Shortly before an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor in a modest hotel in Tel Aviv, US Rep. Keith Ellison had just returned from a visit to the Gaza Strip. The 50-year-old Democrat from Minnesota, who in 2006 was the first Muslim to be elected to Congress, does not belong to mainstream politics. He proudly champions human rights issues, peace and reconciliation.

Ellison says that his mother never believed that she would live to see the day there was a black man in the White House. Ellison himself was arrested at a human rights rally and laments the discrimination against African-Americans, which reared its ugly head following the recent acquittal of the man who had been charged with the murder of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida. Although his constituency includes a significant number of Jews, many of whom, according to Ellison, voted for him, he does not hesitate to make statements that will not make him a favorite on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) monitoring lists.

In an interview summarizing his visit to Israel, including meetings in the settlement of Shilo, in the West Bank and in Gaza as well as a meeting with Israel’s President Shimon Peres, Ellison expresses unreserved support for negotiations with Hamas and active American involvement in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. If that were not enough, he is vehemently opposed to cranking up sanctions against Iran. He is more concerned about human rights in that country than the possibility that it will become a nuclear state. He suggests that President Barack Obama promote an initiative to demilitarize the Middle East, indeed the world, from nuclear weapons. And as for the question of whether Obama should meet with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, Ellison replies with a resounding “Yes, definitely.”

Al-Monitor:  You have been the first US congressman to visit Gaza since Israel imposed the closure on its people. What is your impression from this visit?