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Last update - 22:24 09/05/2008 Rabbi testifies in support of Hamas-linked imam facing U.S. ban By The Associated Press Tags: Hamas, Imam Mohamman Qatanani  A rabbi has testified in support of a Muslim cleric facing deportation from the United States. Rabbi David Senter testified Friday in a New Jersey courtroom that Imam Mohamman Qatanani tried bring together people of different faiths. Qatanani faces deportation for not disclosing a 1993 conviction in Israel on his U.S. citizenship application. The Israeli military charged Qatanani with being a member of the militant Hamas organization. Advertisement Qatanani claims he was not aware of the conviction and says he was subjected to physical and mental abuse while in detention. The trial is in its second day. According to Israeli military authorities, Qatanani admitted being a member of the militant Hamas organization during interrogation in 1993 in Israel. "Imam Mohammed Katanani was convicted based on his own admission on charges of belonging to an unauthorized association and providing services to an unauthorized association, for being a member of Hamas and acting on its behalf," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press. The U.S. State Department includes Hamas on its list of "designated foreign terrorist organizations." Anyone identified as a member or a supporter of an organization on the list can be refused entry to the U.S., according to Lucille Cirillo, spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. According to the army statement, an Israeli military court sentenced Qatanani to three months in prison and a 12-month suspended sentence, and also fined him. Qatanani, who heads the Islamic Center of Passaic County in Paterson, faces possible deportation for not disclosing the conviction when he applied for citizenship in 1999. He is scheduled to appear before immigration Judge Alberto J. Riefkohl in Newark on May 8. Qatanani has said he was not notified of the conviction until last year when he appealed a 2006 ruling denying his citizenship application. He also has denied being a member of Hamas. Qatanani referred questions about the alleged confession to his attorney, Claudia Slovinsky, who said her client was the victim of physical abuse by Israeli authorities while in detention. "It is beyond reputation that in the Israeli detention system in 1993, interrogations included abusive methods that most people would consider torture," she said. According to Slovinsky, these included sleep deprivation, hoods, loud music and a technique in which detainees were kept shackled in uncomfortable positions for hours at a time. Slovinsky said she has not seen the confession and that lawyers representing U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement had not produced it by a court-ordered deadline last Friday. "We don't do guilt by association here," Slovinsky said. "We have due process. If they have something on Mr. Qatanani, then they should bring it out." ICE attorneys involved in the case declined to comment, and a spokesman for ICE did not comment other than to confirm Qatanani's trial date. Qatanani is married and has six children, three of whom were born in the U.S. and three in Jordan. The three foreign-born children would be subject to deportation along with Qatanani and his wife, Sumaia. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- and after it was revealed that several of the hijackers lived for some time in Paterson -- Qatanani gained notoriety for his efforts to reach out to other religious leaders and law enforcement authorities. His mosque offered classes explaining Islam to those of other faiths, and he was praised by the FBI for providing Arabic speakers to help translate interviews with community members. Political leaders, including Gov. Jon S. Corzine, have expressed support for Qatanani, and the imam's followers have raised about $135,000 for his defense in recent weeks. They are planning a rally in Newark on the day his trial begins, according to Aref Assaf, president of the Paterson-based American Arab Forum. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Siniora vs. Hezbollah The Lebanon prime minister accuses Hezbollah of staging a coup. Plant down - again Palestinians say tha Gaza power plant has closed due to a fuel shortage.   1.   Some kind of Justice 00:41  |  El-Birawi 10/05/08   2.   Confession procured by torture? 01:16  |  W 10/05/08   3.   rabbi(?) 02:01  |  Shmuelshachor 10/05/08   4.   From the New York Times 02:06  |  Mark of Lewiston 10/05/08   5.   NYT Link 02:57  |  Mark of Lewiston 10/05/08   6.   Mark of Lewiston 03:05  |  Mark Lincoln 10/05/08   7.   Mark Lincoln - Our Tax Dollars at Work 04:12  |  Mark of Lewiston 10/05/08   8.   Let The Imam Stay 07:37  |  Art Skell 10/05/08   9.   for the safety of the country 09:37  |  samos 10/05/08   10.   iman facing deportation 10:21  |  elliot 10/05/08   11.   More to this story than meets the eye.. No 4. 11:07  |  Palestinian Brit 10/05/08   12.   #10 he belongs to a terrorist organization 11:34  |  samos 10/05/08   13.   Pretty astonishing 12:24  |  Tarik 10/05/08   14.   ElBirawi Typicallly Arab 13:19  |  Aby 10/05/08   15.   So we the Lucifers torture an imam for keeping him 3 months?? mmm 13:37  |  Alain 10/05/08   16.   To #8: Thanks...can we send some hundreds more? 13:38  |  Alain 10/05/08   17.   the law is the law....he is Hamas let him live in Jordan 14:31  |  r 10/05/08   18.   Living under Occupation 14:42  |  El-Birawi 10/05/08   19.   Anyone who LIES on their application 15:38  |  Lynn 10/05/08   20.   # 13 Tarik ...who is so astonished 15:41  |  Lynn 10/05/08   21.   Lynn - did he lie? 17:33  |  Palestinian Brit 10/05/08   22.   No 15 Alain 17:35  |  Palestinian Brit 10/05/08   23.   Another case of Israeli torture & secret trials & convictions 17:43  |  POP 10/05/08   24.   RE: :iving under occupation 18:27  |  M 10/05/08   25.   Lynn - then why can`t the US offer ANY evidence? 18:52  |  Mark Lincoln 10/05/08   26.   Aby Aby Aby torture torture tortue 19:17  |  Palestinian 10/05/08   27.   # 21 Pal Brit......don`t you read? 19:33  |  Lynn 10/05/08   28.   DID THEY SHAKE HANDS WITH LITTLE HITLER 20:34  |  tobia 10/05/08   29.   The thing of it all is.... 20:36  |  raden 10/05/08   30.   # 25 Mark Lincoln....His attorney claims 21:51  |  Lynn 10/05/08   31.   Group of Jews trying to avoid terrorist deportation 22:09  |  Ulf 10/05/08   32.   naive blind obviously brain dead rabbi. if he even is one 22:20  |  ralph 10/05/08   33.   Lynn - Twists and Turns 23:21  |  Mark of Lewiston 10/05/08   34.   21 Palestinian Brit - Did He Lie? 23:33  |  Mark of Lewiston 10/05/08   35.   Notoriety? 02:23  |  Motic 11/05/08   36.   # 2 W....the NYT? LOL!!!!!! 02:24  |  Lynn 11/05/08   37.   Who is Rabbi David Senter? 02:25  |  Joe 11/05/08   38.   #26 02:41  |  Uzi 11/05/08   39.   send him home to Jordan 04:36  |  Jennifer 11/05/08

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