Ammar Campa Najjar, the “grandson” of Mexican immigrants, was a rising star within the Democrat party before he lost to Rep. Darrell Issa (R.Calif.). Now, he is running for Chula Vista mayor. The Chula Vista firefighters’ union has given his endorsement. As a Leftist, he is also committed, as Ballotpedia’s capsule bio at Ballotpedia states, “Campa-Najjar worked as a deputy field director in Barack Obama’s presidential campaign before joining the Obama administration as the Executive Office of the President.” This record reveals another important aspect of CampaNajjar’s record. It reveals yet more the Left’s uncritical, indiscriminate willingness to allay with the most unsavory Islamic organizations.
Campa-Najjar is not Muslim but is a Christian. However, he has Mexican immigrant grandparents and is the grandson of Muhammad Yousef al-Najjar, a terrorist jihadi. Joel Pollack, Breitbart’s editor, reported that Campa-Najjar had deleted an Instagram post that referred to his grandfather, Muhammad Yousef al-Najjar (a terrorist from Palestine), in October 2018. This was when Campa-Najjar was trying to run for Congress.
Breitbart reported that Campa-Najjar had earlier this year when Campa’s roots were first revealed, condemned his grandfather’s actions and supported peace. Campa-Najjar, a former Palestinian Authority official (PA) and Palestinian ambassador, praised his father in an Instagram post from 2015. He did not criticize or condemn his grandfather’s terrorist actions. Breitbart News reported that he posted the Instagram post Monday along with another where he said that his family was very close to Yasser Arafat’s.
Campa-Najjar also received a campaign donation from a Palestinian ambassador and also donated campaign funds to CAIR while receiving donations from CAIR officials. Breitbart News reported this week that Campa-Najjar had made a $650.00 ‘civic contribution’ to CAIR in 2017. He also received almost $9,000 from CAIR officials. Breitbart News reached out Tuesday to Campa-Najjar to inquire about his inclusion on the ‘top ten” list of candidates who received contributions from Islamist sources. This list was compiled by the Middle East Forum’s ‘Islamist Money in Politics (IMIP).
CAIR or the Council on American-Islamic Relations is an unindicted conspirator in a Hamas terror financing case. This case was so-named the Justice Department. CAIR officials repeatedly refused to decry Hamas or Hizballah being terrorist organizations. Many former CAIR officials were convicted for various crimes related to jihad terror. CAIR’s cofounder, and longtime chairman of the board (Omar Ahmad), along with its chief spokesman (Ibrahim Hooper), made Islamic supremacist comments about how Islamic law should be imposed in America. (Ahmad denied this, but the original reporter still stands by her story. CAIR chapters often distribute pamphlets urging Muslims to not cooperate with law enforcement. CAIR has been opposed to virtually every anti-terrorism measure proposed or implemented. It has also been declared a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates. CAIR’s Los Angeles head, Hussam Ayloush 2017, called for the overthrow U.S. government.
Ammar Campa Najjar isn’t committing career suicide by donating to Hamas-linked CAIR or receiving money from its officials. However, a conservative candidate would have to appear with an identical group like CAIR. Campa-Najjar, a hard-Left candidate, has never been in trouble with Leftists because of his connections to the group. This is a sign of how topsy-turvy today’s political discourse is: this unsavory gang is normalized.
CAIR’s money is not the only reason to be concerned. Omar Ahmad and Nihad Awad, both officials of the Islamic Association for Palestine in 1991’s notorious memorandum, founded the Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood group. In 2005, the federal government closed down IAP as a Hamas front.
According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the IAP was reported to be so close to its parent that is published and distributed Hamas communications on its own letterhead. Oliver Revell, a former chief in the FBI’s counterterrorism division, described the IAP as “a front organization for Hamas and engages in propaganda to Islamic militants.”
CAIR officials have been convicted of involvement in violent jihad activities. Randall Todd (“Ismail”) Royer was a former communications specialist for CAIR and civil rights coordinator. He was charged with conspiring to train for and take part in violent jihad activities overseas. Royer spent over a decade in prison following a plea deal that saw him plead guilty to lesser charges.
Ghassan Elashi was also convicted of jihad activity. He was sentenced to sixty-five years imprisonment in 2009 for funneling more than $12 million in charitable donations to Hamas, while also serving as the Holy Land Foundation’s head. Others have also been convicted of jihad terrorist activities by ex-CAIR officials. This raises the question of why this supposed moderate group was so difficult to differentiate between “extremists” and “moderates”.
CAIR was also named in the Holy Land case as an unindicted conspirator. CAIR not only received donations from the Holy Land Foundation but also facilitated them receiving money — no less than half a million dollars. CAIR co-founder Nihad Awad strongly denied this when Steven Emerson, a terror researcher, confronted him. “This is a complete lie. The Holy Land Foundation did not provide seed money to our organization. CAIR raises its funds on its own and we challenge Mr. Emerson not to prove his absurd claim.” Emerson then posted an image of the canceled cheque.
Are the Chula Vista firefighters aware of all this? Do they really care? Or dismiss these concerns as “Islamophobic”. Do Democrat leaders realize it? What would they do if they knew? They almost certainly wouldn’t.
