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Governor Chris Christie Hosts Ramadan Iftar atNew Jersery Governor’s Residence Posted on August 10, 2012 by Admin 

 Assalamu Alaikum (Peace be with you) Wishing you a Happy and Blessed Ramadan 

Governor Chris Christie Cordially invites you and one guest

To join him for an Iftar Dinner 

To break the day’s fast during the holy month of Ramadan 

Drumthwacket

The Governor’s Residence 

354 Stockton Street

Princeton, New Jersey

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On Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Eight o’clock p.m.

RSVP to Michelle Moallem at

(609) 777-1254 or 

michelle.moallem@gov.state.nj.us Please note that you must RSVP to attend this event. This invitation is nontransferable.

Please include your name and the full name of your guest when you RSVP. Only thoseinvitees whose names appear on the guest list will be permitted entry.

New Jersey state troopers schooled in

Muslim cultureTUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2013 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY OCTOBER 8, 2013, 11:19 PM

BY  HANNAN ADELY STAFF WRITER THE RECORD

KEVIN R. WEXLER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Trooper Kimberly Snyder at a training session in Sea Girt to learn more about Islam and Muslim culture. The

class aims to improve police relations with Muslim

communities.

If a police officer pulls over a female driver

wearing a veil covering all but her eyes, can

he demand that she lift the veil so he can

identify her?

Before a classroom of state police recruits,

Mohammad Ali Chaudry, a Muslim scholar,

explained that there’s no religious reason for her to refuse. She has to obey the laws of hercountry ―for everybody’s security,‖ he said. 

Questions about the veil and other facets of Islamic faith and culture are at the heart of the

one-hour class, now a requirement for every New Jersey state trooper, that emerged from

anxiety and acrimony following news last year that New York City detectives were spying

on New Jersey Muslims.

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But is one hour of teaching, out of a solid week of police training, enough to markedly

improve relations between police officers and wary Muslim communities across the state?

Chaudry, president of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge and a Rutgers professor, said

it’s a start. 

One result of strong backlash to spying by the New York Police Department was the

creation of the Muslim Outreach Committee, a group of about 20 Muslim leaders and top

law-enforcement officials that began meeting a year ago. The training, which is included in

classwork this week at the state criminal justice academy in Sea Girt, is one of several

committee efforts aimed at building trust.

―When we first started, there was anger and hostility,‖ said Imam Mustafa El -Amin, who

heads the Masjid Ibrahim mosque in Newark. ―Now it has actually developed to

achievements and goals as opposed to just talking and airing out who’s guilty and who’s

not.‖ 

Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said the training is helping to bridge the divide.

―We don’t agree all the time on every issue, but we do agree we’ll talk about them, and that

has gotten us miles ahead in the process,‖ he said. 

New state police recruits are attending the class through Oct. 11. Other recruits andveteran troopers will get the training by video as part of regular in-service training.

In a recent class, a few officers stared at their cellphones while Chaudry was lecturing.

Questions were encouraged, but only two out of about 120 people in the class asked any.

Chaudry said it was a challenge to cover Islam in an hour and have time for questions. In

his Rutgers class, he devotes 90 minutes just to talk about the term jihad, he said.

―It’s not going to change everybody’s view, and it’s going to take a lot more than a one-hour lecture, but at least it’s a beginning,‖ he said.  

The class was meant to be an overview to assist the police in understanding basic concepts,

customs and wardrobe, said Paul Loriquet, director of communications in the Attorney

General’s Office. He said the state police and the outreach committee will determine, based

on feedback, if they need to have more focused training.

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The class is a mini version of the 10-week course Chaudry teaches at Rutgers University on

understanding Islam. He gives an overview of the faith, teaches about ethnic and cultural

diversity among Muslims, and explains how knowledge can apply to law-enforcement

settings.

He offers examples: that prayers to ―Allah‖ are simply prayers to God, as in any faith, and

shouldn’t raise alarm; that women may avert their eyes out of modesty and not out of 

disrespect or a refusal to cooperate; that businesses may have special hours during the

Ramadan holy month.

