has written that there are multiple interpretations of the Koran and that Muslims should engage in ijtihad, a perpetual process of interpreting the holy texts of Islam so that the faith evolves and is compatible with modern times."
...
The relevant passage here may be the final passage from Eric Michaels' Unbecoming : An Aids Diary. Writing on the Department of Immigration, after they denied him residency status in Queensland (despite his employment at a Queensland university) on the grounds that he presented "possible health risks for the general community," he writes:
"That people willing to do this exist staggers me. That they represent the official arms of the State depresses me more than I can say, or think." Labels: war_on_terror |
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
9:32 AM
|
