Two Washington, D.C. area mosques hosted programs last weekend calling for the release of celebrity Islamist Tariq Ramadan, who has been in a French jail since February on rape charges.
He is the grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna.
Rallies at Virginia’s Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center and the Turkish government run Diyanet Center in Lanham, Md. were sponsored by the Aafia Foundation. It is named for convicted Pakistani terrorist Aafia Siddiqui, aka “Lady Al-Qaida,” a Pakistani convicted of opening fire on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
The foundation also led a march Monday to the French Embassy in Washington demanding Ramadan’s release.
Though a French court cleared him of raping one of the women last month, France considers Ramadan a flight risk. He remains imprisoned pending the outcome of the investigation into the other women’s allegations.
Aafia Foundation president Mauri Saalakhan, an anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist who defended former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, moderated the weekend programs.
Dar al-Hijrah has long been suspected of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and has been home to numerous terrorism suspects. Imam Sheikh Shaker Elsayed, known for defending female genital mutilation last year, defended Ramadan.
“His enemies know his value and his effectiveness, and that’s why they acted swiftly,” Elsayed said.
Ramadan’s case is a “cause for every Muslim,” Elsayed said.
“We know that every Muslim leader in the West has a sign on his back and forehead saying [they are] a target. If not by Western intelligence, by those who are afraid of Islam and there are some who are Islamophobes,” Elsayed said. “Do not let your leaders fall. When they do, our community falls right behind.”
Shelina Merani, a friend of Ramadan’s who spoke at both rallies, called him a “political prisoner” who is being treated like a terrorist. Saalakhan compared Ramadan’s case to Siddiqui’s, saying both are falsely accused.
“The only thing that comes close to what we are dealing with this case of what’s going on with Dr. Tariq Ramadan is that of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui,” Saalakhan said. “It’s the only other issue that comes close.”
Once again we have a case of pro-terrorist radicals working together to circle the wagons around one of their own.
