By Robert Laurie ——Bio and Archives--October 21, 2015
Ahmed Mohamed loves two things: making clocks and freedom. If the media is to be believed (it's not) this terrific young man is a spectacular student, lauded by his longtime teachers, who simply made a homemade clock to bring to science class. He's also a Muslim who was denied the freedom he loves by the bigoted, racist, country he has the misfortune of calling home. All he wanted was to be accepted and live a quiet, peaceful, life ensconced in academic pursuits.
Except.... There was no science project. His "homemade clock" was just pile of digital clock guts removed from their housing. He kept plugging it in despite the fact that he'd been ordered not to. He was only three weeks into his freshman year and his teachers barely knew him. He was uncooperative with the police who questioned him. After police removed his handcuffs, his father allegedly demanded they be replaced so they'd be present in photos. Prior to visiting with Obama, he and his family met with Omar al-Bashir, the President of Sudan and architect of genocide commonly known as "the butcher of Darfur."Ahmed Mohamed, famous across the country as "Clock Boy," will be moving from the U.S. to Qatar. His family made the announcement Tuesday, just one day after his much-anticipated meeting with President Barack Obama. "After careful consideration of all the generous offers received, we would like to announce that we have accepted a kind offer from Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) for Ahmed to join the prestigious QF Young Innovators Program, which reflects the organization's on-going dedication to empowering young people and fostering a culture of innovation and creativity," the family said in a statement. Ahmed will receive a full-tuition scholarship to attend school in Qatar. His parents and two sisters will be moving as well.
The family's statement included one comment from Ahmed himself. "I loved the city of Doha because it's so modern," he said. "I saw so many amazing schools there, many of them campuses of famous American universities. The teachers were great. I think I will learn a lot and have fun too."Qatar, it should be noted, is a human rights nightmare. It has one of the highest concentrations of slave labor on Earth, is knee-deep in global human trafficking, restricts the speech and religious rights of non-Muslims, has virtually no civil rights law, outlaws homosexuality, uses flogging and stoning as criminal punishment, and is featured regularly in sentences like "the killer was radicalized in Qatar." Announcing this just one day after meeting with the U.S. President? That's a high quality slap in the face! We'd like to wish the Mohamed family, especially Ahmed's two sisters, "good luck" as they start life in their new country.
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