Ehsan Jami (born April 20, 1985) is an Iranian-born Iranian-Dutch

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, activist and author who co-founded the former

Central Committee for Ex-Muslims The Central Committee for Ex-Muslims ( nl, Centraal Comité voor Ex-moslims) was a Dutch committee that aimed to aid Muslims who wish to leave Islam through the constitutional right of freedom of religion. In addition, the committee fought to bre ...

. He was previously a member of the

Dutch Labour Party The Labour Party ( nl, Partij van de Arbeid, , abbreviated as ''PvdA'', or ''P van de A'', ) is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of the Social Democratic Workers' Party, the Free ...

(PvdA) before becoming active in the PVV founded by

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (; born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the Party for Freedom (''Partij voor de Vrijheid'' – PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives (''Tweede Kamer'' ...

Early life

Jami was born and raised on April 20, 1985, in Mashhad,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. His father is a

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

. His mother converted, later in her life, to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. As son of a doctor, Jami enjoyed substantial privileges in

. In an interview, Jami stated: "My grandparents were Muslim, but my father was non-religious." Yet in a different interview made two years earlier, he had described his father as Muslim. Political engagement by Jami's father forced the family to leave the country. Together with his parents and his older sister, the then nine-year-old Jami arrived in the Netherlands in 1994, later obtaining Dutch nationality.

Career

Jami studied Management Science for one and a half year in the Netherlands and joined the Labour party as member in 2003. He was elected to the city council of

Leidschendam-Voorburg Leidschendam-Voorburg () is a municipality in the western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It had a population of in , and covers an area of of which is water. Origin The municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg is the resu ...

in the local elections of March 2006. After the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

in 2001, Jami started reading the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

and

Hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...

, after which he decided he didn't identify with either. Jami criticized Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

, describing him as a "criminal". Together with Loubna Berrada (founder of the Advisory Committee for Integration, part of the right-wing

Liberal party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

), Jami founded the

in 2007. The organisation, supported by

Afshin Ellian Afshin Ellian (born 27 February 1966 in Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian-Dutch professor of law, philosopher, poet, and critic of political Islam. He is an expert in international public law and philosophy of law. Biography In 1989, Ellian came to t ...

, aims to support apostates of Islam. Berrada left the committee shortly after it was founded because she felt Jami challenged Islam itself too much, saying: "I don't wish to confront Islam itself. I only want to spread the message that Muslims should be allowed to leave Islam behind without being threatened". From March 7, 2006, until November 6, 2007, he was member of the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

on behalf of the

(PvdA). From that date until 2010 he continued to be a member of the city council as independent member 'fraction Jami' On 4 August 2007, Jami was attacked in his hometown

Voorburg Voorburg is a town and former municipality in the west part of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Together with Leidschendam and Stompwijk, it makes up the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. It has a population of about 39,000 peo ...

by three men. The attack is widely believed to be linked to his activities for the committee. The national anti-terrorism coordinator's office, the public prosecution department and the police decided during a meeting on 6 August that "additional measures" were necessary for the protection of Jami who has subsequently received extra security. In September 2007, he penned an op-ed together with PVV politician

for the Dutch daily

Volkskrant ''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized ...

, likening the threat of Islam to the rise of Adolf Hitler's National Socialism in the 1930s. It was a response to National Antiterrorism Coordinator Tjibbe Joustra's remarks in ''

Algemeen Dagblad The ''Algemeen Dagblad'' () or ''AD'' () (English: "General Daily Paper") is a Dutch daily newspaper based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. History and profile ''Algemeen Dagblad'' was founded in 1946. The paper is published in tabloid format and ...

'', who criticized the tone used by some people in the discussion about Islam. On October 4, 2007, Jami announced that he was working on a film project due to be released in February 2008 which he felt could be comparable in terms of controversy to the

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy The ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons controversy (or Muhammad cartoons crisis, da, Muhammedkrisen) began after the Danish newspaper ''Jyllands-Posten'' published 12 editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005, most of which depicted Muhamma ...

. On 31 March 2008 he cancelled this project after being urged to do so by Dutch Minister of Justice

Ernst Hirsch Ballin Ernst Maurits Henricus Hirsch Ballin (born 15 December 1950) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist. After the election of 1989 Hirsch Ballin was appointed as Minister of Justice in the Cab ...

and threats from Iran. However, after months of deliberation, Jami again decided to release the film. The short film was released on 9 December 2008. The announcement was followed by calls from European Islamic organizations for boycott of Dutch products. Dutch Premier Jan Peter Balkenende issued an apology for Jami's film. After expressing strong opinions against Islam, strong criticism of the PvdA, and comparing the Islamic Prophet Muhammad with

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, he was asked to give up his council membership as part of the PvdA. By refusing to resign and continuing as an independent member, he lost his membership of PvdA. Jami was allegedly cited in the writings of

Anders Behring Breivik Fjotolf Hansen (born 13 February 1979), better known by his birth name Anders Behring Breivik () and by his pseudonym Andrew Berwick, is a Norwegian far-right domestic terrorist, known for committing the 2011 Norway attacks on 22 July 2011. On ...

. Jami has been on the Advisory Board of the International Free Press Society, a key component of the international

counter-jihad Counter-jihad, also spelled counterjihad and known as the counter-jihad movement, is a self-titled political current loosely consisting of authors, bloggers, think tanks, street movements and campaign organisations all linked by apocalyptic bel ...

network. In 2009,

announced that Jami had become part of the Party for Freedom. During the 2018 Dutch municipal elections, Jami was elected to Rotterdam council as a member of the Livable Rotterdam party.

Criticism

Co-founder Berrada quit the committee in June 2007 because she felt Jami acts too aggressively towards the entire religion of Islam, stating: "I don't wish to confront Islam itself. I only want to spread the message that Muslims should be allowed to leave Islam behind without being threatened".

References

External links

* *
Extra protection for ex-Muslim Jami
,
DutchNews.nl
', August 7, 2007

- movie clip by Ehsan Jami {{DEFAULTSORT:Jami, Ehsan Former Muslim critics of Islam Dutch politicians Dutch socialists Iranian socialists Iranian emigrants to the Netherlands People from Mashhad 1985 births Living people Dutch former Shia Muslims Iranian former Shia Muslims Iranian former Muslims Dutch deists Dutch politicians of Iranian descent Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Party for Freedom politicians Livable Rotterdam politicians Iranian deists Dutch critics of Islam Counter-jihad activists

Early life

Career

Criticism

See also

References

External links