By
Why is a prominent Jewish Republican group hosting a supporter of Islamic terrorism and enemy of Israel?
That’s a good question. And one that has been asked before of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and its Los Angeles branch. The RJC is the Jewish arm of the Republican Party and was a prominent part of the Bush re-election campaign.
On Monday, September 26, the RJC will be proudly hosting California Director of Finance Tom Campbell.
While the RJC shirked its responsibility of objecting when Campbell was appointed to this position by Governor Schwarzenegger in November, it is more outrageous that the Jewish group is now hosting this man.
Why?
Because Tom Campbell has been and remains an unapologetic opponent of Israel, and–worse–an unapologetic supporter of Islamic Jihad’s front-man in America. As a U.S. Congressman, Campbell also employed anti-Semitic, Islamic terror supporters (with connections to Al-Qaeda) in key positions and accepted campaign contributions from those tied to terror.

Here’s the Cliff’s Notes version of Campbell’s disturbing record on these issues.
Sami Al-Arian is the indicted U.S. front-man for terrorist group Islamic Jihad. Documents and wiretaps show that Al-Arian raised funds for and planned homicide bombings in Israel that killed, among others, American Jewish college student Alisa Flatow. Al-Arian’s brother-in-law, the since-deported Mazen Al-Najjar, was a key figure in this operation.
But even though most of this was known–FBI, Customs, and INS raids produced documents of public record establishing this–Tom Campbell remained an outspoken supporter of Messrs. Al-Arian and Al-Najjar.
When Al-Arian was fired from the University of South Florida, from which he ran his terrorist network, Campbell wrote a letter of support praising Al-Arian and asking the University president to reconsider her decision. In the letter, Campbell noted that Al-Arian helped him raise money for his failed U.S. Senate bid.
That raises questions regarding the sources of funds for Campbell’s various runs for federal office. His donors have included Nihad Awad, executive director of the anti-Israel Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was founded with laundered seed money from the personal bank account of HAMAS political director Moussa Abu Marzook (who is under indictment).
Other Campbell donors, besides Al-Arian, included Muthanna Al-Hanooti, an official of an Islamic charity that is a major donor to what the FBI identified as HAMAS’ Jordanian operation; and Tariq Hamdi, an Al-Arian associate, who was indicted last month on immigration and mortgage fraud charges and has fled the country. According to testimony in the trials of perpetrators of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, Hamdi provided the satellite phone battery to Osama Bin Laden that was instrumental in those bombings.
Another donor, Abdurahman Alamoudi, was captured on video in front of the White House announcing his support for HAMAS and Hezbollah. Alamoudi, now in prison, pled guilty to trying to assassinate Saudi King Abdullah (who was then Crown Prince). His indictment connected him with assorted Islamic terrorist groups and activities.
Those are Campbell’s donors. Then, there are Campbell’s former employees.
Suhail Khan held several key positions for Campbell, including Press Secretary and Policy Director.
But Khan is an Islamist who invited terror supporters and anti-Semites to the Bush White House (where he once worked) and whose father brought Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri into the United States to raise money for Al-Qaeda. His father, Mahboob Khan, late founder and head of the Santa Clara Mosque, brought Zawahiri into the U.S. twice on a fake passport in the mid-’90s to raise money for Al-Qaeda.
It would be different if the junior Khan did not share his father’s views. But Khan invited his father’s former congregant and Islamic leader, Hamza Yusuf, to the White House to meet with President Bush, according to the Wall Street Journal. That, despite this Yusuf utterance: “The Jews would have us believe that God has this bias to this little small tribe in the Middle of the Sinai desert and all the rest of humanity is just rubbish. I mean that this is the basic doctrine of the Jewish religion and that’s why it is a most racist religion.” Yusuf is an associate of Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), who is on the “no fly list” and was kicked out of Israel for raising and distributing money for HAMAS.
With a policy director like Suhail Khan, it’s no surprise that Campbell consistently voted against Israel while in Congress.
So why didn’t the RJC oppose Tom Campbell when the Governor they support, Governor Schwarzenegger, appointed him Finance Director of California? And why is RJC now hosting this man–whose views seem diametrically opposed to everything we as Americans opposed to terrorism and Jews who support Israel?
That’s a question only the RJC can answer. And it’s not the first time the question has been asked. The group hosted Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, a/k/a “Jihad Darrell,” even though he has consistently praised Arafat and Hezbollah, went out of his way to help terror-host Syria, and voted against Israel and its fight against terrorism. (Not to mention, his and its brave men and women who try to protect our borders.)
Recently, the RJC rightly denounced Presidential protestor Cindy Sheehan for her support of Palestinians and attacks on Israel. Yet, they host Republicans who are as bad, if not worse on the same issue.
The Republican Jewish Coalition cannot have it both ways.
***UPDATE: As a result of this column, the RJC has as the speaker at their Southern California event. Glad to hear it.