The Flight of the Intellectuals by Berman Paul

The Flight of the Intellectuals by Berman Paul

Author:Berman, Paul [Berman, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781935554981
Publisher: Melville House
Published: 2010-04-15T00:00:00+00:00


It is true and it is wonderful that Ramadan has, on more than one occasion, condemned terrorist violence. Better still, his condemnations seem consistent with his larger program for the Muslim community in the West, which ought to require many agitations and protests, but nothing even remotely resembling a violent campaign. Anyway, the entire shape of Ramadan’s career would make no sense at all if ultimately he wanted to mold his followers into some sort of violent force. He has spent too much energy projecting his image and ideas onto the public stage in Western Europe and beyond, and too little energy organizing his Muslim followers into proper phalanxes, if his purpose were to lead a militant charge. Ramadan is said to have been influenced by the example of Malcolm X in the United States, or at least by Spike Lee’s Malcolm X—Malcolm, whose last letter in real life, unsent at his death, was addressed, or so it is claimed, to Said Ramadan at the Geneva Islamic Center. But Tariq Ramadan, who has something of Malcolm’s air of touchy dignity, has nothing of Malcolm’s demeanor of unstated threats.

Still, what does anyone mean by words like violence and terrorism? A necessary question, unfortunately. Bomb attacks on random crowds in the mass transit systems of Madrid or London are the very definition of terrorist acts, and I think that everyone would agree on the label, except for people who themselves might like to blow up a mass transit system. But what about bomb attacks on random bus-riders in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem? Ramadan’s position on this particular matter can only be described as layered. If Ramadan has put in a sympathetic word for the Israelis somewhere, I am not aware of it. He regards Israel as a colonizing entity. He applauds the Palestinian resistance. In keeping with his general condemnation of violence, he has been careful to specify, however, that not every action performed in the name of Palestinian resistance merits approval, and this is a crucial distinction to affirm. Then again, one of the passages in the introduction to his book Islam, the West and the Challenges of Modernity introduces a troubling nuance into his own distinction. The remark appears in the course of the breathless and emotional tribute to his recently-deceased father, and to his father’s selfless devotion to the principles of al-Banna.

About Said Ramadan, Tariq Ramadan writes, in a passage that has been translated less than gracefully: “Often, he spoke of the determination in his commitment, at all moments, against colonialism and injustice and for the sake of Islam. This determination was though never a sanction for violence, for he rejected violence just as he rejected the idea of an ‘Islamic revolution.’”

An “Islamic revolution” in this context means, I think, an armed uprising or coup d’état, which Said Ramadan rejected in favor of the slower, cannier and more cautious proceedings of the Muslim Brotherhood. But the passage continues. The time frame is evidently the late 1940s:

“The only exception was Palestine.



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