Religion of Perjury

Fawaz Damra, Imam of the Islamic Center of Greater Cleveland, was convicted Thursday in federal court of lying on his immigration documents. Damra denied having ties to terrorist groups when he applied for citizenship several years ago, but he left an audit trail:

Investigators built their case on videotapes of Damra raising money and fervor for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. On the tapes, the cleric screams about the need to fight a holy war against "the sons of monkeys and pigs, the Jews."

Damra faces sentencing which could include stripping him of the U.S. citizenship that he fraudulently obtained.

One would expect that other Muslims would choose to distance themselves from a convicted immigration criminal. But the opposite seems to be true. At yesterday's prayer service at Damra's mosque:

nearly 1,500 people prayed with Damra, about double the normal turnout for an afternoon service on Friday

Perhaps CAIR should feature Damra in one of its 'I am an American Muslim' "public service announcements".

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at June 19, 2004 10:09 PM