Excerpt:
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the Englewood Republican who is seeking to unseat Rep. Bill Pascrell in the 9th Congressional District, called Sunday for Pascrell to renounce his opposition to the deportation of the spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Passaic County.
Mohammad Qatanani, who is imam of the Paterson center, has so far successfully fought attempts by the U.S. government to deport him. The government has cited a statement by Israeli police that Qatanani confessed to assisting Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group, and was sentenced to three months in prison.
Qatanani, a Palestinian considered by many of his supporters to be a moderate Muslim leader, has maintained that he never offered any such assistance and instead was detained while crossing the border between Jordan and the West Bank.