Aber Kawas, a Palestinian-American who ran on a platform of democratic socialism and defunding "Israel's genocide in Gaza," won the Democratic primary for the New York State Senate race in Queens on Tuesday.
Kawas became the first Palestinian Muslim woman elected in New York state after receiving New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani's endorsement.
She was born and raised in New York to Palestinian parents.
The Democratic primary winner placed an emphasis within her campaign on changing the immigration system and countering the affordability crisis in New York.
Kawas' win in the primary elections comes off the back of Mamdani's three major primary wins in his attempt to remake the Democratic Party into a democratic socialist force.
Mamdani-backed NY Senate primary winner's website shares anti-Israel rhetoric
Kawas's website boasts of her role in developing and launching the "Not On Our Dime!" campaign alongside Mamdani, which aims to stop New York-registered organizations from giving money to Israel.
Their website says that Not On Our Dime was launched to stop "New York State is subsidizing Israel's illegal settlement expansion and state violence against Palestinians," and has the slogan "end NY funding of Israeli war crimes."
It talks of "strategies of genocide" in the West Bank and Gaza, describing "egregious horrors" committed by Israel, and notably fails to mention October 7 when talking about the number of Palestinians killed since October 2023.
The associated bill proposed amending New York’s nonprofit law to “prohibit not-for-profit corporations from engaging in unauthorized support of Israeli settlement activity.”
Mamdani said it would stop the flow of about $60 million a year from New York-based charities to settlements deemed illegal under international law.