Adam Hamawy, a plastic surgeon, army veteran, and conflict-zone medical worker, has won a crowded Democratic primary for an open seat in the United States House of Representatives. The Egyptian-born doctor’s victory puts him on track to represent New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, a Democratic stronghold. He will face Republican Gregg Mele on November 3 in the midterm elections.

Hamawy stands out as the only candidate with firsthand experience of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Speaking to Al Jazeera in April, he recounted his medical mission to the Palestinian enclave in 2024. “I was talking to lawmakers as a witness to say: This is happening there. This is real. This isn’t fake news,” he said.

He received a mixed response from lawmakers, with some expressing private condemnation but doing nothing publicly. “This is what prompted me to run,” he said. As a representative, Hamawy hopes to confront Israel’s war and the US role in it, as Congress approves billions in military aid to Israel annually.

Hamawy is no stranger to conflict zones, but described Gaza as particularly revelatory. He saw patients permanently maimed by Israeli attacks and lived under constant bombing. “You have really no control of your life at all,” he said.

His campaign was buoyed by endorsements from Senator Tammy Duckworth, who credits him with saving her life in Iraq, and Senator Bernie Sanders. Despite scrutiny over past ties, Hamawy denied wrongdoing and declared in his victory speech that “the era of racist and anti-Muslim attacks in American politics is over.”

Source: www.aljazeera.com