Radwan Masmoudi: “No Fly” Watch List Victim

Sheila Musaji

Posted Nov 30, 2011      •Permalink      • Printer-Friendly Version
Bookmark and Share

Radwan Masmoudi: “No Fly” Watch List Victim

by Sheila Musaji


Radwan Masmoudi is the Founder and President of the Center of the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID), a Washington-based non-profit organization dedicated to promoting freedom, democracy, and good governance in the Arab/Muslim world. He has also been the Editor-in-Chief of the Center’s quarterly publication, Muslim Democrat. 

Dr. Masmoudi has explained the goals of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy:

In the United States, we hope to educate the public and the policymakers that it is in the US national interest to promote freedom and democracy in the Arab/Muslim world.  Our old policy of giving tacit (and sometimes not so tacit) support to dictators and oppressors in the Arab and Muslim world will only exasperate the situation and make the situation much worse. 

Our nation was built on the great moral principles of equality, justice, and freedom and our foreign policy must be in line and in conformity with these principles.  Our annual conference, we have had six so far, is held in Washington DC every year (usually in April) and brings together around 300 democracy scholars, activists, and practitioners from all the over the world.  All of these papers have been published online (both in English and in Arabic, and soon in other languages) to enlighten the public about these issues.  In the Muslim world, CSID has organized over 30 seminars, conferences, and workshops on democracy, tolerance, and good governance in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Turkey, and Iran. 

We also organized two major international conferences in Nigeria and Sudan on “what is Shariah?” and how it can be modernized and updated, through the process of Ijtihad, to address the needs of the Muslims in the 21st century.  Very soon - God willing - CSID will be opening two regional offices, one in Morocco and one in Jordan, and launching a new Network of Democrats in the Arab world.  The purpose of this network will be to share knowledge, experience, and information as well as to provide training to young democracy activists so that their voice and their organizations become better able to reach and attract the masses.  Similarly, we are working on publishing a new textbook (in Arabic) that will be used to train over 2,000 people in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, and Jordan on democracy and how it works.

Radwan Masmoudi has written and published several papers on the subject of democracy, diversity, human rights, the rights of women, and tolerance in Islam. In recent years, Radwan has visited, organized events, and spoken at major international conferences in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Jordan, Sudan, Nigeria, the Philippines/Mindanao, Germany, South Africa, Lebanon, and Tunisia.

Radwan Masmoudi is well-known both nationally and internationally, and his views have been widely published.  He has been a staunch defender of democracy, of minority rights, and of freedom of religion,  Here are a few quotes from Dr. Masmoudi:

The need for Americans to understand Islam, and the need for Muslims to understand America, has never been greater. In both camps, voices of ignorance, prejudice and stereotypes are growing stronger and creating hatred and fear. Moderate and peace-loving Christians, Muslims and Jews must bond together to work for justice, peace, harmony and respect in our shrinking global village. Nonviolent struggle for justice, freedom and equality, combined with dialogue and understanding, are the only way to address grievances, resolve disputes, or establish peace on earth.  **

Religious freedom is very important—the idea of no compulsion in religion. To have it [compulsion in religion] defeats the purpose of religion, it defeats God”Ëœs will. Islam really emphasises that people have to decide to believe. There were many examples in Muslim history where people in mosques were debating the existence of God, especially in the first three centuries. I believe that a religion has to be a matter of free choice. That is the way God intended it.  **

Democracy is the key because it will give us the opportunity to talk about all these other problems and to solve them. It will take time. We need the freedom to talk about what Islam means in the 21st century.  **

Liberal Muslims believe that human beings are created free and that if you take away or diminish freedom, you are in fact contradicting human nature as well as divine will. Unlike the rather starkly opposed “liberalisms” of the United States and Europe respectively, Islamic liberalism, emphasizes both the liberty of the community (ummah) from occupation and oppression, and at the same time the liberty of the individual within the community. Liberal Islam remains marginal only because its potentiality is politically suppressed; in truth, it represents the predominant political hopes of Muslims around the world.  **

Islam is compatible with democracy and can be interpreted in a way that supports democratic values and principles.  Unfortunately, Islam (like all other religions) can also be interpreted in a way that it becomes compatible and supportive of oppression and tyranny.  The problem that all of us as Muslims face is which interpretation of Islam will finally win; the old interpretations which may have been valid 6, 10, 14 centuries ago but may not be valid today, or a modern interpretation of the text that can be enlightened and progressive, and yet genuinely Islamic and authentic.  I believe -and we are all working very hard to achieve this- that ultimately a modern, progressive, and tolerant interpretation of Islam will succeed, but this will not be easy because current regimes are not allowing Muslims (and the masses) to participate in this debate or to listen to different views and opinions.  **

The main objectives of CSID are to contribute to the promotion of democracy, good governance, freedom, and human rights in the Arab and Muslim world.   **

Radwan Masmoudi is a citizen of the United States, and has contributed greatly to the promotion of democracy and human rights in the Muslim world.  And yet, his name appears on a Department of Homeland Security watch list.  He is a high profile example of a system that has failed, and that in the way it is being implemented is un-American.  Those of us who have signed the letter below hope to see Radwan Masmoudi removed from this list, but we also hope that the entire procedure used by DHS will be investigated and corrected.

