Pro-Zionist Outlets Report on Mamdani's Wife's Past Support for Palestinian Cause

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's wife, Rama Duwaji, has been criticized several times in recent weeks after several pro-Zionist outlets have reported on her past social media engagements.

Early March: On March 6, Jewish Insider published an article that showed Duwaji had liked posts supportive of the Palestinian cause immediately following Hamas's October 7, 2023, terror attack on southern Israel. The posts included one that had a "Free Palestine" overlay and showed many people rejoicing atop what appeared to be an Israeli military vehicle. Another expressed skepticism over The New York Times' (Lean Left) past reporting that there were "mass rapes" on October 7. Olivia Reingold of The Free Press (Lean Right) reported Duwaji had "cosigned" over 70 Instagram posts that held "extreme positions against Israel." 

Mamdani Response: Mamdani responded to criticisms faced, "My wife is the love of my life and she's also a private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my City Hall. I, however, was elected to represent all eight and a half million people in this city, and I believe that it's my responsibility, because of that role, to answer any questions about my thoughts and my policies and my decisions."

New Reports: On March 12, Jon Levine of The Washington Free Beacon (Lean Right) reported on Duwaji's previous work and ties with Palestinian author Susan Abulhawa. On March 18, he reported on old Tumblr and X accounts he claimed were Duwaji's and are still active. Levine reported that in 2017, Duwaji posted a photo on her Tumblr that showed the former Palestinian militant Leila Khaled. On International Women's Day in 2015, she retweeted a photo of Shadia Abu Ghazaleh, one of the first women to fight in the Palestinian resistance. She also reblogged Tumblr posts that criticized American soldiers for "mercilessly slaughtering 3rd world civilians and fighting to maintain American hegemony" and blamed "white people" for creating Al-Qaeda. Levine also included that in a 2013 post, when Duwaji was 15, she replied to a friend on Twitter, "Helllll yeah, n***a."

For Context: Mamdani is New York City's first Muslim mayor. Tumblr is a social media platform that was immensely popular in the mid-2010s when it was owned by Yahoo!, but it lost nearly a third of its traffic after it banned adult content in 2018 and has continued to decline in usage since.

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