Free Republic

When the former leader of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, Fawaz Damra, was linked to funding of terrorists and deported in a very high-profile case, you might have expected that the new imam of the Islamic Center would be more moderate. Think again: Ohio’s largest mosque hires Egyptian hate sheikh to replace deported terror cleric Fawaz Damra. Not mentioned in the Plain Dealer’s report is Ahmed Alzaree’s anti-Jewish rants. According to Blumer, in a 15-second Google search, he came across a particular sermon dated March 7, 2003 where Alzaree offers this encouragement to his followers:

Closing a tumultuous chapter in the history of the region's largest mosque, the Islamic Center of Cleveland has hired a permanent replacement for a controversial imam who was deported for falsifying his citizenship application. Imam Ahmed Alzaree, an Egyptian-born cleric who led a mosque in Omaha, Neb., for the past five years until his contract expired in July, will join the Islamic Center of Cleveland on Nov. 1, leaders of the mosque said. They said Alzaree, 37, is a scholar whose strengths include working with young people. Dr. Jalal Abu-Shaweesh, mosque president, said Alzaree should bring a "great deal of...