Here is the text of the letter that was sent on November 28th to Secretary Janet Napolitano on behalf of Radwan Masmoudi of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy. 

Secretary Janet Napolitano
Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528


Dear Secretary Napolitano,


We - the signatories of this letter of appeal - are writing out of concern for the treatment of a colleague and friend for whom we have great respect.  Dr. Radwan A. Masmoudi, a dual citizen of the United States and Tunisia, has been struggling since 2005 to get his name removed from the “No Fly” Watch list.  As he wrote to you in 2009, Dr. Masmoudi flies domestically and internationally an average of 2-3 times a month.  As he has described it to us, without fail, he is subjected to a delay of approximately 1 hour each time before his boarding pass can be printed and he is allowed to board the plane. Upon arrival in the United States, he is always subjected to humiliating and embarrassing searches and interrogations (which last between 2 and 3 hours) about his travel itinerary, the meetings or conferences he attended, and the participants and subjects of these meetings and conferences.  On several occasions, DHS officers have come inside the aircraft or waited by the exit doors to escort him to the interrogation rooms, through customs and baggage claims. In addition to the countless hours of his life that have been wasted answering the same questions repeatedly, and the painful humiliation and degradation of being “pulled” in front of his fellow citizens and sometimes in the company of his wife and four US-born children, Dr. Masmoudi has missed his flight on numerous occasions and has had to pay hotel and meal expenses out of pocket.

In 2010, after filing a second official TRIP complaint, he received a Redress Control Number: 2115204.  But he has yet to receive an actual redress, and since he last wrote, the debilitating, time-consuming, and too often humiliating disruptions of his travel upon leaving and returning to the US have persisted, with no discernible sign of change.  Through it all, he has been remarkably patient, but you can imagine how years of this kind of treatment wears on a person.

We know Dr. Masmoudi as a committed democrat who has been working for many years to reconcile the Islamic faith with democratic principles, and to promote democracy throughout the Islamic world.  He is not only a proud American citizen, but his work is very much in the national interest of the United States, and his Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) has received grants and awards from the National Endowment for Democracy, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and the UN Democracy Fund, among many other notable foundations.  Dr. Masmoudi has worked tirelessly for the past 12 years to improve relations between the United States and the Muslim World, and to build bridges of understanding, brotherhood, and cooperation between people of all faiths and backgrounds.  We think the United States needs him to continue doing this work.  And he needs to travel to do this work.

We know that in this post-9/11 era, many names have gotten confused with others, and the net of vigilance was initially cast very wide. We also know that in this dangerous world, leads must be tracked down to several degrees of separation.  We know it can take some time to have innocent people removed from this list.  But, with this open letter, we appeal to you.  Given that Dr. Masmoudi has been dealing with this problem for seven years now, and given the importance of the work he is doing to advance our vital national interest of promoting democratic values and institutions within the Muslim world, we very much hope that the highest priority and attention can be given to this appeal. 

Dr. Masmoudi, more than any person we know, has helped improve US-Tunisian relations, garner support for democracy in the Arab and Muslim world, and help implement a successful transition to democracy in Tunisia.  We think an expedited effort to resolve this petition is not only the right and fair thing to do for Dr. Masmoudi at this point, but an important thing to do for the United States as well.


Thank you,

Larry Diamond
Director, Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law
Stanford University

Carl Gershman
President
National Endowment for Democracy

David J. Kramer
President
Freedom House

John L Esposito
University Professor
Georgetown University

Nathan J. Brown
Professor of Political Science and International Affairs
George Washington University

Steven Heydemann
Senior Adviser
U. S. Institute of Peace

Akbar S. Ahmed
Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies
American University

Alfred Stepan
Wallace S. Sayre Professor of Government
Director, Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion
Columbia University

Francis Fukuyama
Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law
Stanford University

Marina Ottaway
Senior Associate, Middle East Program
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Robert R. LaGamma
President
Council for a Community of Democracies (CCD)

