Guy Benson questions NJ Democrat candidate’s ties to WTC case
Washington Examiner columnist Guy Benson raised concerns about New Jersey Democratic congressional candidate Adam Hamawy’s alleged connections to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Benson argued that Hamawy’s past legal adn international activities could create political problems for Democrats, pointing particularly to Hamawy’s involvement with Omar Abdel-Rahman (“The Blind Sheikh”)-including claims that Hamawy served as his interpreter, traveled with him, acted as a confidant, and testified for him during Abdel-Rahman’s trial.
The article also notes that Hamawy later volunteered in Bosnia in 1994 with a nonprofit that was shut down for providing logistical support to al Qaeda. Citing additional reporting, Benson suggested that Hamawy’s overseas activities may have further heightened scrutiny and that the Bosnia link may not be coincidental given the earlier relationship.
Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy, featured in Benson’s discussion, described the prosecution as involving not onyl the World trade Center plot but also a broader scheme targeting multiple New york landmarks. McCarthy further suggested that overseas jihadist travel could have been motivated-at least partly-by a desire for prestige and credibility within extremist networks. Benson concluded by questioning whether Democrats should nominate someone with this type of past for Congress in a state impacted by 9/11.
Washington Examiner columnist Guy Benson raised questions about New Jersey Democratic congressional candidate Adam Hamawy and his ties to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Benson argued that Hamawy’s earlier legal and international work revelations could pose political problems for Democrats.
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In 1994, Hamawy volunteered in Bosnia with a Chicago-based nonprofit group called the “Benevolence International Foundation,” which was later shut down for providing “logistical support” to al Qaeda. Hamawy, a plastic surgeon, previously volunteered at a hospital in Gaza amid the war between Israel and Hamas, garnering him support from Democrats. He also testified in favor of Omar Abdel-Rahman, “The Blind Sheikh,” during his trial for the bombing, accompanied him on a trip, and translated documents for him.
Benson pointed to his recent radio interview with former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy, who prosecuted the original case, where they underscored the heightened scrutiny surrounding the candidate’s past role.
“So we had Andy McCarthy on my radio show just recently,” Benson said on Fox News’s Fox and Friends Tuesday. “Andy was one of the prosecutors who put away the Blind Sheik, this arch-terrorist mastermind of the first World Trade Center bombing with the goal of murdering thousands of New Yorkers.”
Recalling the scope of the investigation, McCarthy said the case against the Blind Sheik encompassed not only the World Trade Center bombing but also a wider terrorist plot targeting several New York landmarks.
“The case that we convicted the Blind Sheik was kind of a two-phase thing. One was the World Trade Center bombing, and the second phase was this New York City landmarks plot where they were planning to do simultaneous bombings of the Lincoln and Holland Tunnel, the FBI’s lower Manhattan headquarters, the U.N.’s complex, an American military facility,” McCarthy said on the Guy Benson Show Thursday.
Emphasizing the depth of Hamawy’s ties to the convicted terrorist leader, Benson said, “The man you just mentioned, running for Congress in New Jersey, was his interpreter, traveled around with him, was a confidant, and was a defense witness at that trial.”
Benson further cited Jewish Insider reporting that drew attention to additional scrutiny of Hamawy’s later overseas activities.
“Beyond that, Bryan [Kilmeade], Jewish Insider has reported that same man subsequently went to Bosnia to volunteer for an organization that was later exposed as an al Qaeda front and shut down,” he said.
Benson also suggested that, given Hamawy’s relationship with the Blind Sheikh, the connection between Bosnia and al Qaeda couldn’t be a coincidence.
Expanding on the significance of the Bosnia connection, McCarthy described how extremist leaders sought to replicate the recruitment model that had emerged during the Soviet-Afghan conflict.
“If you were a young guy like Hamawy was back then, the most prominent people in jihadist circles in the United States at that time and in the New York area were the Muslims who had gone to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets,” he said.
McCarthy suggested that Hamawy’s overseas activities may have been motivated, at least in part, by a desire to gain status and credibility within certain political and ideological circles.
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“So, if you were a person who wanted to have prestige in these circles. The ticket to that was to go someplace where you could participate in the jihad, not just talk about it, go there and participate in it, partake in it,” he said.
“This man is a leading candidate for Congress in New Jersey, a state that lost more than 700 people on 9/11. Are Democrats really going to make someone like this their nominee for the United States Congress?” Benson said.
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