California Democrats have endorsed the grandson of an architect of the Munich Massacre for a congressional seat.
Ammar Campa-Najjar, a Palestinian Arab American, won the state party convention’s endorsement last weekend for the June primary in the 50th District, an inland district west of San Diego. Campa-Najjar has forged ties with his local Jewish community.
Duncan Hunter, a Republican, now holds the seat.
Campa-Najjar’s grandfather was Muhammad Yusuf al-Najjar, a mastermind of the terrorist murder of 11 Israeli Olympic athletes and coaches at the 1972 Games in Germany. Al-Najjar was eliminated a year later by Israeli commandos.
Haaretz recently reported on Campa-Najjar’s candidacy, saying he rejected his grandfather’s terrorism. Campa-Najjar, who lived for a time as a youth in the Gaza Strip, has said his “goal is for our generation to be better than our predecessors, and find a way to end this conflict.”
Haaretz quoted two local rabbis who spoke of Campa-Najjar’s commitment to Israel’s security, which he does not see as mutually exclusive with Palestinian Arab rights.