New York’s first Palestinian American elected to the state legislature marked her victory with a Palestinian flag on social media. The American flag was nowhere to be found in her celebratory message.

Aber Kawas, the socialist Democratic nominee, defeated Republican nominee Han-Khon To in New York’s 12th State Senate District on Tuesday. Her victory made her the first Palestinian American elected to the New York State Legislature.

Kawas celebrated the result with a brief post on X. “We made history,” she declared alongside a Palestinian flag emoji, without including an American flag.

We made history. https://t.co/r9dnacASP5

— Aber Kawas (@AberKawas) November 4, 2026

The social media post offered few words, but its choice of flag made the message unmistakably notable. Kawas had just won an election to a state legislative office in New York, yet the Stars and Stripes did not appear in her announcement.

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The post focused squarely on the historic nature of Kawas’ election and the Palestinian flag. It did not include a second flag or any separate reference to the United States.

Kawas describes herself on her campaign website as a community organizer and democratic socialist. She ran to represent parts of Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside, Ridgewood, Maspeth, Long Island City, Elmhurst, Glendale and Jackson Heights.

Her campaign biography also highlights experiences involving her family and immigration enforcement. Kawas states that her father was deported by ICE when she was a child.

According to her campaign website, Kawas believes that experience helped shape her political worldview. She has presented her family’s financial struggles during her father’s detention as an important part of her path into organizing.

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“While he was in detention, my family struggled to make ends meet,” Kawas wrote. The statement described the hardship her family faced during that period.

Kawas then connected those experiences to her current political identity and objectives. “These experiences … made me the organizer I am today — determined to build power for poor and working people, so that everyone can live a life with equal dignity.”

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The new State Senator of New York Aber Kawas is seen chanting in Arabic holding a very telling item in her hand. The item is a green Hamas Military Headband. It’s the military ‘Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades’ and she chants with it in Arabic Al-Qassam fighters wear these green headbands Wake the heck up America. Members of muslim Islamic terrorist groups are being elected into our government — Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) November 8, 2026

Her website therefore places her childhood experience, her family’s financial difficulties and her work as an organizer together in the account she offers voters. It also identifies her explicitly as a democratic socialist.

Kawas attracted endorsements from several prominent politicians on the far left. Her campaign website lists New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani among those who supported her candidacy.

Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib also endorsed Kawas, according to the website. Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was another supporter named by the campaign.

Former Democratic New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman was included on the endorsement list as well. Together, those endorsements gave Kawas support from recognizable figures associated with the political left.

The contest ended with Kawas defeating To and securing the historic distinction highlighted in her victory message. Her celebration, however, immediately drew attention to what the post displayed and what it conspicuously left out.

The Palestinian flag emoji appeared directly beside her declaration that history had been made. No American flag accompanied it, despite the victory being for a seat in the New York State Legislature.

Kawas’ own campaign materials present her candidacy through the themes of family hardship, immigration enforcement, organizing and democratic socialism. Her election now places that political profile inside the New York State Legislature.

Her victory post distilled the moment into only three words and one flag. For a newly elected New York lawmaker celebrating an American election, the absence of the American flag was difficult to miss.

The result gave Kawas the historic achievement she emphasized online. It also ensured that her first widely noted celebration as the winner featured the Palestinian flag, with the Stars and Stripes still nowhere in sight.

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