Cleveland Imam Throws in the Towel

(Cleveland, Ohio) To replace Fawaz Damra, the former and now-deported imam of the Cleveland Islamic Center, 38-year-old Ahmed Alzaree, the former spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Omaha, was selected and hired. But that's old news.

Fresh news is that Alzaree has resigned his new position a mere three days before he was scheduled to start.

But no sooner did the mosque announce his hiring than bloggers posted part of a 2003 "end times" sermon in which Alzaree quoted the Prophet Muhammad saying one sign of the approach of the Day of Judgment is that "the Muslims will kill the Jews." Bloggers also reported that Wagdy Ghoneim, a controversial cleric, spoke at the Omaha mosque.

Alzaree said last week that the sermon gave many examples of Islamic teaching on the Day of Judgment and that it was clear that Muslims in the present were required to "strive and struggle in the world doing the good." He also said the administration of the Omaha mosque invited Ghoneim to speak.

As of Thursday afternoon, Alzaree had been planning to come to Cleveland, vowing to make an extra effort to reach out to Jewish and Christian leaders.

But as Web sites such as Central Ohioans Against Terrorism and Jihad Watch continued to probe, using such terms as "two-faced jihadist," Alzaree said he and his wife concluded they could never have a good beginning in Northeast Ohio.

"I leave the field" to the bloggers, he said Monday. "I have peace now."

Therefore, the bloggers did the actual research to determine Alzaree's spiritual underpinnings and he says as much. Note that it wasn't the Cleveland mainstream media who checked out Alzaree. Nor was it the Islamic Center of Cleveland, represented by General Secretary Zahid Siddiqi and President Zuhair Hasan. On the other hand, maybe they're not irritated by "monkeys, pigs and kill the Jews" sermons.

Interestingly, Alzaree was reportedly hired because of his reputed interfaith accomplishments. I guess, in some type of compartmentalized thinking, "kill the Jews" and interfaith peace and tolerance can occur without schizophrenia. But, I'm just guessing. Alternatively, I'd suspect mendacity.

Patrick Poole of Central Ohioans Against Terrorism and Tom Blumer of BizzyBlog should be commended for their work in exposing the skeletons in Alzaree's closet. Go check out their research.

By the way, Alzaree says he's weighing a number of other opportunities. Let's hope his new neighbors do an Internet search on his name.

Others covering the Alzaree story: Little Green Footballs, Jihad Watch, Right Angle Blog

Companion post at The Jawa Report.