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A New York Democrat U.S. House candidate reportedly interned at a West Bank school linked to the terrorist group Hamas.
The revelation comes weeks after Democratic Socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier scored a stunning primary upset over longtime Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., becoming one of several candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to win congressional nominations.
Avila Chevalier completed a two-month internship in 2014 at An-Najah National University in the West Bank, where she taught professional competency courses through the Virginia-based Tomorrow's Youth Organization, the Washington Examiner reported Wednesday.
The newspaper reported that Israeli government agencies, international watchdogs, and terrorism researchers have long identified An-Najah as a center for Hamas recruitment and radicalization.
Hamas has previously described the university as a "greenhouse for martyrs," while researchers have documented the school's ties to the terrorist group's Islamic Bloc student organization.
The Examiner reported that during Avila Chevalier's internship, students celebrated graduation with large Hamas flags and banners.
According to an Israel Defense Forces investigation cited by the newspaper, graduates also displayed a hand gesture associated with Hamas after the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, who were later murdered by the terrorist group.
The report also noted that An-Najah has faced repeated scrutiny over the years after students and faculty members were arrested on terrorism-related allegations.
A controversial campus exhibit honoring a deadly Hamas suicide bombing was ultimately shut down after intervention from then-Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.
Neither Avila Chevalier's campaign nor An-Najah National University responded to multiple requests for comment from the Examiner.
Avila Chevalier has described the trip as a defining moment in her political development.
"It was really formative," she told City & State New York, arguing that what she witnessed in the Middle East reinforced her belief that American institutions and Israeli policies were connected.
The Examiner also reported that after returning to the United States, Avila Chevalier co-founded Columbia University Apartheid Divest, an activist organization that later participated in the 2024 anti-Israel encampment protests at Columbia University.
The group declared it sought the "total eradication of Western civilization."
The newspaper further reported that Avila Chevalier later deleted social media posts endorsing the abolition of police and prisons and mocking the American flag.
Although she recently said Hamas was wrong to target civilians during its Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel, archived posts showed she previously compared the U.S. to Hamas.
Avila Chevalier defeated Espaillat in New York's 13th Congressional District Democrat primary after receiving endorsements from Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America.
She was one of three Mamdani-backed candidates to win House primaries, highlighting the growing influence of the socialist movement within New York's Democratic Party ahead of the November election.
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