Fawaz Damra: Out of the frying pan, into the fire

On ice

Last Friday, Charles at LGF posted an update on Fawaz Damra, the Cleveland Imam convicted of having ties to terrorist group Islamic Jihad and lying about it on his citizenship application. Damra had agreed to deportation, and it was announced that he would be deported to the West Bank.

Well, today's Jerusalem Post reports that Israel's Shin Bet (roughly equivalent to our FBI) arrested him on his entry to the West Bank...for his connections to Islamic Jihad.

Israel is holding the former imam of Ohio's largest mosque, deported last week by the US, the Shin Bet said for the first time Tuesday.

Fawaz Damra, 46, was arrested by the Shin Bet because of his ties to Islamic Jihad, which is classified by Israel and the US as a terror organization, the Shin Bet said Tuesday. No further details were provided.

Damra was deported by American authorities last week because he concealed his ties to Islamic Jihad when he applied for American citizenship in 1994.

Originally from the West Bank city of Nablus, Damra was deported to Jordan last week after being incarcerated in Monroe County, Michigan, for a year while awaiting deportation.

He crossed into the West Bank last Thursday, and his whereabouts had not been disclosed, though his family alleged that he had been arrested by Israel.

The Shin Bet's announcement Tuesday was the first official admission that Israel was holding the cleric.

Islamic Jihad, a small radical group with links to Iran and Syria, has carried out dozens of suicide bombings and rocket attacks against Israel.

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