Amidst the Israeli Slaughter in Bulgaria, Rabbi Shmuley Criticizes Pascrell for Signing 'Gaza 54,' Hampering Israel's Defense of Itself

Press Release

Today, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the Republican candidate for Congress in New Jersey's 9th district, held a press conference in Englewood, NJ, where he strongly criticized his opponent, Congressman Bill Pascrell, for his stance on Israel. With Israelis being slaughtered by terrorists in Bulgaria, Rabbi Shmuley condemned Pascrell for signing the "Gaza 54' letter, a message to Obama by 54 members of Congress accusing Israel of "collective punishment' against the Palestinians and falsely accusing Israel of denying food and medicine in Gaza, and condemned other efforts aimed at delegitimizing Israel and tying its hands from fighting terrorists.

Rabbi Shmuley stated, "It is regrettable that a United States congressman would participate in a deliberate effort to defame the Jewish state and join the ranks of its most determined enemies in falsely accusing it of preventing food and medicine from reaching Palestinians.

"Pascrell's condemnation of Israel for "collective punishment' of the Gaza blockade strips the Jewish state of its ability to combat Hamas and other terrorist organizations determined to kill as many Jews as possible, both in Israel and throughout the world. Pascrell knows that Israel never stopped food and medicine from entering Gaza. He should be condemning Hamas, not Israel."

He added, "Right here, on my front lawn, in 2009, I was joined by Democratic leaders like Congressman Steve Rothman, Senator Frank Lautenberg, and Governor Jon Corzine, to push Kaddafi out of Englewood. Congressman Pascrell was noticeably absent."

Rabbi Shmuley went on to discuss Congressman Pascrell's support of Mohammed Qatanani, the Imam of one of the largest mosques in New Jersey, who was arrested and detained in 1993 for three months for possibly providing assistance to Hamas.

Rabbi Shmuley revealed several slanderous quotations from Qatanani, including: "Aqsa Mosque will stay for Palestinian people because they are the owner of the land. You can't say it is a holy land just to steal it. Palestine will be free one day. And we will see it very soon by your actions, by your standing for justice, justice, freedom, the liberation of the land will be very soon." As well as "Oh brothers and sisters. On such a day, a human disaster occurred; on 5 and ten, the 15th of May 1948 was the greatest disaster which occurred on the face of the earth, It is what is known today as the Palestinian Nakba This Nakba, because of this Nakba, the State of Israel was established on the Land of Palestine.

He went on to publicly ask Qatanani to refute or repudiate his slanderous quotations that lead to incitement, like denying Israel's right to exist, and asking Pascrell to repudiate Qatanani's extremism.

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