Aber Kawas | BernieCrats.com

Biography

Aber Kawas was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Palestinian refugees. When she was 16, her father was detained by ICE and deported to Jordan, leaving her family to struggle financially while he was in detention. That experience — of watching the immigration system tear apart her family — became the defining force of her political life and the origin of her more than a decade of civil rights organizing.

Coming of age in post-9/11 New York, Kawas threw herself into Muslim and Arab community organizing, working to push back against NYPD surveillance programs targeting Muslim New Yorkers. She studied International and Latin American Studies at the City College of New York, joined the Arab American Association of New York, and worked with CUNY's CLEAR project on civil liberties and anti-surveillance work. She drew inspiration from Black Lives Matter and the Standing Rock water protectors.

Her entry into electoral politics came through the 2017 City Council campaign of Palestinian Lutheran pastor Khader El-Yateem in Bay Ridge — where she met a fellow canvasser named Zohran Mamdani. After Mamdani won his State Assembly seat, she collaborated with him on the 'Not On Our Dime' bill, which would restrict New York nonprofits from sending tax-exempt funds to Israeli settler organizations. After Mamdani's mayoral victory, she was recruited by NYC-DSA to run for office. She won the June 23, 2026 primary for New York State Senate District 12 — covering Astoria, Long Island City, Woodside, and Sunnyside in Queens — becoming the first Palestinian American and first Muslim woman elected to New York State office.

2026 State Senate Campaign

Kawas ran for the open State Senate seat in District 12 after 15-year incumbent Michael Gianaris announced his retirement. Endorsed by Bernie Sanders, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and the NYC-DSA, she ran on a platform of affordable housing, universal healthcare, immigrant protections, public transit investment, and opposition to U.S. military aid to Israel.

Her win on June 23, 2026 was part of the broader DSA sweep of Queens that saw Claire Valdez win NY-7 in Congress and several Assembly seats flip to democratic socialists. 'What we are saying is that we want to make sure that people who are struggling are provided the best social services possible by our government,' Kawas told Democracy Now!. 'That is a really hopeful message that so many Americans are looking for.'

If elected in November in this safely Democratic Queens district, Kawas will be the first Palestinian American and first Muslim woman to serve in the New York State Legislature — a historic breakthrough for a community that has long been underrepresented despite its deep roots in the borough.