When conservative media outlets surfaced a trove of old social media posts last month by Rama Duwaji, the wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the backlash was swift. The posts — written when Duwaji was a teenager — included anti-Israel statements, racial slurs, praise for a Palestinian hijacker, and support for a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

This week, Duwaji broke her silence. Sort of.

In an interview with the online arts magazine Hyperallergic, the 28-year-old artist of Syrian descent said she felt “a lot of shame” when the posts resurfaced. “Being 15 doesn’t excuse it,” she said. “I’ve read and seen a lot of what others have had to say in response, and I understand the hurt I caused and am truly sorry.”

She did not describe or address any of the posts specifically.

The posts date primarily to 2013 and 2015. In one, Duwaji wrote that Tel Aviv “should not have existed in the first place” and described all of its residents as “occupiers.” In others, she used slurs against Black people and Japanese people. She praised Palestinian hijacker Leila Khaled and members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is designated a terrorist organization by both the United States and the European Union. She also shared a claim that white people established and funded al-Qaida.

The controversy has not been limited to her teenage posts. Following the October 7 massacre, Duwaji “liked” posts celebrating the Hamas attack, including images of terrorists breaching the border fence. One post she liked described assaults on women carried out by Hamas terrorists as a “mass hoax.” She also created illustrations for a book edited by Susan Abulhawa, a Palestinian American author who described the October 7 massacre as a “spectacular” event and has referred to Israelis and Zionists as “parasitic filth.”

The Hyperallergic interview did not address any of her more recent activity.

Mayor Mamdani has defended his wife by arguing she is a private individual with no official role in city government or his campaign. But that deflection doesn’t hold water. Duwaji lives in Gracie Mansion, New York’s official mayoral residence, has her own staff, and receives police security — all funded by taxpayers.

Moshe Davis, who served as head of the Office to Combat Antisemitism under former Mayor Eric Adams, said the mayor’s reticence was itself telling. “The mayor’s silence only strengthens the accusations of antisemitism against him,” Davis said.

Mamdani distanced himself from his wife’s past remarks without directly criticizing the posts. He called Abulhawa’s rhetoric unacceptable, and said Duwaji had not met the author and was unaware of her statements before contributing illustrations to her book.

Duwaji, for her part, showed little interest in navigating the public figure question. In the Hyperallergic interview, she said her focus is on “continuing her work responsibly” and “allowing my art to speak for itself.” At public events, she has chosen to wear clothing by Palestinian designers — a choice she described as deliberate, saying she wants to “send a message.”

New York City police have reported a 182% increase in antisemitic incidents in January compared to the prior year. Mamdani’s appointments director recently resigned over posts about “greedy Jews,” and a campaign activist was let go after expressing support for Hamas. The mayor, who has described the war in Gaza as “genocide,” has repeatedly denied accusations of antisemitism, framing criticism of his positions as legitimate political disagreement about Israeli government policy.

Whether Duwaji’s apology — partial and unspecific as it was — will quiet the controversy remains to be seen. So far, it has not.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)