CLEVELAND, Dec. 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, near Cleveland, dropped Imam Fawaz Damra from teaching an "Understanding Islam" course that was scheduled to start in February.
Imam Damra, head of the mosque in Parma, has attracted controversy over past remarks made several years ago in New York City.
A Cleveland area TV station recently aired a tape of Imam Damra in 1991 showing him speaking at a fundraising event for Palestine. In the tape, he reportedly said that Muslims should be "directing all the rifles at the first and last enemy of the Islamic nation and that is the sons of monkeys and pigs, the Jews."
The broadcast of this tape severely damaged Imam Damra's reputation in the inter-faith community of which he was a prominent member. Soon thereafter, he was dropped from speaking at several inter-faith sessions.
This controversy led Lakeland officials to believe that Imam Damra's presence would distract students from an opportunity to help people understand Islamic beliefs and principles.
"I think he's imminently qualified to talk about Islam. We're concerned that Mr. Damra's past activity would be a distraction," Lakeland President Morris W. Beverage told the
Daily News Herald.
"Understanding Islam" is one of several forums that Lakeland has created to help the community understand current events.
Gary Eith, Lakeland's dean of community education, said that Damra was selected to teach the class before the controversy erupted. "I want to take this class because I don't know much about this religion," Eith said.
Frederick Law, Lakeland's vice president for academic affairs, said the college would soon find a new instructor.
"I don't want to cancel it," Law said. "I want to provide an opportunity to educate people about the Islamic faith," adding that he hopes that the class will also include a tour of the mosque in Parma.
