Vol. 72/No. 39      October 6, 2008

Qatanani, a Palestinian who has lived in the United States for 12 years, is an imam at the Islamic Center of Passaic County in Patterson, New Jersey. The federal government had tried to deport him on the grounds that when he filed for permanent residency in 1999, he did not disclose a 1993 conviction in Israel for aiding Hamas, currently the ruling party in the Gaza Strip. Qatanani explained that, like thousands of other Palestinians, he was detained by the Israeli government while returning home from visiting family in Jordan. He was never charged or convicted of any crime.

In unchallenged testimony, he described being tortured while in Israeli custody. He was forced to sit on a child’s chair for hours with his hands bound, kept in a freezing cell, and subjected to violence and threats.

“One would expect better evidence, assuming it actually exists,” immigration judge Alberto Riefkohl said of the government’s case.

Claudia Slovinsky, Qatanani’s attorney, said she expects the government may appeal. “If they do, they will lose,” she said.  
 
 
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