Suicide bombing? Pah! “UK Memo Recommends Qaradawi Entry Visa: The memo said Qaradawi’s view on Palestine and Iraq are not unusual amongst mainstream Muslims.” That’s true: they’re not unusual. Neither was Nazism among Germans. Both are still abhorrent. From IslamOnline, with thanks to Sr. Soph:
CAIRO, September 4, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) — A restricted British memo issued after the London terrorist attacks recommended giving entry visa to renowned Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, The Observer revealed on Sunday, September 4.
“Exclusion … could turn Muslim opinion further against the UK and encourage some to move to violence against British targets,” cautioned the memo, written by Mockbul Ali, the Foreign Communication Office (FCO)’s Islamic issues adviser.
It noted that John Sawers, the Foreign Office’s director-general, supported giving the visa to the moderate scholar.
The memo came in response to a request from the Home Office on whether Qaradawi, head of the Dublin-based International Association of Muslim Scholars (IAMS), should be given an entry visa should he seeks one.
Following the attacks, carried out by four British Muslims and claimed by Al-Qaeda, London issued guidelines of “unacceptable behavior” under which it can deport and ban Muslim scholars accused of fomenting, justifying and glorifying acts of terror and violence.
Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, has threatened to take the British government to court if it banned Qaradawi from entering the country under the controversial guidelines.
“I don’t think he should be banned. He has opposed all acts of terrorism by Al-Qaeda around the world. He urged Arabs to donate blood after September 11,” he underlined.
Qaradawi swiftly condemn the grisly London attacks as running counter to the tents of Islam.
Mainstream
The memo recognized that Qaradawi’s views on issues like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Iraq reflect the mainstream opinion in the Muslim world.
“We certainly do not agree with Qaradawi’s views on Israel and Iraq, but we have to recognize that they are not unusual amongst Muslims.
“Refusing entry on these grounds would also open a Pandora’s box in relation to entry clearance for others in the Muslim world,” read the document.
The same argument was earlier upheld by Livingstone, who warned against exploiting the new guidelines against the likes of Qaradawi.
–¦there will be very few Muslim scholars or leaders that will ever be admitted to Britain because the vast majority of Muslims identify with the struggle of the Palestinian people”.
Qaradawi said that resisting the foreign occupation forces in Iraq and the Palestinian territories are a duty for all Muslims.
The venerable scholar, also a trustee of the Oxford University Center for Islamic Studies, repeatedly drew the line between the Israeli occupation and Jews.
“We do not fight Israelis because they are Jews, but because they took our land, killed our children and profaned our holy places,” he had said.
Livingstone apologized in July last year to Qaradawi “on behalf of the people of London” for the media fuss that overshadowed his last visit to Britain.
He had criticized the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which is led by a former Israeli intelligence officer, for fueling the hatred campaign.
A hatred campaign? What did MEMRI do? It printed what Qaradawi said. And once again doing so has been characterized by jihadist Muslims and their allies as “hatred.”