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An editorial note from Friends of Lebanon:  One of the fundamental ideas behind FOL has always been that dialogue is crucial to cooperation.  We must communicate with each other in order to find a level of respect that facilitates the peaceful co-existence of all belief and value systems.   In defence of this fundamental principle, we extend the platform offered by the UK Guardian to Lebanese scholar Ibrahim Mousawi—after an academic platform at SOAS had been denied him by UK officials.

Banned from Britain

By Ibrahim Mousawi

 

There is a special irony in having been banned from entering the United Kingdom on the grounds that my presence would not be "conducive to the public good." The idea, it seems, is to preserve and advance British society by outlawing expertise on a topic that has profound implications in Lebanon, and indeed in Britain as it embarks on a policy shift in the Mediterranean country.

I had been scheduled to deliver a lecture as part of a conference on political Islam at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. I had been looking forward to attending the event because I had participated in two similar academic gatherings at SOAS. I had found both of these events to be rewarding experiences because they had allowed for an open exchange of ideas. Moreover, I was eager to visit
friends who I had made during the course of my studies in the UK, where I had earned my PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Birmingham in 2007.

        

(left to right) Ibrahim Mousawi, SOAS Political Islam Course brochure and Jacqui Smith (UK Home Secretary)

 

On this visit, my planned presentation would have addressed Hizbullah's emergence and transformation from a nascent Islamist faction into a political party that represents the largest single block of constituents in Lebanon.

The topic is of particular interest in the UK now that the British government has decided to reverse its policy of boycotting the elected representatives of that particular group of Lebanese citizens. It would stand to reason that the Foreign Office's announcement that London will soon explore contacts with Hizbullah's political wing would necessitate that British scholars and others have a better understanding of those with whom their government is about to engage. But the ban on my entry effectively denied British citizens the right to hold their own open discussion and exercise independent judgement about this important matter of public policy.

What is most disconcerting about the decision to deny me entry was that it seemed to have emerged as a result of pressures applied against the government during the course of a political crusade against me. Before I even formally applied for a visa, I was subjected to a barrage of media vitriol in which I was tarred as an anti-Semite, a fanatic and a terrorist, among other libelous labels. This campaign of character assassination was waged, not with facts, but on the basis of selective misquotations and deliberate distortion of truth.

Those who know me can attest to my reputation as having devoted my academic - and previously journalism - career to building bridges between Hizbullah and visiting Western scholars and reporters, and to striving not toward fanaticism, but toward enlightening, informing and promoting understanding. They would also recall that I was the first to promote face-to-face engagement between representatives of the party and a group of American rabbis by inviting both to a conference in Beirut.

But those who have repeated these false accusations against me have no interest in any rebuttal that I or anyone else might make. They sought only to deny me an opportunity to deliver a message to my fellow scholars at SOAS, because they objected to my association -- whether past or present, real or imagined -- with the very same democratically elected party with which the British government now wants dialogue.

Had I been permitted to address the conference, I would have described Hizbullah's metamorphosis since its emergence in response to the Israeli invasion of 1982, as well as its current potential to adapt to future political realities. Such insights would have offered clues as to how the British government might best engage with the political wing of the party, and would therefore have arguably made my attendance at the conference conducive to the public good. But alas, that bridge was destroyed before it was ever built.

Ibrahim Mousawi speaking at the “World Against War” conference in London hosted by the Stop the War Coalition 1 December 2007