WEST ORANGE -- Ever since she can remember, 11-year-old Yasmine El Farra has felt comfortable both teasing her imam about his foreign accent, and considering him a man of quiet spiritual strength.
"He makes America proud, makes the flag MORE red, white and blue," El Farra of Wayne wrote in a poem, she read before more than a 100 people gathered Thursday night to toast Imam Mohammad Qatanani, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Passaic County.
The Thursday night dinner at the Atrium Country Club was a swanky affair, but the topic was serious.
On May 8, Qatanani begins a three-day trial in federal court in Newark that will determine if he and his family can remain in Paterson, where they have lived for more than a decade. Supporters of the Palestinian cleric expect thousands of backers from across New Jersey and New York to rally in front of the courthouse during the trial.
"This voice needs to be heard going forward," said Rabbi David Ross Senter, of Congregation Beth Shalom in Pompton Lakes. "Our legal system must treat this with blind justice."
The case hinges on whether Qatanani failed to disclose to U.S. immigration investigators that he had been convicted by an Israeli military court in 1993. Qatanani and his supporters argue that he was detained during a visit to the West Bank and eventually released without charges. Only years later did he learn from U.S. officials, Qatanani said, that he had been charged with aiding terrorists.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have refused to discuss the case, other than to confirm Qatanani's court date. Qatanani has acknowledged participating in the Muslim Brotherhood, an international Islamic organization, while studying at the University of Jordan. The Brotherhood is not a part of the State Department's list of terrorist organizations.
Qatanani's lawyer, Claudia Slovinsky, said the federal government has contacted two experts on Israeli courts and a FBI official to testify against him. Her roster of a dozen defense witnesses includes an assistant U.S. attorney, sheriffs from Passaic and Bergen counties, and other authorities on the Israeli legal system, she said.
Members of the mosque have asked U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie for support during an interfaith gathering in Newark last week. Christie said he was monitoring the case, but couldn't do more because his office does not have jurisdiction over civil cases.
Human rights groups have argued that thousands of Palestinians were taken into Israeli custody for questioning without any charge during the 1990s.
The Qatanani case has received national attention because of the cleric's visibility as a moderate Muslim who has reached out to law enforcement and other faiths. Mosque members spearheading Qatanani's campaign say they have sent 9,000 letters of support to the Department of Homeland Security, the trial judge and other national officials. They also have printed 20,000 brochures and 5,000 T-shirts with the slogan "Americans for Qatanani."
Proceeds from the $8 T-shirts have gone to the estimated $135,000 raised by the campaign. The money has been used for legal fees and publicity, according to Magdy Mahmoud, a Totowa businessman spearheading the grassroots effort.
"People are so emotionally attached to the imam," said Mahmoud, who helped recruit Qatanani to the Islamic Center in 1996. "They see him as a symbol of the Muslim community."
During the dinner, religious leaders of various faiths expressed how losing Qatanani would have wide-ranging repercussions.
"He needs to stay here," said Father Phil Latronico, pastor of Community of God's Love, a Catholic lay fellowship in Rutherford. "Because we would lose a true citizen and because I would lose a friend."The campaign has rented 30 buses to take supporters from New Jersey and New York City to the federal courthouse in Newark. Several large mosques in New York City will close during the trial for the faithful to kneel in prayer before the court, Mahmoud said.
Reach Heather Haddon at 973-569-7121 or haddon@northjersey.com.
