Democrat voters in New Jersey have chosen an al-Qaida-linked associate of the mastermind behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing to represent the state’s 12th Congressional District.
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Dr. Adam Hamawy, a plastic surgeon and fierce opponent of Israel, won the Democrat primary Tuesday, securing the nomination to succeed retiring Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D.).
Hamawy defeated a crowded field of 12 candidates, including establishment-backed opponents, with approximately 28 percent of the vote.
His victory was bolstered by endorsements from prominent anti-Israel leftists like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), “Squad” members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), as well as Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), whom he treated as a combat surgeon in Iraq.
He also benefited from significant spending by pro-Palestinian and far-left groups.
Although a staunch critic of Israel, Hamawy recently stated that he finds antisemitism “abhorrent” and that he is “deeply worried about its continued rise.”
Moreover, the New Jersey Democrat reportedly provided medical assistance at ground zero on Sept. 11, 2001 and served with distinction as an Army combat surgeon in Iraq for two years. He has also volunteered in crisis zones all over the world, including in Haiti, Syria, and Gaza.
While these activities appear laudable, Hamawy’s past associations with Islamic terrorists in the 1990s deserves scrutiny.
Hamawy was a close associate of the “Blind Sheikh,” Abdel-Rahman, at a time when the convicted terrorist was regularly preaching that Muslims had a duty to attack Jews and Americans.
In a federal courtroom in lower Manhattan in July 1995, Hamawy—then 26— testified as a defense witness for Abdel-Rahman, who was ultimately convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
According to the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), Hamawy’s testimony was “deliberately untruthful.”
He reportedly met Abdel-Rahman in 1991, traveled with him, translated for him, and shared a hotel room with him in Michigan at an Islamic conference the Blind Sheikh headlined.
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The November 29, 1991 First Annual Conference of the Islamic Charity Project International was held at the Westin Hotel in Detroit, and titled “Towards a Global Islamic Economy.”
“In fact, the title was a ruse,” IPT noted. “The leading terrorists in the world had gathered in Detroit to advocate jihad.”
“He gave testimony, under oath, that the now-recovered transcript of the conference itself shows was deliberately untruthful,” IPT reported.
Sheikh Omar’s address — entered into evidence at trial as Government Exhibit GX-388 — was titled “The Best Way on Supporting Jihad.” He stated in his opening sentence: “Allah has obligated upon us Jihad in the cause of Allah. It is one of the obligations that must be fulfilled, and it is the pinnacle of Islam.”
He went on to refer to then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as “a treacherous traitor” and “loyal dog of America.”
When asked about the subject of the conference during the trial, Hamawy answered: “It was Islamic economy. Economic — it was an economy conference.”
Hamawy has described his actions as innocent assistance to a community leader and attributed scrutiny to anti-Muslim bias. In his defense, he has also cited his subsequent service as a U.S. Army combat surgeon and first responder on September 11, 2001.
In 1994, Hamawy also reportedly volunteered in Bosnia with the Benevolence International Foundation (BIF), a Chicago-based nonprofit later identified by the U.S. government and United Nations as an Al-Qaida front group and shut down.
According to the 9/11 Commission Report, Osama bin Laden himself had a hand in helping to establish BIF offices in Sarajevo and Zenica to provide financial support to his activities.
Bosnian authorities raided the offices in 2002 after the group had been identified as an Al-Qaida front.
A Hamawy spokesperson on Friday told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) that questions about his past associations were “gross and bigoted,” and said the attacks against him “are getting more desperate than ever.”
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