HATE111707

Jewish group condemns hate-filled faxes sent to Muslim school

A leading Jewish organization has condemned the "hateful messages" that were sent in about 100 faxes over the course of a year to the Al-Amal School in Fridley.

Star Tribune

Last update: November 16, 2007 - 12:51 PM

A leading Jewish organization has condemned the "hateful messages" that were sent in about 100 faxes over the course of a year to the Al-Amal School in Fridley.

Steven Harhaj, 61, of Plymouth, sent anti-Islamic faxes to Al-Amal, the state's only full-time Islamic school, and the Islamic Center of Minnesota, in which the school is housed, as well as to some Fridley city officials, said Don Abbott, director of public safety in Fridley.

"The Jewish community deplores the hateful messages espoused and contained within the faxes sent to Al-Amal School," Steve Hunegs, executive director of the regional Jewish Community Relations Council, said in a statement released today. "Our community, which has suffered similar acts of hatred, shares in the concern and condemnation of this hurtful act."

The first report to police of a hate fax was dated Dec. 13, 2006, though the school started receiving such faxes in September, Abbott said. By May, police had warned Harhaj to stop several times. The school "just wanted the faxes to stop," Abbott said. "They didn't want him arrested."

Zafar Siddiqui, president of the Islamic Resource Group, an educational and speakers group, said there was no specific threat to the school or any individual. "The content of the faxes seem to be 'copy-paste' from hate websites," he said.

Harhaj defied warnings to stop sending the faxes, Abbott said. After police sent him a citation for a misdemeanor charge in May, he told police he would not appear in court. After missing his court date, police issued search and arrest warrants. Harhaj went to jail Oct. 30, and police seized a fax machine, computer equipment, hate literature and faxes from his home, according to court documents.

Because Harhaj never directly threatened anyone, he was charged only with a misdemeanor and released the next day, police said.

After his release, Harhaj wrote to Abbott, apologizing for harassing him and promised never to fax him again.

"He said we'll never hear from him again. He's followed through on whatever he'd said in the past, so I tend to believe him," Abbott said.

In a phone interview Thursday night, Harhaj said, "I have no interest in faxing anybody in Minnesota anymore."

COURTNEY BLANCHARD, PAUL WALSH