Palestinian Imam fights deportation

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

The day after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, FBI agents seeking Arabic interpreters turned to the Islamic Center of Passaic County in Paterson, where the imam, Mohammad Qatanani, instructed the faithful to lend the agents a hand.

In 2005, the New Jersey Senate tapped Qatanani to be the first Muslim to lead the opening prayer for a voting session, praising him as a voice of moderation and tolerance. And for years, Jewish and Christian clergy have called on Qatanani to speak at programs promoting interfaith dialogue. Twelve years after he arrived from the West Bank, however, Qatanani's days as the Garden State's most visible Muslim cleric may be coming to an end.

Qatanani, his wife and three children are facing deportation for his alleged failure to disclose a 1993 arrest by Israeli authorities on his green card application. Israeli military officials told the Associated Press he confessed to being a member of Hamas, a known terrorist organization. Qatanani denies the charge.

...

Muslim leaders and the rank-and-file faithful across New Jersey are calling it a watershed moment for a community that has often struggled for acceptance.

"If a man of moderation is being put out in this fashion, what kind of Muslim does America want?" said Aref Assaf, president of the Denville-based Arab American Forum.

Qatanani's supporters have raised $100,000 for his defense, printed shirts reading "Keep the Imam in America" and hired a fleet of buses to take them to a rally outside the courtroom.

His lawyer has assembled a list of character witnesses that includes a rabbi, three Christian clergymen, the Bergen County and Passaic County sheriffs and a prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark. U.S. Rep. William Pascrell (D-8th Dist.) has written a letter to the judge calling the imam "a gentleman who's had a tremendous positive influence."

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Seated in his office after Friday prayers, Qatanani said he and his followers fear that his deportation would erase "the kind of trust and the relationship" they have built with the community.

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"Because of the things he says, I always thought he was a U.S. citizen," Ismail Omran, a 43-year-old diner manager, said as he left the mosque Friday. "He says, 'This is our country, we have to support our country.' He made me feel like I am a part of this society."

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Qatanani says he was never formally arrested and never charged with a crime when he was among hundreds of Palestinians detained during the intifada uprising in 1993.

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/topstories/i...der_fights.html

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

[mawilson 2,133]

Gaza awaits....

[almaty 19]

i will see how this ends......

[mawilson 2,133]

Back to Israel soon!

"Hi Pop!"

"I Mam!"

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Interesting case. According to the unnamed Israeli sources, he allegedly made this confession this during a 1993 arrest ?

Apparently there are a number of questions about this story....

http://www.myheraldnews.com/view.html?type...mp;sub_id=28818

One more potential legal snag -- what year was Hamas listed by the U.S. State Dept. as a "terrorist organization" ?