New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has found himself at the centre of a political firestorm over his wife’s past illustration work related to Palestine.
The imbroglio began last week, when several right-wing news outlets reported on New York City First Lady Rama Duwaji’s past work connected to Palestinian author Susan Abulhawa and several incendiary comments Abulhawa has made.
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But the response from Mamdani, who has since decried Abulhawa’s past statements as “abhorrent”, has sparked blowback from some of his own supporters, who say he risks reinforcing harmful narratives that conflate support for Palestinians with anti-Jewish sentiment.
Some critics also say the situation underscores a broader double standard in the US, one in which the first Muslim mayor of the country’s largest city faces heightened scrutiny, even as high-profile elected lawmakers launch blatantly Islamophobic attacks with little recourse.
Here’s what to know:
What was the work in question?
Duwaji’s ties to Abulhawa were first reported by the conservative news site the Washington Free Beacon last week.
It said that 28-year-old Duwaji, a freelance illustrator, had provided an illustration for an “essay” compiled by Abulhawa as part of a collection from writers in Gaza titled “Every Moment is a Life” published online by “Everything is Political”.
Abulhawa later clarified that the piece was actually a short story written by a resident of Gaza displaced during Israel’s genocidal war. Titled “A Trail of Soap”, it detailed the difficulties and indignities of using a public, makeshift restroom in the war-torn enclave.
Mamdani said Duwaji had been commissioned by a third party and had never “engaged with or met with” Abulhawa, a claim Abulhawa later confirmed.
The Free Beacon report, as well as subsequent reports by the New York Post and Jewish Insider, highlighted past comments made by Abulhawa.
Some critics have maintained that a handful of Abulhawa’s posts appear to reference all Jewish people, a position that Abulhawa has rejected.
She has maintained that the statements are a reflection of the pain she felt as a Palestinian who has twice travelled to Gaza for aid work during Israel’s genocidal war, which has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians since October 2023.
In one article published on The Electronic Intifada website, Abulhawa described the October 7, 2023 attacks on southern Israel by Palestinian fighters as a “spectacular moment that shocked the world”.
On social media, Abulhawa decried what she called “Jewish supremacist slaughter” in Gaza, writing, “these sons of satan will taste what they meted to us”.
She has condemned Israeli foreign influence, describing “Jewish supremacist ghouls” and “vampires” and, in one instance, calling a commentator a “Jewish supremacist cockroach”.
How did Mamdani respond?
At a news conference last week, Mamdani said that beyond Duwaji having never met Abulhawa, she had also not seen the social media posts in question.
“And we stand in our administration, and I can tell you, our administration – which is separate from the first lady, she doesn’t have a role within it – is against bigotry of all forms … unflinchingly,” he told reporters.
“I think that that rhetoric is patently unacceptable. I think it’s reprehensible,” he added, in reference to Abulhawa’s posts.
What has Abulhawa said?
In a lengthy video statement released on Saturday, Abulhawa said she hoped to clear things up for “Mr Mamdani, for his supporters and detractors alike, for the reporters, for my readers, for my own friends, and for the public in general”.
She rejected that her comments represented either anti-Semitism or anti-Jewish racism, saying she was responding to a Zionist power structure and its proponents from the perspective of a Palestinian who has experienced the ravages of that system.
“Israel and by extension, Israelis – since, as we’re constantly told, they’re the only democracy in the region – have destroyed, shattered and robbed my family of everything,” she said.
“They have committed the genocide in full view of the world, the wholeness of its blood and gore, its apocalyptic horror, its generational injury and its moral harm to all of humanity,” she said.
Abulhawa further described “the feelings [Palestinians] have of pain, rage, contempt or hatred, coupled with the impotence to make the suffering stop”.
She added she would continue to use the “privilege of having a voice … to speak forcefully for those who are defenceless against hateful colonial state violence”.
Why has Mamdani been criticised?
Several commentators who have in the past supported Mamdani questioned the mayor’s decision to engage with the reports, arguing that it only fed disingenuous narratives.
Activist Shaiel Ben-Ephraim described Mamdani as “stupid for apologising and explaining”.
“Nothing will ever be enough for Zionists anyway,” he wrote. “Stand tall.”
Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd pointed to Mamdani’s own account of being motivated to enter politics by the issue of Palestinian rights, writing that it was “fair to hold him to his word”.
Craig Mokhiber, a former United Nations human rights official, also urged Mamdani to take a stand, adding he should “forget what your aides are telling you”.
“Fear is not a sound basis for politics at this moment in history,” he said in a post on X.
For her part, Abulhawa said she was not personally “mad” at Mamdani, but that the situation should be a learning experience.
“You succumbed to forces that seek to pick away at you, at your talented, beautiful wife, and [are] clawing harder with each apology or concession you make,” she said.
“If you are not careful, they will siphon your soul before you even realise it.”
What’s the wider context?
Mamdani faced a wave of Islamophobia during his meteoric political victory last year. He has regularly been accused of anti-Jewish sentiment for condemning Israel’s policies and for describing its actions in Gaza as a “genocide”. He has repeatedly said he is a leader for “all New Yorkers”.
Mamdani has also alienated some supporters by saying during the campaign that he would “discourage” the term “globalise the intifada”, in what some saw as a capitulation to those making unfounded claims against him.
Some critics have decried a double standard in the intense scrutiny Mamdani has faced for his political views and his family’s peripheral connections.
That recently included answering questions over his wife’s “liking” of social media posts that praised Palestinian resistance in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks.
In turn, several lawmakers have seen little recourse for blatantly Islamophobic posts about Mamdani.
Republican US Senator Tommy Tuberville, for instance, has faced little rebuke from his own party for repeatedly attacking Mamdani’s faith.
In a post on X last week, Tuberville responded to a photo showing Mamdani celebrating iftar next to a photo of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center.
“The enemy is inside the gates,” Tuberville wrote.