Democrat Charlie Crist Takes Selfie with ‘Hate America’ Guy
Democrat Charlie Crist Takes Selfie with ‘Hate America’ Guy
The gubernatorial candidate’s photo ops with radical Muslims.
By Joe Kaufman
Recently, this author wrote of gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist’s visit to a radical South Florida mosque, where he happily posed for photographs with those representing the mosque and other groups linked to violence and bigotry. Prior to that, Crist smiled for a photo with another radical Muslim, Imtiaz Mohammad, a once candidate himself, who has claimed that the United States is “run on hate” and that Americans are “the most uneducated” people in the world. Given Crist’s history of embracing Muslims associated with terror, these do not seem to be innocent mistakes. Indeed, Crist’s cavorting with Islamist fanatics must be exposed.
This past April, candidate Crist, who had previously served as Florida Governor and US Representative, attended an event at the Islamic Center of Boca Raton (ICBR), a mosque that was founded by individuals linked to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and received seed money for its building from an al-Qaeda-related charity, the Global Relief Foundation (GRF). ICBR’s website has been used to publish violently antisemitic essays, one of which described Jews as “people of treachery and betrayal” and “enemies” and spoke of a “Day of Judgement” when Muslims will “fight the Jews and kill them.”
Crist wrote on Facebook, “Grateful to have joined the Islamic Center of Boca Raton for their Ramadan Iftar dinner last night.” He posted photos of himself with several troubling people. One was ICBR founder/Secretary Bassem Alhalabi, who was a former assistant of PIJ leader Sami al-Arian. Two were Abdul Rauf Khan and Tahsin Nabid, leaders from the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), a group linked to South Asian terror (Khan is as well ICBR President.) Another was Junaid Akhter, the Marketing & Public Relations Director for the South Florida Muslim Federation (SFMF), an umbrella group for most of South Florida’s radical Muslim institutions.
In January 2017, local Muslim activist Imtiaz Mohammad put up on Facebook a selfie that he took with Crist, both with big smiles on their faces. Mohammad had previously participated at different ICNA events, one where he was a contact for an ICNA benefit dinner featuring Hamas operative Monzer Taleb, who, in June 2019, posted on Facebook that Jews in Israel “should be relocated to Germany.” Months earlier, Mohammad himself posted pics of US Representatives Ted Deutch and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, glibly asking, “Are they representing all Americans or just one community?????” a clearly bigoted reference to their Jewish backgrounds.
In December 2018, Mohammad was featured on a panel discussion held at the Pembroke Pines-based Darul Uloom Institute (DUI), the topic being ‘Religion and Politics in America.’ DUI has been a haven for high-profile al-Qaeda operatives, including “Dirty Bomber” Jose Padilla and al-Qaeda commander Adnan el-Shukrijumah, and DUI’s imam (and panel moderator), Shafayat Mohamed, has been thrown off several county boards for hateful rhetoric against gays. During the discussion, (Imtiaz) Mohammad slammed America and her citizens, saying “America [is] run on hate” and “American people are the most uneducated nation in the world.”
Had Charlie Crist not had a record of embracing Muslim extremists, he probably could use the excuse that, at the times he posed for these photos, he was unaware of the backgrounds of the individuals he was being photographed with. However, Crist does have this record, and it is not insignificant.
In May 2005, Crist, acting as Florida Attorney General, wrote an official letter of support for a fundraiser the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was holding in Orlando. The money was being raised in an effort to establish a Central Florida CAIR office. With Crist’s help, the event was a success. Future leaders from this office would include: Ahmad Saleem, who lost his job with CAIR after going to prison for conspiring to perform a sex act with a twelve-year-old girl he had been chatting with online, and Ruanne Zein, a.k.a. Ruanne Elmalawani, who resigned her position for posting anti-Jewish Holocaust jokes on social media.
Prior to his letter, Crist assisted CAIR by launching an investigation against a school bus company that CAIR had questionably accused of racism, alleging the company’s bus driver had removed and then refused to board (recent immigrant) Muslim children. According to the bus company, the students “misbehaved… and were verbally abusive to the driver.” While admitting no wrongdoing, the company agreed to establish new antidiscrimination training policies and make monetary payments of close to $37,000, almost $27,000 of which went to Crist’s office for “attorney’s fees and costs.”
Gubernatorial candidate Charlie Christ’s enchantment with radical Muslims – be it for votes, money or an ideological affinity for Islamism – is both dangerous and extremely disturbing. This proves that he is unfit for the political office he is seeking, which involves looking out for the safety and security of his constituents. His past actions in favor of CAIR and cozying up to other pro-terror groups/individuals show where his priorities lie.
Groups and persons who curse America and threaten our nation’s vital interests must be repudiated, not embraced, and their organizations and operations must be shut down. If Democrat Charlie Christ is elected Governor of Florida, the stealth jihad will have triumphed over self-preservation.
Beila Rabinowitz, Director of Militant Islam Monitor, contributed to this report.