'Palestinian' woman elected to state legislature in NY celebrates victory with Palestine flag

New York state senator-elect Aber Kawas alongside Mahmoud Kahlil.

Part of the blue wave that rocked Republicans on Tuesday involved the election of a self-described "Palestinian" to the state legislature in New York, and the woman who won the seat celebrated on social media by posting an emoji of a Palestinian flag. 

Aber Kawas won Tuesday's contest to represent New York's 12 State Senate District, defeating Republican Han-Khon To to become what's been reported as the first Palestinian ever elected to the Empire State's legislature. News reports say Kawas was born in Brooklyn, New York, but she makes no mention of her American citizenship -- or even her New York residence, for that matter -- in her X profile. She simply refers to herself as "Palestinian."

In her X profile, Kawas describes herself as "Palestinian."

Upon winning the race on Tuesday, Kawas celebrated with a post on X that read, "We made history," and included an emoji of the Palestinian flag, but no such image of an American flag. Kawas, it should come as no surprise, is a member of the DSA who has supported NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and has called for abolishing ICE and to "free Palestine."

In 2017, while making an appearance on an obscure podcast, Kawas made incendiary remarks about the U.S. and 9/11 that eventually resurfaced as she ran for public office.

"The system of capitalism and racism and White supremacy … and Islamophobia have all been used to colonize lands, to take resources from other people and so this is a long trajectory, and we're just seeing the manifestations of that continuation with 9/11," she said at the time, according to Fox News. "The idea we have to apologize for a terror attack that a couple of people did and then there is no apology or reparations for genocides and for slavery… is something I find reprehensible," she added, echoing a sentiment that's been expressed by Ilhan Omar.

Also not surprisingly, Kawas' parents were both illegal immigrants from Jordan. Her father was deported after being convicted of fraud in two states after spending nearly 20 years in the U.S. illegally. He was deported near the end of George W. Bush's second term, according to The New York Post. 

See the post on X below that included a Palestinian flag, but no American flag.