Audio recordings (posted below) of a 2012 Iftar dinner at the New Jersey Governor’s mansion belie statements made by that state’s governor, Chris Christie, in his response to a question about Sharia Law while speaking at a Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in Las Vegas this past Saturday. Based on his track record, many have expressed concerns that Christie is either naive or complicit when it comes to facilitating the spread of Sharia in New Jersey.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie with Imam Mustafa El-Amin
Christie’s response was more measured than one he gave previously but he said that all of those concerns resulted from his appointment of a Muslim judge named Sohail Mohammed. The presence of several individuals at the Iftar dinner, coupled with how Christie addressed them, has contributed greatly to Sharia Law concerns when it comes to the Governor.
First, here is the video at the RJC event (h/t DC):
That’s simply not true. While his appointment of Mohammed should be cause for concern, it is far from being the only cause for concern. As Shoebat.com relayed a couple of years ago, Christie appointed at least four Muslims with very questionable backgrounds to his Muslim outreach committee.
One of those appointees was none other than Imam Mohammed Qatanani who, in addition to being a client of Sohail over the years, was also convicted by an Israeli military court of being a member of Hamas. Qatanani reportedly failed to disclose that fact when he filed for a green card. In 2007, Qatanani prayed for the Holy Land Foundation defendants during a sermon (defendants were found guilty on all counts, in the largest terrorism financing trial in history). In that prayer, which was in Arabic, he called for ‘Allah to assist our brothers and sisters in Filastin, and Iraq and Chechnya’ as well.
This leads to an iftar dinner that was held at the New Jersey Governor’s mansion in July of 2012. Shoebat.com posted the video but it is no longer available so the audio is posted below in five parts.
Qatanani was in attendance and Christie acknowledged him as a ‘force for good’ while also referencing his ‘association’ with the imam (clip #3). Christie’s history with Qatanani goes back several years, to include siding with the imam during the green card flap.
Qatanani
In this first clip, Christie refers to a ‘graze of intolerance’ and defends his appointment of Sohail Mohammed in the face of what Christie sees as bigotry from people who had a concern over that appointment:
In clip #2, Christie refers to people who have a problem with his appointment of Sohail Mohammed as ‘bigots’ who are causing ‘hysteria’ and ‘nonsense’ while calling Sohail a ‘pioneer’ who will overcome the bigotry:
In clip #3, Christie calls out Qatanani by name and refers to him as a ‘force for good’ while saying this ‘association’ has led some people to refer to him as ‘an Islamist’. The New Jersey Governor mocked this claim, saying he’d been ‘called worse things’ in the past:
In clip #4, Christie confusingly says that he will continue to ‘judge people based upon their relationships with me’ and then implies that Sohail, Qatanani, and presumably others are his ‘friends’ whom he makes no apologies for:
In clip #5, Christie eerily makes reference to having a spirit of ‘brotherhood’ and says people should ‘lower their suspicions and increase their faith in each other’. Whether Christie knows it or not – he should – that is exactly what groups like Hamas want, though for completely different reasons:
In 2013, Shoebat.com reported on Qatanani’s scheduled appearance at a Muslim Brotherhood event. The imam spoke at a Muslim Students Association (MSA) event in New Jersey.