January 20, 2011
NO CHRISTIANS NEED APPLY:
Gov. Christie's Strange Relationship with Radical Islam (Steven Emerson, 1/19/11, Jewish World Review)
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's nomination of Sohail Mohammed to be a state judge shows the governor's tin ear for radical Islam. Not only did he appoint a longtime mouthpiece for radical Islamists to be a judge, but Christie has also turned a blind eye to the activities of one of Mohammed's clients — radical imam Mohammed Qatanani, head of one of New Jersey's largest mosques.Qatanani has a history of Hamas support and was related by marriage to a leading Hamas operative in the West Bank. This fall, Qatanani will return to a New Jersey immigration court, where the Department of Homeland Security is fighting to have him deported. In his initial application for a green card filed in 1999, government lawyers say Qatanani failed to disclose a conviction in an Israeli military court for being a Hamas member and providing support to the terrorist group.
Oddly, Christie — a Republican who was then the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey — sided with Qatanani against DHS, allowing a top lieutenant, Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles McKenna, to testify as a character witness at Qatanani's first immigration trial, and publicly embracing the imam at a Ramadan breakfast at his mosque. Christie later appointed McKenna as New Jersey's head of homeland security..
Hardly a newsflash but, Governor Christie would be an acceptable nominee for the Christian base of the party, but unacceptable to the Right.
Posted by Orrin Judd at January 20, 2011 7:00 AM
