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Star Ledger 05-09-2008
Brian Dononhue
Mitsu Yasukawa/The Star-LedgerImam
Mohammad Qatanani greets supporters who hold a rally across
the street from Peter W. Rodino Jr. Federal Building in
Newark today.
 Mitsu
Yasukawa/The Star-LedgerSupporters
of Paterson Imam Mohammad Qatanani rally in Newark today.
A Jewish rabbi, Roman Catholic and Episcopalian priests, a
federal prosecutor and two sherriffs took the witness stand
today to heap praise upon a popular Muslim cleric as his
attorneys began presenting their case for why he should not be
deported.
Mohammad Qatanani, imam of the Islamic Center of Passaic
County in Paterson faces deportation for allegedly failing to
disclose on his 1996 green card application that he had been
arrested and pleaded guilty to aiding the terrorist group Hamas
in an Israeli military court three years earlier.
His attorneys argue that Qatanani was detained
administratively, convicted in absentia and subject to
interrogation tactics Israel's top court later outlawed as
torture.
Among the witnesses subpeonad by Qatatani's lawyers was
Assistant United States Attorney Charles McKenna, who described
numerous trips to the Paterson mosque as part of an effort to
create better understanding between law enforcement and the
Muslim community.
As an example, he said investigators often interpreted the
tendency of Muslim women to not look them in the eye as a sign
of deceit. Through the dialogue at the mosque, they realized it
is routine in Arab culture for women not to look men outside
their family in the eye.
"It's important for us to have leaders in the Islamic
community who will be accepting of us and give us inroads in the
community," he said.
The sheriffs of two north Jersey counties echoed McKenna's
statements that the mosque's open door policies had helped
investigators become more familiar with cultural aspects of the
Muslim community.
But they also described a more personal connection they had
made through their cooperation with Qatanani.
"When I'm in his presence, and he does have a presence, this
small, unassuming person, he doesn't say "boo" but he gives me a
better feeling of peace," said Bergen County Sheriff Leo
McGuire. "I feel better as a person to be with him."
Jerry Speziale, the sheriff of Passaic County echoed
McGuire's testimony saying Qatatani "radiates peace."
Christopher Brundage, one of two Department of Homeland
Security attorneys serving as prosecutors in the case, pressed
Speziale and McGuire, asking if they would have different
opinions if they had known about Qatatani's alleged ties to
Hamas.
Speziale said he would need to see proof of the conviction
himself. McGuire said, "It would surprise me," but added, "it
cannot change my mind about what I have observed."
See video from Thursday.
See photos from Thursday
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