Israel Matzav

The Demon Sheep loves Jihadists

Remember the Demon Sheep ad? The target of that ad was Tom Campbell, currently the front runner for the Republican nomination for US Senator from California. The ad was put out by Carly Fiorina, the former President of Hewlett-Packard, who is running against Campbell for the nomination.

In a previous post, I noted that Campbell is not a supporter of Israel, and that Fiorina was starting to harp on that. But Campbell's story gets worse. Philip Klein and Jennifer Rubin disclosed on Wednesday that Campbell took campaign donations from none other than Sami al-Arian, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to soliciting contributions for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in the United States. This is from Klein:

I double-checked the Federal Election Commission database, and was able to confirm that on May 2, 2000, Al-Arian made two donations totaling $1,300 to Campbell's Senate campaign. At the time he made the contributions, as he admits in his plea agreement, Al-Arian was engaged in "Conspiracy to make or receive contributions of funds, goods or services to or for the benefit of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Specially Designated Terrorist..."

In defense of Campbell, one could argue that the donations were made prior to Al-Arian's guilty plea. But with that said Al-Arian was already under investigation by the government in 2000 and his publicly radical views were known. Also, it's kind of random for an Islamic radical in Florida to contribute to a Republican Senate campaign in California. The only other political donations listed from Al-Arian were made to Democrats: David Bonior, Jim Davis, and Cynthia McKinney -- none of them fans of Israel, and in McKinney's case, a 9/11 truther.

...

Later in 2000, Campbell wrote a letter to an immigration judge on behalf of Mazen Al-Najjar, Al-Arian's brother-in-law and collaborator, protesting the fact that the government was going to use classified evidence against him.

Campbell responded to Klein's article and Campbell's response, which Klein reproduces in full, only makes matters worse. Here's Klein's summary of Campbell's response.

Campbell acknowledges not only that Al-Arian donated money to his campaign, but that he visited Al-Arian's brother-in-law (himself associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad) in prison. Campbell writes that Al-Arian was "instrumental in asking others in his community to contribute to my 2000 Senate run. I have always stated that fact plainly; and I bring it up so no one can claim I am attempting to hide it." At the time, he argues, he was taking a principled stand against the use of secret evidence and indefinite detention.

If you're voting in the California Republican primary, please consider voting for someone other than Tom Campbell.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:03 AM