EVER SINCE the Sept. 11 attacks nearly seven
years ago, there have been two movements in this
country: those who have been making grass-roots
efforts to create interfaith understanding among
the Abrahamic faiths and heal this nation, and
those in the government who have been using the
politics of fear and division to further their
aspirations with regard to invading Iraq,
winning elections and fighting what they
consider to be the war against terrorism.
With the trial of Imam Mohammad Qatanani now
under way, it seems that those two movements
have clashed right here in North Jersey.
Qatanani, of the Islamic Center of Passaic
County in Paterson, has been living in this
country for 14 years, and in that time he has
garnered the respect of congressmen, religious
leaders and federal agents who believe he is a
vital part of interfaith understanding in the
post-Sept. 11 world.
But despite that fact, Immigration and
Customs Enforcement officials want to deport him
because, they say, he failed to disclose in his
green card application a 1993 Israeli Military
Court conviction against him for assisting
Hamas.
"What they are saying in Israel [about me] is
common for all men from Palestine," said
Qatanani. "Sometimes they want to collect
information and question, other times they want
to get someone to stop talking. They detained me
14 years ago for three months, they released me
and I left home. There was no conviction or
charges presented to me at that time. I never
even stood in front of a judge."
Rabbi assists defense
Many respected individuals are now coming to
the aid of Qatanani, including Rabbi David
Senter, who took the stand as a character
witness. And as the prosecution continues to
press its case, their methods and implications
have been divisive and outrageous.
In an effort to discredit the image of
Qatanani as the interfaith bridge-builder that
he is, the prosecution questioned Senter about a
sermon Qatanani once gave, the message of which
was that God has divided people into righteous
believers, disbelievers and hypocrites. The
sermon was based on a quote from the Quran, the
Muslim holy book.
But the attempt to corner the rabbi and
change his testimony into something damaging for
Qatanani backfired — in a big way.
"Quoting the Quran out of context in an
effort to discredit the imam is frightening,"
said Senter in a statement he released to the
press. "The same thing can be done with the
Torah or Christian Scripture, in an effort to
cast a shadow on any religious leader. I was
shocked that a representative of the U.S.
government would use the tactics of hate-mongers
in an effort to tip the scales of justice. Islam
and the Quran are not on trial."
Indeed, the prosecutor may believe that
attempting to scare the jury into believing that
Qatanani is an internal threat to our way of
life is his job, but the American people are not
gullible. They know it's that method of
operation that got us into Iraq and made us more
unpopular around the world. It has done nothing
but divide this nation.
Full circle
It seems that this country has come full
circle in the last seven years. Immediately
following the Sept. 11 attacks, the Muslim
clerics were considered the bad guys, and
American government officials were the good
guys. Now, however, with regard to the trial of
Qatanani, those roles have apparently reversed
in the eyes of many local residents.
Moving forward, the prosecution would be wise
to learn from the example of Qatanani, Senter
and the many others in North Jersey who have
worked to embody the best of what America stands
for: an interreligious group of Americans
working to live in peace, harmony and democracy.
Not false accusations, fear and distance.
Ahmed Soliman's column appears Thursdays.
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