In his "Nothing but Propaganda" letter, Edward Williams goes on a
veritable tour de force of hateful rhetoric, poorly constructed
distortions and of course outright lies. The scope of his anger and
venom towards anything and everything that is associated with Arabs
and/or Muslims is truly breathtaking.
Now on the facts of the legal case that Williams so clearly has
not absorbed. Williams writes that "while filing for his visa
application back in 1996, Imam Qatanani conveniently omitted the fact
that he was detained in 1993 by the Israeli military."
The question on the immigration application does not simply ask
whether a person was detained or arrested, rather it asks whether a
person was detained or arrested for a crime or a violation of any laws
either in the United States or anywhere else. It does not take an
attorney or a person with an advanced degree to understand the
difference in these statements. Imam Qatanani and his attorneys
answered correctly when they replied "no" to this question, because in
fact he was not "detained or arrested for a crime or a violation of any
law." He was detained and imprisoned for three months by Israeli
military authorities and then released and allowed to travel freely
both inside Israel and back to Jordan. There was no "convenient"
omission of this detention as Williams’s states but rather a legally
justified and accurate answer to the question.
As has been covered in both the local and national media, the
Israeli military authorities claim that they have an admission
statement and other documents implicating the Imam. These documents
lack any real authenticity, given that (1) they do not include a
confession statement that is normally part of the record, and the U.S.
government does not even purport to have any such signed statement; and
(2) the purported indictment document that the government has
introduced lists a defense attorney who did not represent the Imam. The
relevant point is that in the Israeli military court system, a defense
attorney can plead on behalf of a defendant without the defendant's
presence. All should also be aware that court testimony was offered
that in detention, the imam was subjected to mental and physical abuse;
note that the Israeli Supreme Court in 1999 ruled that the techniques
used during the period he was detained were in fact torture and were
henceforth banned.
Williams also makes the astounding claim that there is
"preferential treatment bestowed upon Qatanani." This claim may be
relevant in the bizarre world that he and other right wing fanatics
operate in, but the rest of the civilized world understands full well
the reality of the so-called "preferential" treatment "afforded" to
Arabs and/or Muslims.
With respect to the Imam’s association with the Muslim
Brotherhood. The imam was affiliated with the Jordanian Muslim
Brotherhood. The Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood is a legal organization
in Jordan and in fact is an active member of that nation’s
Parliament. This organization is not currently, nor has it ever been
listed as an illegal organization by the United States Government. For
those not fully engaged in foreign affairs, since its founding the
nation of Jordan has been one of our most strategic and important
allies. Further, unlike the majority of Arab states Jordan has a peace
treaty and full diplomatic relations with the state of Israel.
In addition, while it would be quite easy to respond to Williams
venomous words against Muslims in general and the holy Quran in
particular, the reality is that his words are so ludicrous that
responding at all may undeservedly dignify his anger. The only point
that his language proves is that Williams is an expert at googling
Anti-Arab/Anti-Muslim Web sites and blogs that so feebly peddle in the
dark allies of fear and hatred.
Finally, Williams’ attempt to impugn the character of Rabbi David
Sentor and Rev. Bill Potter display nothing more than his fear that our
nation can in fact live up to its highest ideals characterized by our
national motto "E pluberis unum" – out of many, one.
