What more is there to uncover about the spouse of New York City’s mayor?

Since Zohran Mamdani took office, his tenure has been fraught with controversy. Recently, attention has shifted to another influential yet contentious figure—his wife, Rama Duwaji.

Last week, it was revealed that Duwaji contributed illustrations to a book edited by Susan Abulhawa, a known critic with a history of making offensive remarks about Jewish people, referring to them as ‘vampires’ and ‘supremacist demons.’

This unsettling revelation follows numerous media reports documenting Duwaji’s pattern of endorsing social media posts that praised Hamas for its violent assault on Israel two years ago in October.

Among other concerning actions, Duwaji backed claims dismissing reports of Hamas’ sexual violence against Israelis as a ‘mass hoax’ and shared slogans with anti-Zionist undertones like ‘from the river to the sea.’

Given the gravity of these actions, Bruce Blakeman, a Republican gubernatorial candidate in New York, is demanding a public apology from Duwaji and urging an investigation into her social media conduct. I fully support Mr. Blakeman in this call for accountability.

But rather than apologize, the Mamdanis have opted for obfuscation and old-fashioned BS. In place of accountability for her social media history, we are being fed an absurdity: That Rama Duwaji is a ‘private citizen,’ according to her husband, the mayor of a city of one million Jews.

NYC First Lady Ruma Duwaji is being criticized for social media comments she made a few years back that appear to celebrate the horrors of the October 7th Hamas massacre on Israel

Despite being married to NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and attending fancy fashion shows, Duwaji, according to her husband, is a ‘private citizen’ (Pictured: Duwaji at Diotima fashion show on February 15, 2026)

Duwaji illustrated a book edited by the virulent anti-Semitie Susan Abulhawa (pictured), who has described Jews as ‘vampires’ and ‘supremacist demons’

The mayor reportedly justified his wife’s special ‘private’ status by pointing out that they were not married when she liked the posts. The couple wed in early 2025. 

Is the mayor suggesting that Duwaji has renounced these beliefs? Is it fair to assume that the mayor shares these beliefs as well? 

And why is his wife being shielded from scrutiny when others haven’t enjoyed the privledge?

Take Congressman Dan Goldman, for example. He is now running for re-election in New York City. And around the same time the media began eyeing Duwaji’s reaction to October 7, they also began looking at the online activity of Goldman’s wife.

Corinne Levy Goldman, it seems, had liked a series of posts critical of pro-Palestinian activists, including one comparing ‘Jews for Palestine’ to ‘chickens for KFC,’ mocking their apparently self-destructive behavior.

But rather than retreating behind the banner of ‘private citizen,’ the Goldmans responded publicly and were subjected to a critical deep dive in The New York Times detailing the impact of his wife’s likes on Goldman’s campaign and threatening its chances. Never mind that on October 7, 2023, Mrs. Goldman was actually in Israel, hiding in a bomb shelter from the Hamas marauders Duwaji so blithely saluted.

Then there’s former First Lady Michelle Obama, who was blasted back in 2008 for saying she was ‘proud of her country for the first time in her adult life’ during the campaign that saw Barack Obama elected the nation’s first black president. 

No ‘private citizen’ excuses for Mrs. Obama; Barack recovered, but the ‘scandal’ immediately overshadowed his candidacy. Mrs. Obama, unlike Mr. Mamdani, responded to her critics, explaining that she was ‘proud’ of the racial progress that allowed for her husband’s Democratic nomination.

Around the same time the media began eyeing Duwaji’s reaction to October 7, they also began looking at the online activity of Goldman’s wife (pictured, back left) 

Michelle Obama was blasted back in 2008 for saying she was ‘proud of her country for the first time in her adult life’ during the campaign that saw Barack Obama elected the nation’s first black president

In  2021, Martha-Ann Alito, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, displayed a politically charged upside-down American flag at her home; it triggered national outrage

Author Dalia al-Aqidi says that the term ‘Islamaphobia’ has been weaponized

And when Martha-Ann Alito, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, flew an upside-down American flag at her home in 2021, it triggered national outrage and relentless media coverage.

The standard was clear: proximity to power is power. And with power comes scrutiny. But in Duwaji’s case, we are told to look away by the mayor. Why?

The mayor is weaponizing the mainstream media and political classes fear of being labeled ‘Islamophobic.’

As a cultural Muslim, I have seen how accusations of Islamophobia are used to shut down debate, intimidate critics, and even silence Muslims, like myself.

The term ‘Islamophobia’ is also weilded by political Islamists, not to protect their people, but to shield their ideology from accountability – and politicize the religion itself. 

Such strategies create silence and breed hesitation. In that silence, dangerous narratives are allowed to take root and grow. And make no mistakes; they are growing across the nation.

Mamdani, his wife, and those around him understand this dynamic and operate within it. They benefit from it.

Now I shudder to think what might come next. Just look at what has happened already.

In early March, accused Hamas sympathizer Mahmoud Khalil was invited to New York City’s Gracie Mansion for a traditional Iftar dinner where he was served by Duwaji and featured in an official photograph of the gathering.

In early March, accused Hamas sympathizer Mahmoud Khalil (center) was invited to Gracie Mansion for a traditional iftar dinner where he was served by Duwaji

Khalil’s most outrageous statements include Zionism is a ‘genocidal project’ and the October 7th Hamas massacre was a ‘desperate attempt’ by Palestinians to break a cycle of being ignored

This was not a private event. It was a public moment, shared from within the city’s most prominent political address. An image that gave a mayoral seal of approval to Khalil’s most outrageous statements, such as Zionism is a ‘genocidal project’ and the October 7 Hamas massacre was a ‘desperate attempt’ by Palestinians to break a cycle of being ignored.

Khalil’s views were not merely welcomed in the mayor’s dining room, they were  normalized.

Far from these views being in Duwaji’s past, as the mayor has suggested, they are in her – and his – present. 

Rama Duwaji must account for her actions. Being a woman in the public eye is not about fashion shows or magazine covers. It comes with a responsibility to speak the truth, defend victims and reject cruelty without hesitation. Rama Duwaji has done none of these things.

As a couple who represent Islam in America, the Mamdanis are failing – and failing hard. As a woman, as an Arab American, and as a Muslim, nothing could be clearer: Duwaji does not speak for me – and she is not a private citizen.