Amani Al-Khatahtbeh

Early years Al-Khatahtbeh was raised in New Jersey to Arab parents of Jordanian and Palestinian descent. When she was 13 years old, her family decided to move to Jordan due to concerns of increased violence against the Muslim community in the United States. After her mother fell ill, her family moved back to New Jersey to be closer to their relatives who still lived there. Back in New Jersey, she continued to feel closer to her Muslim identity and decided to wear the hijab as an act of resistance against Islamophobia.

Following high school, she attended Rutgers University, graduating in 2014 with a political science degree. She then worked for a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. before moving to New York and briefly working for a major media organization.

Career

MuslimGirl In the beginning of 2015, MuslimGirl developed a volunteer staff and saw a large increase its readership.

In 2016, she partnered with Teen Vogue for a web series that explored issues of concern to young Muslim women.

Politics On April 4, 2020, Al-Khatahtbeh announced her candidacy in the race to represent New Jersey's 6th congressional district, becoming the first Muslim woman in New Jersey to run for federal office. In the Democratic primary election, her opponents were the 16-term incumbent, Frank Pallone, and attorney Russ Cirincione.

Al-Khatahtbeh's campaign platform focused on progressive issues including Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, student debt cancellation, free public university tuition, criminal justice reform, and the federal minimum wage of $15.

Controversies In November 2020, she was briefly arrested and escorted out of an aircraft at Newark Liberty International Airport following a dispute with another passenger. She attributed the arrest to having been wrongfully singled out in the aftermath of the dispute.