Chaudry addresses preconceptions by talking about the meaning of jihad and the fact that

Arabs make up just 18 percent of Muslims.

He recommends that police officers question whether an action or event represents a

teaching of the faith or is influenced by culture or politics. ―If a horrible event happens, is

what someone did a matter of f ollowing the faith or distorting the faith for political goals?‖

asks Chaudry, who co-wrote the book ―Islam & Muslims.‖ 

In informal class surveys, many officers have told Chaudry they don’t know any Muslims

or haven’t been to a mosque. He explains to them the etiquette if they should visit one in a

non-emergency situation, which includes removing shoes to enter prayer areas and

dressing modestly. Such lessons, he hopes, will improve outreach and cooperation in

Muslim communities.

Hoffman said he has gotten positive response from the recruits.

―Those who are least familiar are most appreciative,‖ he said. ―Things that may be

different to them, they can now associate as being normal to another culture and not as

raising an alarm.‖ 

Maj. Gerald Lewis, a member of the state police and the outreach committee, said Chaudry

and other members of the committee would be resources for police even after their class

ends.

In one situation, Lewis said, he wasn’t sure how to approach a woman in full head-to-toe

Muslim dress at a Little League game. He called a member of the outreach committee, who

advised him to simply introduce himself.

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Lewis, who took the class, said it was a meant for officers to get a better understanding of 

Islam.

―It’s meant to be an overview,‖ he said. ―It’s also an opportunity to destroy some of those

misconceptions [about Islam].‖ 

The outreach committee has helped create a training model on Islam for the state

Department of Homeland Security, Hoffman said.

He said the goal is to expand the training to local and county law enforcement, either by

video, teleconferencing, or a website.

Mohamed Younes, a Franklin Lakes resident and president of the American Muslim

Union, believes the lessons offer tools for police to judge situations and ―know thedifference from a real Muslim from a criminal or from a radical.‖ 

The committee pointed to other achievements this year. The state has held two law

enforcement job fairs that were advertised heavily in Muslim communities. Another is

planned at Rutgers University on Nov. 16.

State officials also have made frequent visits to mosques to speak to congregations  —  

including in February when then-Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa told about 1,600

worshipers at the Islamic Center of  Passaic County in Paterson that he was ―serious‖ aboutprotecting their rights.

New Jersey officials have said they weren’t fully aware of the surveillance at places where

Muslims shop, worship and study, although Newark police were informed that detectives

were operating there. The surveillance, which took place in several states but largely in

New York and New Jersey, was exposed in a series of stories by The Associated Press.

New York officials have defended the operation as legal and necessary and said they

gathered information that was publicly available. They have pointed out that 9/11 hijackersrented a Paterson apartment and bought fake identification in New Jersey. But the

surveillance program by the NYPD’s Demographics Unit never generated any leads,

Assistant Chief Thomas Galati, commanding officer of the NYPD Intelligence Division,

said in a court deposition last year.

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Civil-rights advocates have argued that Muslims were unfairly targeted because of their

religion. A group of New Jersey clergy, business owners and residents, represented by

Muslim Advocates, filed a federal lawsuit last year against the NYPD.

Last year, state officials feuded publicly with the NYPD over its failure to inform them of surveillance, saying the lack of communication put their operations at risk and

compromised relationships they had built with Muslims since 9/11.

Chiesa, now an interim U.S. senator, concluded after a three-month review that the NYPD

broke no state laws – findings that angered Muslim leaders. At the same time, he

announced the outreach committee and directed law enforcement agencies to notify higher-

up agencies if they learn about out-of-state operations in their jurisdictions.

Last month, Governor Christie signed a bill requiring out-of-state police agencies to reportany surveillance to New Jersey officials.

Chaudry said the continued efforts of the committee will help rebuild trust.

―I personally believe this is something you need to build up over time,‖ he said. ―It takes a

lot of interaction and going back and forth, but I feel there is trust between law

enforcement and our community.‖