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Ehsan Jami (born April 20, 1985) is an Iranian-born Iranian-Dutch politician, activist and author who co-founded the former Central Committee for Ex-Muslims. He was previously a member of the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) before becoming active in the PVV founded by Geert Wilders.


Early life

Jami was born and raised on April 20, 1985, in
Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...
, Iran. His father is a doctor. His mother converted, later in her life, to Christianity. As son of a doctor, Jami enjoyed substantial privileges in Iran. 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 Dutch nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds Dutch nationality. The primary law governing these requirements is the Dutch Nationality Act, which came into force on 1 January 1985. Regulations apply to the entire Kingdom o ...
.


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 in the local elections of March 2006. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Jami started reading the Qur'an and Hadith, after which he decided he didn't identify with either. Jami criticized
Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God in Islam, God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. So ...
Muhammad, describing him as a "criminal". Together with Loubna Berrada (founder of the Advisory Committee for Integration, part of the
right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
Liberal party), Jami founded the Central Committee for Ex-Muslims in 2007. The organisation, supported by Afshin Ellian, 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 of Leidschendam-Voorburg on behalf of the Dutch Labour Party (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 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 Geert Wilders for the Dutch daily Volkskrant, 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 Tjibbe Herman Jan Joustra (born 6 February 1951) is a Dutch civil servant. He is chairman of the Association of Private Security Organizations and Detective Agencies (Dutch: ''Vereniging Particuliere Beveiligingsorganisaties en recherchebureaus (V ...
's remarks in '' Algemeen Dagblad'', 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. On 31 March 2008 he cancelled this project after being urged to do so by Dutch Minister of Justice Ernst Hirsch Ballin 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 Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, strong criticism of the PvdA, and comparing the Islamic Prophet Muhammad with Adolf Hitler, 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 The International Free Press Society (IFPS), founded on 1 January 2009, is a creation of the Danish Free Press Society. The stated purpose of IFPS "is to defend freedom of expression wherever and by whomever it is threatened". It has been describe ...
, a key component of the international counter-jihad network. In 2009, Geert Wilders announced that Jami had become part of the
Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...
. During the
2018 Dutch municipal elections The Dutch municipal elections of 2018 were held on 21 March in 335 municipalities in the Netherlands. This election determined the composition of the municipal councils for the following four years. The election coincided with the Intelligence an ...
, Jami was elected to Rotterdam council as a member of the
Livable Rotterdam Livable Rotterdam ( nl, Leefbaar Rotterdam) is a local political party in the municipality of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, which was founded by Ronald Sørensen in 2001. Livable Rotterdam won the council elections of March 2002 due to the chari ...
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".


See also

* List of former Muslims


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