Overview
- An archived 1996 Newark Star-Ledger interview, recovered and publicized on May 27, 2026, shows Hamawy saying he volunteered in Bosnia in 1994 with the Benevolence International Foundation.
- In the 1996 interview Hamawy described delivering medical supplies in Sarajevo and Zenica during a five-week visit with the organization.
- U.S., U.N. and 2002 federal records later identified the Illinois-based Benevolence International Foundation as having financial and operational links to Al-Qaida, and Bosnian authorities raided its offices in 2002.
- Hamawy previously had a separate association with Omar Abdel-Rahman, serving as a translator and testifying at the sheikh’s federal trial in the mid-1990s, but there are no new public legal actions against Hamawy in the current reporting.
- Conservative outlets amplified the archive on May 27, 2026 while noting Hamawy’s endorsements from high-profile Democrats and reporting that his campaign has not yet offered a substantive contemporaneous response, which could prompt questions about vetting and endorsements ahead of the 2026 race.