From Al Jazeera · Stephen Quillen · · 3m
Gaza shaped surgeon's path to Congress
Adam Hamawy, an Egyptian-American surgeon and US Army veteran, won New Jersey's 12th Congressional District after medical missions to Gaza, becoming the state's first Muslim congressman.
In brief
Adam Hamawy, an Egyptian-American surgeon and US Army veteran, won New Jersey's 12th Congressional District after medical missions to Gaza, becoming the state's first Muslim congressman. Adam Hamawy, a surgeon and US Army veteran, won election to Congress from New Jersey after medical missions to Gaza, becoming the…
Surgeon wins New Jersey seat
Adam Hamawy, a 56-year-old Egyptian-American surgeon and US Army veteran, won election to Congress from New Jersey's 12th District on Tuesday, becoming the state's first Muslim congressman.
Gaza missions changed his life
Hamawy participated in medical missions to Gaza in 2024 and 2025. He said those experiences made it impossible for him to return to normal life and prompted him to enter politics.
Campaign platform: healthcare not bombs
Hamawy campaigned on a platform of healthcare not bombs, pledging to challenge a system that funds genocide in Gaza while trapping Americans in medical debt.
“healthcare not bombs”
Eight Muslim Americans elected Tuesday
Hamawy was one of eight Muslim Americans to win election races on Tuesday night as Democrats took commanding control of both chambers of the US Congress.
Witnessed destruction in Gaza
During his first mission to Gaza in 2024, Hamawy said the level of destruction was unlike anything he had ever seen. He described what was happening there as a genocide.
“This is not like a war. This is just like complete, utter destruction”
Treated Illinois senator in Iraq
In 2004, Hamawy served as a combat trauma surgeon in Baghdad and treated now-Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth after her helicopter was shot down.Duckworth says he saved her life and prevented her becoming a triple amputee.
“He is the doctor who not only saved my life, but was able to prevent me from becoming a triple amputee”
Faced anti-Muslim attacks
Hamawy's bid for the House was met with a wave of attacks he described as anti-Muslim. He said he had never seen anti-Muslim hate as open and accepted as it is today.
“I have never seen anti-Muslim hate as open and as loud and as accepted as it is today”
Past association with Blind Sheikh
Critics pointed to Hamawy's past association with Omar Abdel Rahman, known as the Blind Sheikh, who was later convicted of terrorism charges including connection to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Hamawy defends his testimony
Hamawy was called as a defence witness at Abdel Rahman's trial in his early twenties. He has condemned Abdel Rahman's violent rhetoric and actions and says he testified out of civic duty.
Policy priorities for Congress
Hamawy's platform includes healthcare for all, ending medical and student debt, abolishing ICE, opposing war on Iran, and ending US military aid to Israel. He advocates for Palestinian right of return under international law.
System born from broken politics
Hamawy described his policy goals as interconnected solutions to a crisis born from a broken and rigged political and economic system that floods money overseas to bomb schools while calling childcare pie-in-the-sky.
“A system that floods money overseas to bomb children's schools while at the same time [saying] that childcare here in America [is a] pie-in-the-sky idea”
Takes seat in Congress
Hamawy will now bring his testimony of Gaza's destruction directly to the lawmakers responsible for sustaining US support for Israel, as the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee noted after his victory.
The main idea
Adam Hamawy, a surgeon and US Army veteran, won election to Congress from New Jersey after medical missions to Gaza, becoming the state's first Muslim congressman despite facing anti-Muslim attacks.
