JULY 22, 2026
New York City Council candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier's 2014 internship at An-Najah National University draws scrutiny over university's ties to Hamas
Darializa Avila Chevalier, a Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidate for New York City Council, listed a May–July 2014 internship at An-Najah National University on her LinkedIn profile, teaching professional competency courses through the nonprofit Tomorrow's Youth Organization. An-Najah, a Palestinian Authority public university, has been flagged by Israeli government reports and international watchdog groups as a site of Hamas-linked recruitment activity. Hamas previously described An-Najah in translated Anti-Defamation League archives as a "greenhouse for martyrs."
Avila Chevalier's internship was funded through Columbia University and administered by Tomorrow's Youth Organization, a Virginia-based nonprofit, according to statements she made and her LinkedIn profile, as reported by the Washington Examiner. The program connected American interns with Palestinian university students for professional development and cultural exchange, according to a 2013 statement from Tomorrow's Youth Organization quoted by the Examiner.
Researchers at the University of Bergen and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy have documented An-Najah's hosting of the "Islamic Bloc," a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated student group that became Hamas's campus recruitment vehicle over decades. In 2002, Israeli authorities identified former Islamic Bloc leader Qais Adwan, an An-Najah student, as a Hamas explosives expert linked to bombings that killed at least 60 people. Israeli and Palestinian Authority agents also arrested several An-Najah students and faculty on suspicion of terrorist activity from at least 2010 onward, according to multiple reports cited by the Examiner.
In June 2014, during the period of Avila Chevalier's internship, an Israel Defense Forces investigation found that dozens of An-Najah students marked their graduation with large Hamas banners and flags. The IDF posted photos it said showed graduates displaying three fingers, a symbol it associated with the recent kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas; the group later acknowledged murdering the three captives, an event that preceded the 2014 Israel-Hamas war.