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