Flawed reasoning in cautionary tale

In one of the letters under "Unreported details of imam's hearing" (Your Views, May 18 See below), Rabbi Benjamin Shull of Woodcliff Lake "shares this memory to remind readers that the image of a Muslim woman handing out American flags in support of Imam Mohammad Qatanani just might not paint the whole picture."

What does his memory of terrorists have to do with handing out flags? And what does it have to with the imam?

By his reasoning, a guilty Palestinian could imply Qatanani's guilt. I could just as easily say that one rabbi's poor reasoning means that every rabbi's reasoning is flawed.

Paul Hyduchak

New Milford, May 18

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I have been following your coverage of the Imam Mohammed Qatanani deportation trial and want to share my personal experience with another Palestinian's deportation case about a decade ago.

I was serving as a rabbi in Tampa, Fla. While I was attending a local interfaith clergy meeting, a Muslim woman came to speak to our group. She said her husband was being held unfairly by federal authorities and that her family was facing deportation. The authorities said her husband had ties to a terrorist organization, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. She said that was untrue. Her emotional appeal moved many in the group.

As it turned out, this woman was the sister of Sami al-Arian, a professor at the University of South Florida and head of World Islamic Studies Enterprise, a Muslim think tank once associated with the university. He pleaded guilty in 2006 to aiding Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He and his supporters still cry injustice.

In addition, one of al-Arian's colleagues at the think tank was Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Damascus. The FBI wants Shallah for a pattern of racketeering activities such as bombing, murder, extortion and money laundering. Although al-Arian brought Shallah to the University of South Florida, he still claims to be unaware of Shallah's connections to Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

I share this memory not to accuse Qatanani of any wrongdoing. The facts of his case speak for themselves. I share this memory to remind readers that the image of a Muslim woman handing out American flags in support of Qatanani ("Imam goes on defense," Page L-1, May 13) just might not paint the whole picture.

Benjamin Shull

Woodcliff Lake, May 13

The writer is a rabbi at Temple Emanuel of the Pascack Valley