Abeer Qawwas is the first Palestinian Muslim to approach the “Sheikhs of New York.” What is her story? | news

Palestinian Abeer Qawwas is close to entering the New York State Senate, after winning the Democratic Party primary elections and obtaining about 60% of the votes.

Thus, with her victory, Qawwas becomes the first Palestinian Muslim woman to approach American decision-making centers, knowing that she ran in the elections with the support of New York City Mayor Zahran Mamdani.

Qawwas, who was born in New York to a Palestinian family, achieved this political achievement despite the smear campaigns she faced after announcing her candidacy from right-wing figures and accounts supportive of Israel.

During her campaign, she focused on issues of immigration and the high cost of living, and also adopted a speech calling for stopping funding for “genocide in Gaza.”

This remarkable progress was driven by a personal journey and family motives, as the Kawas family was displaced from Palestine in 1948 to Jordan, then moved to the United States in search of a better life, before the American authorities later decided to detain the father and return him again to Jordan.

Commenting on this experience, Kawas told Al Jazeera, “My father was one of thousands of people who ended up in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers, and then he was deported from this country.”

She explained that being Palestinian was a major reason for her to run for office today, but it was also the same reason that made her lose confidence in electoral politics for a long time.

Kawas considered her election campaign part of a political wave that New York has witnessed in recent years, and an extension of the “victory of the people” that was embodied last summer in the rise and victory of Zahran Mamdani to the position of current mayor of New York.

She received broad support from Mamdani’s supporters, along with the Democratic Socialists of America, which encouraged her to run in the race and was a major driving force behind this victory, in addition to multiple parties that supported her campaign from its first day.

Qawwas stressed that she does not represent a specific group, but rather seeks to convey the voices and movements of marginalized communities and the aspirations of people looking for change to decision-making institutions in New York State.

A number of pro-Israel Democrats face increasing challenges to maintain their political positions, in light of the growing influence of the progressive movement within the Democratic Party, and increasing voter criticism of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the war on Gaza.