\u2018Frustration\u2019 among Americans that \u2018so many of our tax dollars go to bomb civilians\u2019
\n CHICAGO
\nA Palestinian-American journalist and social media influencer is tied for first place among 16 other candidates in the March 2026 Democratic primary election for the ninth Illinois congressional district seat.
\nKat Abughazaleh, whose father and grandparents originate in Gaza and Bethlehem, was the first to announce her candidacy when incumbent Jan Schakowsky announced her retirement, having been elected in 1998.
\nAbughazaleh has so far raised more than $1 million for her campaign, dwarfing the fundraising of all but one of her rivals, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss.
\nBoth she and Biss have renounced donations from the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has poured money into the candidacy of Laura Fine.
\nAbughazaleh, who graduated from George Washington University\u2019s Elliott School of International Affairs in 2020, told Arab News that her popularity is in part driven by her humanity \u201cfor all of the victims\u201d of the Gaza war, both Israeli and Palestinian.
\n\u201cMy whole point of view, no matter the country, is that every civilian deserves to live a safe life, that no child deserves to go to bed hungry,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cAnyone who commits war crimes, and it doesn\u2019t matter what flag they\u2019re under \u2026 they need to be accountable,\u201d she added.
\n\u201cPeople want to talk about how this issue is too complex to get into, but it\u2019s not that complicated. Civilians must be protected.\u201d
\nAbughazaleh said: \u201cWhen people are looking at what\u2019s happening in Gaza and the West Bank, there\u2019s the basic humanity of it, and the frustration that so many people in America are struggling with.
\n\u201cSo many of our tax dollars go to bomb civilians and we\u2019re not following our own laws. We\u2019re supposed to investigate any ally we give money or weapons to if they use that money or weapons to commit war crimes. People just want our country to follow its own laws.\u201d
\nAbughazaleh was referring to the Leahy Act, which prohibits any foreign country from using American funds or arms in \u201cgross violation of human rights.\u201d
\nShe said her message that the priority is to achieve peace, security and safety for all resonates with voters in the district. A recent poll reflects that trend, showing her and Biss in a tight battle for first place.
\nAlthough both have said they will not accept money from AIPAC, almost half of the money raised by Fine has come from the lobby group.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve never seen people care about Palestinian rights for this long,\u201d Abughazaleh said, adding that in the past, \u201cwe\u2019ve seen strikes against civilians, then there\u2019s outrage for a few days and then it dies down once there\u2019s a ceasefire.
\n\u201cBut what we\u2019ve seen in Gaza \u2014 and to be clear, we haven\u2019t seen the full extent of it as journalists haven\u2019t been allowed in, as international investigators haven\u2019t been allowed in \u2014 when that eventually happens, we\u2019ll see horrors beyond our comprehension.\u201d
\nShe said both American public opinion and the attitude of the Democratic Party have changed significantly as a consequence of the Gaza war.
\n\u201cI wish it didn\u2019t take this many lives to get here, but we\u2019re here, and that\u2019s why I think it\u2019s really important,\u201d she added.
\nWhile Gaza is dominant among voters in the congressional race, Abughazaleh said other issues are also of concern, including the crackdowns, arrests and expulsions of undocumented residents.
\n\u201cDemocracy is clearly the top issue followed by basic rights, housing and affordability,\u201d she said, adding that healthcare is another major concern for Americans.
\nNoting that nearly half of the members of the US Congress are millionaires, she explains on her website KatForIllinois.com: \u201cWe deserve representatives who face the same challenges we do or at least have some time in the last decade.
\n\u201cThey don\u2019t deal with out-of-pocket prescription costs or nightmarish rent hikes or existential fear about their lives in 50 years. You and I do.\u201d
\nThe congressional district\u2019s boundaries begin in Chicago and include Evanston, home to the prestigious Northwestern University.
\nThey also include parts of Skokie, Buffalo Grove and Algonquin, suburban areas that have both Jewish and growing Muslim and Arab populations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018Frustration\u2019 among Americans that \u2018so many of our tax dollars go to bomb civilians\u2019 CHICAGO A Palestinian-American journalist and social media influencer is tied for first place among 16 other candidates in the March 2026 Democratic primary election for the ninth Illinois congressional district seat. Kat Abughazaleh, whose father and grandparents originate in Gaza and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-511500","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n