9/11 victim’s brother criticizes Democratic nominees with ties to terror in NJ, NY

A man whose life has been deeply affected by radical Islamic terrorism is outraged as people who claim to hold extreme beliefs are winning the Democratic Party election by shocking numbers.

“When it comes to sympathetic terrorists, I really don’t suffer fools, and this guy has gone above and beyond,” Don Arias said of Dr. Adam Hamawy, now the Democratic candidate for Congress in New Jersey’s 12th congressional district.

Arias is an Air Force veteran and former New York firefighter who witnessed the destruction of the World Trade Center in 1993. His brother, who worked on the 84th floor of the South Tower, died in the subsequent 9/11 terrorist attacks that changed the course of American history.

Arias spoke to his brother, Adam, the morning of the attack after the first plane had already hit the North Tower. Adam described the chaos to him, as desperate victims jumped from the burning platform that once stopped the city’s skyline.

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“So, that stuck with me for years,” he told Fox News Digital. Arias has continued to represent the families of 9/11 victims.

Hamawy is an experienced surgeon who now works in his own private practice in New Jersey. He won a tight Democratic primary to replace incumbent Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman, DN.J., on June 2.

He emerged victorious despite heavy burdens, including the bonds of radical Islamic terrorism.

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In his past, Hamawy met the notorious terrorist Omar Abdel-Rahman, better known as “The Blind Sheikh,” the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing who died in federal prison in 2017.

Dr. Adam Hamawy speaks during an interview in Washington, DC, June 14, 2024, after meetings at the White House and Capitol Hill. He recently returned to the US after volunteering in Gaza. (Drew Anger/AFP)

The couple met in 1991, when Hamawy was a teenager, and soon after Hamawy began accompanying Abdel-Rahman to church. That same year, Hamawy, the sheikh and others made a 13-hour drive from Abdel-Rahman’s home in New Jersey to a conference in Detroit called “Towards a Global Islamic Economy.”

Themba of the Congress testified on behalf of the accused in the Sheikh case.

Although Arias said Hamawy may have some good qualifications — he’s a doctor and a veteran — he doesn’t trust the candidate at all.

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“But when she is in love with the Blind Sheikh, and she is his translator for several years, when she testifies about him in court saying who the big boy is, when she spends such time with this boy, and then she says that she never heard him say anything about jihad, I have to question her authenticity. I mean, that does not mean it is true,” said Fox New Digital.

Don Arias, second from left, poses for a photo with other NYFD firefighters. (Courtesy: Don Arias)

“Show me your friends, I’ll tell you who you are,” he continued. “And if this guy Hamawy is going to try to forget all that – he wants the memory to come down and say, ‘Oh, I was a veteran, you know, I did good things’ – I won’t forget, and I don’t think people should forget.“

In 1994, Hamawy also continued what he described as humanitarian work in Bosnia. There, he worked with the Benevolence International Foundation (BIF). In the post-9/11 terrorist campaign, BIF was designated a terrorist financier by the US government because of its ties to al Qaeda.

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“We don’t educate the voters, and the voters don’t do proper research on the candidates, because I think if they knew that this guy, if it was a high level of information that this guy has these kinds of connections… they wouldn’t vote for him, and I think people need to prioritize that. “

Adam Hisham Hamawy who was chosen by the surgeon who turned to the House is interviewed in New York on April 24, 2024 about his intention to go to humanitarian work in Gaza led by Hamas. ((Photo by Islam Dogru/Anadolu via Getty Images))

Additionally, a socialist candidate who once suggested that the United States deserved 9/11 is likely to win a seat in the New York State Senate.

Aber Kawas is the Muslim daughter of illegal aliens who is now the Democratic nominee for New York State Senate District 12. She was endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and won as part of a far-left sweep of several Democratic primaries in the city last Tuesday.

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“Capitalism and racism and White supremacy … and Islamophobia have all been used to collect lands, to take resources away from other people so this is a long road, and we’re just seeing a manifestation of that going on 9/11,” he said in a 2017 episode of the Asian American Writers’ Association podcast titled “Islamophobia with Aber9.”

“The idea that we have to apologize for terrorist attacks by a few people and there is no apology or reparation for genocide and slavery… is something I see as flawed,” he said.

Aber Kawas, Director of Youth Services for the Arab-American Association of New York, speaks at a rally in Columbus Circle against proposals to restrict Muslim immigration to the United States. (Andy Katz/Corbis)

Arias criticized those comments, too.

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“For him to minimize 9/11 … it’s like, ‘oh, some people had planes,’ you know, it’s beyond the pale,” he told Fox News Digital by phone. “So, when I look at someone like Kawas, when I look at someone like Mamdani, I don’t see an American. I mean, you draw the surface, you see a commie, you see a radical, and – forgive me for saying it – I see a Nazi.”

He then blasted the American education system, which he saw as a conduit to left-wing activism rather than genuine learning. According to Arias, the voters of candidates like Hamawy and Kawas are trained in schools and higher education to have strong beliefs.

“It is deceptive and very attractive to the youth and the dumb,” he said. “It’s young, it’s dumb, it’s those who are educated who voted for these people in large numbers.”

“I don’t know what happens to a person when he actually ends up hating his country, but I blame universities and schools for this,” Arias continued. It’s a crime against our education system because they’re almost…they’re all very young, very ignorant and Islamo-Nazis right now.”

Don Arias speaks at an event as part of his work as an advocate for 9/11 families on September 11, 2025. (Courtesy: Don Arias)

He added that for people like the Kawas, Zionism, Judaism and Israel have been associated with “white supremacy,” and in their minds, the so-called “white supremacy” should be “put down.”

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He also described socialism as a “belief of luxury,” and its followers are mostly young, rich or middle-class people.

“These guys are sailing, to have these fancy beliefs, these real conversations about humanity. They’re out of touch.”

Hamawy’s campaign did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment. And Kawas refused to answer questions, instead pointing to his X account.