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Ojaala Ahmad, who is running for the District 1 seat on the Anaheim City Council, has made numerous controversial posts on social media criticizing Israel for its response to the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas terrorists.
A pro-Palestine activist with a history of making controversial, anti-Israel statements on social media, is running for the Anaheim City Council District 1 seat.
Ojaala Ahmad is seeking the District 1 seat currently held by Councilman Jose Diaz. She formerly served on the city’s Housing & Community Development Commission from 2017 to 2019.
Ahmad was also previously employed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Greater Los Angeles from 2014 to 2018. The organization came under scrutiny following public statements issued by its executive director, Nihad Awad, that seemed to support the October 7, 2023 attacks by the Hamas terrorist organization against 1,200 Israeli civilians.
In those remarks, Awad said he was “happy” to see the attacks and claimed only the people of Gaza, not Israelis, have the right to self defense. Awad’s statements following the attacks even forced the Biden administration to distance itself from CAIR.
Since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out, Ahmad has posted numerous anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian content on her public Facebook account. Some of the posts include political cartoons comparing Israel to Nazi Germany and others stating Israel’s response to Hamas’ attacks amount to genocide against Palestinians.
Another post shared by Ahmad on March 30, calls the people of Palestine “God’s chosen people” and asserts Israelis are terrorists for “kill[ing] 32,000 people in six months.”
Numerous other posts on Ahmad’s Facebook page sympathize with pro-Palestine protesters who were occupying college campuses in California and other parts of the country earlier this year.
On her X account, formerly known as Twitter, Ahmad posts less frequently than she does on Facebook but has shared several posts from politicians and celebrities calling for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Ahmad also operates an online blog and podcast called The Hijabi American dedicated to highlighting how the hijab is a symbol of feminism.
Very little can be gleaned about Ahmad’s views on local issues affecting Anaheim from her social media accounts. She also does not have a campaign website as of July 17 that could be accessed to understand her ideas about how to improve the city.
A Facebook post from 2014 shows Ahmad supported Proposition 47, a statewide initiative that decriminalized nonviolent crimes like theft and is often credited with resulting in a surge in smash and grab crimes across California that Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this year said could be solved without dismantling the 10-year-old law.
Anaheim’s general municipal elections will be held on November 5.
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