Aber Kawas, the Democratic nominee for New York State Senate District 12 in Queens, is facing fierce political scrutiny after a resurfaced 2017 interview showed her discussing the September 11 attacks as part of a broader argument about Islamophobia, racism, and U.S. power.
The clip reemerged after Kawas won the June 23 Democratic primary for the western Queens seat, defeating Assemblyman Steven Raga in a district that includes Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City, Ridgewood, Maspeth, and parts of nearby neighborhoods. The victory made her the likely successor to retiring state Sen. Michael Gianaris in one of New York City’s most Democratic districts.
The most disputed portion of the interview features Kawas objecting to the expectation that Muslims apologize for 9/11. She referred to it as “a terror attack that a couple of people did,” while contrasting that demand with what she described as a lack of accountability for slavery, genocide, and other historical abuses.
The Clip Put Her Victory Under a Harsh Light
Kawas’ primary win would already have drawn attention because of her democratic socialist platform and support from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The resurfaced video turned the race into a national fight over memory, extremism accusations, and the leftward movement of New York politics.
In the 2017 podcast discussion, Kawas said systems of capitalism, racism, white supremacy, and Islamophobia had been used to colonize lands and seize resources. She then tied those systems to what she called a “long trajectory,” saying Americans were seeing the “manifestations of that continuation with 9/11.”
Those words have become the center of the backlash. Coverage of the resurfaced clip said Kawas appeared to suggest that the United States bore responsibility for the attacks, while her defenders argue that the interview was about discrimination after 9/11, not justification of mass murder.
A Local Race Became a National Test
The dispute is no longer only about one Queens candidate. It has become a test of how far Democratic primary voters are willing to go with candidates who frame local politics through anti-capitalist, anti-war, and pro-Palestinian activism. Kawas ran as a community organizer and democratic socialist. Her campaign emphasized rent stabilization, stronger tenant protections, public transit, immigrant rights, and opposition to U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
That message resonated in District 12, where housing costs and immigrant communities shape daily politics. But the same activist record now gives opponents a clear target: a candidate likely headed to Albany after making remarks about 9/11 that many voters outside her base may find unacceptable.
Mamdani’s Political Brand Is Also on the Line
Mamdani’s endorsement gave Kawas credibility among democratic socialist voters and helped connect her race to a broader progressive push across New York City. His support has become a political asset in left-leaning districts, especially where renters, young voters, and activist groups play a large role.
But the controversy also ties Mamdani to the fallout. Opponents are using Kawas’s remarks to argue that his political network is elevating candidates with views far outside the mainstream. That argument has been sharpened by a wider set of primary results. Democratic socialist and Mamdani-aligned candidates made gains in several New York contests, creating a new round of anxiety among establishment Democrats over who now controls the party’s urban base.
Gianaris’ Exit Opened the Door
The District 12 race became competitive after Gianaris announced he would not seek reelection. His departure created a rare open-seat contest in a district long dominated by Democrats. Gianaris is not a minor figure in Albany. He serves as deputy majority leader in the state Senate and has been one of the most influential Queens Democrats in state government.
His retirement created space for a new generation of candidates to compete for a seat that will almost certainly remain in Democratic hands. That made the primary the real contest.
Kawas Built Her Campaign Around Identity and Policy
Kawas has described herself as the daughter of Palestinian refugees and a working-class New Yorker shaped by immigration enforcement, economic insecurity, and organizing work. Her campaign biography says she has spent more than 15 years fighting for wages, immigration reform, and police surveillance.
Her platform also tied Queens affordability to international politics. She helped launch the “Not On Our Dime” campaign with Mamdani, targeting New York-based organizations accused by activists of supporting Israeli settlement activity or human rights abuses.
9/11 Still Cuts Through New York Politics
The backlash is especially potent because this is New York. The September 11 attacks are not distant history in the city’s politics. They remain tied to families, first responders, memorials, health effects, and public memory. Any political comment about 9/11 receives sharper scrutiny in New York than it might elsewhere. Remarks framed as activist critique can quickly be heard as disrespect to victims, survivors, and families.
Kawas’s response has focused on Muslim civil rights after the attacks. That is a real part of the post-9/11 record, including surveillance, profiling, and hate crimes aimed at Muslim communities.
November Will Test the Fallout
The next formal step is the November general election. If Kawas wins, she will replace Gianaris in Albany and bring one of New York’s most polarizing new political profiles into the state Senate.