Saad Eddine Ibrahim
Member, CSID Board of Directors
Founder and Director, Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies

Asma Afsaruddin
Chair, CSID Board of Directors
Chair & Professor, Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures
Indiana University

Hrach Gregorian
President
Institute of World Affairs

Stephen McInerney
Executive Director
Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED)

Daniel Brumberg
Senior Adviser
Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention, USIP
Associate professor at Georgetown University

Additional Signers (in alphabetical order):

Charles Aquilina
Program Director
Initiatives of Change

Salam Al-Marayati
Executive Director
Muslim Public Affairs Council

Margot Badran
Senior Fellow
Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding
Georgetown University

Peter Bechtold
Chair Emeritus for Near East/North Africa Area Studies
Foreign Service Institute, US Dept. of State

Steven B. Bloomfield
Executive Director
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
Harvard University

Whitney Bodman
Associate Professor of Comparative Religion
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Richard W. Bulliet
Professor of History
Columbia University

David Dorn
International Affairs Director,
American Federation of Teachers

John P. Entelis
Professor of Political Science and Director
Middle East Studies Program
Fordham University

Carl W. Ernst
William R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Thomas Farr
Visiting Associate Professor
Georgetown University

David French
Chief Executive (2003-09)
Westminster Foundation for Democracy

Graham E. Fuller
Former Vice-Chair
National Intelligence Council

Marc Gopin
Director of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution
George Mason University

Joseph K. Grieboski
Chairman of the Board
Institute on Religion and Public Policy

Yvonne Haddad
Professor of the History of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding
Georgetown University

Nader Hashemi
Assistant Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics
Josef Korbel School of International Affairs
University of Denver

Neil Hicks
International Policy Advisor
Human Rights First

Barbara Ibrahim
Director, Gerhart Center for Civic Engagement and Philanthropy
Cairo, Egypt

Douglas M. Johnston
President
International Center for Religion & Diplomacy

Jamil E. Jreisat
Professor of Public Administration & Political Science
University of South Florida

Merve Kavakci-Islam
Lecturer of International Relations
George Washington University

M. A. Muqtedar Khan
Associate Professor
University of Delaware

Joseph N. Kickasola
Professor of International Policy
Regent University

Mary Knight
Visiting Scholar
New York University

Charles Kurzman
Professor of Sociology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Howard LaFranchi
Diplomatic Correspondent
The Christian Science Monitor

Joseph Loconte
Associate Professor of History
The King’s College

John McClaughry
President, Institute for Liberty and Community
Vermont

Oliver McTernan
Director, Forward Thinking
UK

Joseph V. Montville
Program Director
School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
George Mason University

Siraj Mufti
Director International Center for Peace and Justice
Tucson, Arizona

Sheila Musaji
Editor
The American Muslim

Robert A. Pastor
Co-Director, Center for Democracy and Election Management
Professor of International Relations
American University

Ted Piccone
Senior Fellow and Deputy Director
Foreign Policy at Brookings Institute

Angel Rabasa
International Policy Analyst

Rev. John C. Rankin
President,
Theological Education Institute (TEI), International

Richard C. Rowson
Vice President, Board of Directors
Council for a Community of Democracies (CCD)

Omid Safi
Professor of Religious Studies,
University of North Carolina

Bob Schadler
CSID Board Member

Abdallah Schleifer
CSID Board Member
Professor Emeritus American University in Cairo
Middle East Institute

Timothy Samuel Shah
Associate Director& Scholar in Residence
Religious Freedom Project, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, Georgetown University

Emad El-Din Shahin
Henry R. Luce Associate Professor
University of Notre Dame

Robert Shedinger
Associate Professor of Religion
Luther College

David Smock
Concerned Citizen

Tamara Sonn
Kenan Professor of Humanities
College of William & Mary

Philippa Strum
Broeklundian Professor Emerita
City University of New York

Antony T. Sullivan
Vice Chair
Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy

Nayereh Tohidi
Professor in the Gender and Women’s Studies
California State University

John Voll
Professor of Islamic history
Georgetown University

Michael Wolfe
Author

William Zartman
Jacob Blaustein Professor Emeritus
School of Advanced International Studies
The Johns Hopkins University

cc: President Barack H. Obama, The White House
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman Chairman (ID) (CT), Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Chairman, D-Vermont, the Senate Judiciary Committee
Hon. Bennie G. Thompson (MS-2), Chairman of the full Committee on Homeland Security
Hon. John Conyers Jr. Chairman, (D) Michigan, 14th, House Judiciary Committee
Hon. Keith Ellison, (D) 5th District of Minnesota

 

Permalink