Late last week, we learned that Rama Duwaji, wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, illustrated a book for Palestinian-American author and journalist Susan Abulhawa, who has a troubling history of antisemitism, including calling Jews “cockroaches,” “rootless parasites,” and “rabid demons.”
That revelation came on the heels of the news that Duwaji liked dozens of social media posts celebrating the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack in Israel. Mamdani once again ran interference for his wife, claiming she got the freelance illustrating gig through a third party and didn’t know it was for Abulhawa. He called Abulhawa’s remarks “rephrensible,” which tracks with Mamdani’s habit of throwing friends and allies under the bus, it seems.
And we say “friends and allies” because it turns out Mamdani’s family has ties to Abulhawa, and many of them.
The New York Post has details:
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s family has crossed paths with the anti-Israel activist who called Jews “cockroaches” and “vampires,” despite his attempts to distance himself from her.
Susan Abulhawa, 55, is a member of the Advisory Policy Council of the Gaza Tribunal along with Mamdani’s Columbia University professor father, Mahmood Mamdani.
The group, which features just 29 members, was established in London in 2024 and describes itself as an independent “people’s tribunal” that collects evidence against Israel in Gaza. British Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn is another prominent figure within it.
…
But Abulhawa was a featured speaker at Columbia University’s Center for Palestine Studies which Mamdani Sr. — a professor in the school’s Department of Anthropology — has long been associated with, appearing in a bio on their website.
Abulhawa was also among the prominent signatories to a 2018 open letter to members of the Saudi royal family to urge them to release professor and women’s rights activist Hatoon al-Fassi. Mamdani’s filmmaker mother, Mira Nair, as well as his father were also among the signatories.
Hellbound and Down 