By WAYNE PARRY

May 24, 2004

Israel's dealings with the Palestinians have long been the top
grievance of many Muslims and Arab-Americans when they think about the
Middle East.

But the prisoner abuse case and America's other setbacks in Iraq are
increasingly linking the United States with Israel in the minds of
many Muslims, who now equate American treatment of Iraqis with Israel
treatment of Palestinians _ surely one of the last things President
Bush hoped for when he authorized the war in Iraq.

"The more you look at Iraq, the more you see a replica of what is
happening in the West Bank," said Hani Awadallah, president of the
Arab-American Civic Organization in Paterson. "The story is no longer
that we are there for liberation. It is clear to everybody that we are
there as conquerors."

That view differs from those of major American Jewish groups, who say
Israel is defending itself against terrorist attacks, and reject any
link to the prisoner abuse in Iraq.

"Israel is engaged in a life and death battle with Palestinians," said
David Elcott, the American Jewish Committee's interreligious director
for the United States. "That has nothing to do with the U.S. sending
troops to Iraq.

"The tragedy is the perception of Muslims is that they are under
assault by the West," he said. "It's not a surprise to recognize that
Muslims will see this in the same way they see the crusades and
colonialism."

But many Muslims and Arabs have long seen a U.S.-Israel link in terms
of foreign aid and political support.

Televised images of American troops battling insurgents in Iraq _ and
graphic footage of wounded and dead civilians _ resonate among a
Muslim community long used to seeing similar pictures beamed from
Palestinian refugee camps.

At the Islamic Center of Passaic County, one of New Jersey's most
influential mosques, many worshippers express concern.

"The same thing is happening in Iraq and in Palestine: One force has
all the power and the other side is trying to defend itself and find
its liberty," said Nabil Abbassi, the center's president.

"The whole reason we went to Iraq was to liberate it," he said. "What
is going on is not liberation. All the problems of the people in the
jail and the animosity toward the U.S. doesn't help us. It's
definitely heading in the wrong direction. We're getting ourselves
deeper and deeper into a quicksand situation."

Ahmed Shedeed, director of the Islamic Center of Jersey City, put it
more succinctly: "An occupation is an occupation."

Imam Mohammad Qatanani, spiritual leader of the Paterson mosque, has
regularly condemned Israeli actions in the occupied territories. But
in his recent sermons, the United States is cast in the same light.

"In Iraq is the U.S., and in Palestine is Israel," he told worshippers
a week ago. "These two powers nobody can mess with and nobody can
criticize. If you criticize, you're a terrorist, and you will be a
criminal. What is happening in the Abu Ghraib jail, how could people
support that? It is a crime against humanity.

"Occupation is worse than terrorism," he said. "It is a bigger crime,
it is even bigger than terrorism. If you really want to stop
terrorism, end the occupation first."

Qatanani has consistently been among the more moderate Islamic
religious leaders in New Jersey, and indeed, his sermon also included
numerous denunciations of violence of all sorts. He and his
congregation are precisely the type of Muslims the Bush administration
is counting on to support American policies in Iraq and the Middle
East.

It doesn't seem to be working so far.

"This administration, God forbid, God forbid, God forbid _ I say it
three times _ if George Bush will be in the White House again, he will
destroy America's standing in the world," Awadallah said. "To be
ignorant, arrogant and self-righteous is a dangerous combination, and
he's got all three."

Outside the Paterson mosque's front door after Qatanani's sermon,
Mazooz Sehwail had a table set up urging people to sign petitions and
form letters to President Bush, U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., and
Rep. William Pascrell, D-Paterson, condemning "war crimes" committed
by Israeli forces in the occupied territories. Scores of people
eagerly did so.

Sehwail, who lives in Paterson, said the prison abuse "is against
humanity itself."

"It hurts the reputation of America as a superpower," he said as he
waved copies of the letters above his head to attract worshippers
streaming out of the mosque. "We don't want America to look bad in the
eyes of the world as a human rights abuser. This whole war was wrong
from the beginning. Even that minority who supported American policies
in the Middle East now will change their minds.

"Since they (U.S. troops) got there, the situation in Iraq has gotten
worse, and we see it is by the hand of America," he said. "We see them
doing the same things Saddam did."

Even seemingly coincidental events are being read by many as part of
an organized western assault on Islam. On the same day that Israeli
forces opened fire on unarmed Palestinian protesters in the West Bank,
an American aircraft opened fire on what it termed an insurgent
stronghold, but what Iraqis insist was a wedding party, killing more
than 40 people.