Free Republic

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, often described as a "rock star" in the Republican Party, has finally addressed the criticism of his courtship of Islamists. On July 24, Christie held an Iftar dinner at the Governor's Mansion, attended by Imam Mohammad Qatanani, a Hamas-linked cleric whose deportation is sought by the Department of Homeland Security. Christie reiterated his support for Qatanani and made the case to his Muslim audience that he is their ally by ridiculing the "bigots" attacking him. Christie opens by talking about the attacks on "our relationship" (between him and, as he would characterize it, the Muslim...

PATERSON — Supporters of a Muslim cleric whose deportation case is to return to Immigration Court after an immigration appeals panel remanded it, plan today to publicly denounce the panel’s decision and vow to fight for the imam. Aref Assaf, spokesman for imam Mohammad Qatanani of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, said that at today’s press conference he and others will ask for “continued financial and emotional support” for the imam as he prepares to fight again against efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to deport him. “We will express our disappointment in the Board of Immigration Appeals’...

FBI Warns of Potential Terror Attacks The FBI and Department of Homeland Security today issued an analytical "note" to U.S. law-enforcement officials cautioning that al-Qaida terrorists have in the past expressed interest in attacking public buildings using a dozen suicide bombers each carrying 20 kilograms of explosives. Authors with the U.S. Office of Intelligence and Analysis added that they have "no credible or specific information that terrorists are planning operations against public buildings in the United States." The FBI and DHS analysts said they were releasing the note because "it is important for local authorities and building owners and...

PATERSON - Ramadan this year began with a little thanksgiving. On Saturday, a few dozen area Muslims and public officials gathered in the foyer of the Passaic County Administration Building for the county government's lighting of the Islamic crescent moon. The ceremony, now in its 10th year, marks the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of prayer and fasting that began this year on Sept. 2. But while the ceremony was meant to commemorate the 1,400-year-old tradition, the men and women in attendance observed, and praised, a more recent event. On Thursday, a federal immigration judge struck down an...

A Muslim cleric graphically described the torture to which he claims he was subjected to in Israeli custody as he fought to block U.S. efforts to deport him on grounds he lied on his residency application. "Judge, you cannot imagine," Mohammad Qatanani said Monday, his voice breaking. "They say, 'We will kill your family.' They say: 'You know what your family is doing now? We will go to them, we will burn them.'" Qatanani paused to compose himself before telling Immigration Judge Alberto J. Riefkohl, "At that time, you feel that death is better than life." The detention is at...

PATERSON — In the weeks and months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, few Muslim leaders were more active than Imam Muhammad Qatanani in reaching out to other religious groups and law enforcement authorities with a message of openness and understanding. His mosque, the Islamic Center of Passaic County, welcomed politicians and religious leaders, held a blood drive to aid victims of the attacks and made headlines by hosting a law enforcement recruiting drive. All of that makes it particularly frustrating now for the 44-year-old cleric as he faces possible deportation in a dispute centering on a 1993 military court...