Meet the Democratic Socialist Running to Become NY’s First Palestinian-American Lawmaker

“ICE is a direct impact of post-9/11 ‘War on Terror’ policies of attack on Muslim communities… It has now transformed into this entity that is a rogue entity that really has no accountability.” Zeteo political correspondent Prem Thakker sits down with Aber Kawas who is running to be the first ever Palestinian-American in the New York State legislature. In the interview, Kawas shares her and Zohran Mamdani’s start as organizers nearly a decade ago, the deportation of her father in a post 9/11 New York and why she identifies as a Democratic socialist. As an outspoken critic of US foreign policy and surveillance, Kawas has also come under fire for comments she’s made in the past and responds to her critics. She also reflects on the 78th anniversary of the Nakba. If you want early, exclusive access to this kind of independent, unfiltered journalism — subscribe to our Substack here: https://zeteo.com/subscribe If you want to increase your financial support for our work and help us grow, donate to Zeteo! https://zeteo.com/p/donate-to-zeteo CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 00:40 Political Involvement 03:15 Father’s Deportation 08:41 ICE 11:00 Zohran Mamdani 17:09 Illegal Land Sales 20:49 Democratic Socialist 27:46 Nakba Anniversary 33:16 Critics 38:31 First Priorities Subscribe to Zeteo to support independent and unfiltered journalism: https://zeteo.com/subscribe Find Zeteo: Twitter: https://twitter.com/zeteo_news Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zeteonews TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zeteonews Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/zeteo.com Find Mehdi: Substack: https://substack.com/@mehdirhasan Twitter: https://twitter.com/@mehdirhasan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/@mehdirhasan Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mehdirhasan To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/network/Zeteo