New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said that his wife’s social-media activity does not represent the views of City Hall after reports claimed that she liked Instagram posts appearing to praise the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“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,” Mamdani said when asked about the posts.
According to Jewish Insider, Rama Duwaji, a Syrian-American artist born in Texas who married Mamdani in 2025, liked several Instagram posts that appeared to praise or justify the Hamas attack.
One post cited in the report was shared on Oct. 7 by the activist group Slow Factory. It featured images from livestream footage of the attack, including a bulldozer breaching the Gaza border barrier and militants riding on a captured Israel Defense Forces vehicle.
Text over the images described the attack as “breaking the walls of apartheid and military occupation” and “resisting apartheid since 1948,” with the slogan “systemic change for collective liberation.” The caption stated that “over half of the population of Gaza are children” and warned that if Israeli forces retaliated, civilians would be “punished for wanting freedom from apartheid.”
Duwaji liked the post from a personal Instagram account under her name that features artwork and political illustrations. Mamdani has interacted with the account.
She also liked a post from a demonstration organized by the People’s Forum in Times Square on Oct. 8, 2023. The caption read: “Thousands have taken to the streets in NYC to stand with Palestinian resistance and call for an end to all U.S. aid to apartheid Israel.”
At the time, Mamdani—then a member of the New York State Assembly—criticized the rally for “making light” of Hamas’s killing of civilians.
A City Hall spokesperson said the mayor has consistently condemned the attacks.
“Mayor Mamdani has been clear and consistent: Hamas is a terrorist organization, Oct. 7 was a horrific war crime, and he has condemned that violence unequivocally,” the spokesperson told Jewish Insider.
Reacting to the report, Rabbi Steven Burg, CEO of Aish, wrote on social media that Duwaji’s actions reflected support for Hamas and stated that the situation was “not a good look for the mayor.”
