Israel Reportedly Considers Banning Artist and NYC First Lady Rama Duwaji
A state agency took issue with pro-Palestine art and “likes” on social media posts made by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife, according to reports.
Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism has reportedly moved to ban multi-media artist and New York City First Lady Rama Duwaji from entering the country.
According to the Israeli news outlet Haaretz, the ministry accused the Syrian illustrator and ceramicist of antisemitism for her pro-Palestinian illustrations and social media reaction history.
The ministry reportedly took issue with Duwaji’s animation "Eyes on Jenin" (2025), a work that linked police brutality against pro-Palestinian protesters to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Many of her other illustrations, viewable on her social media and website, feature individuals wearing keffiyehs, recount stories of Gazans, and decry Israel's tactic of deliberately starving Palestinians, a claim supported by the United Nations and other organizations.
The government agency's push to bar Duwaji follows a report from earlier this month scrutinizing the artist’s interactions with social media posts on October 7, 2023, more than a year before she married the future New York City mayor. Duwaji reportedly “liked” a post by the Instagram account @theslowfactory that described imagery of bulldozers razing Israeli border fences as “resistance” and described Gaza as an “open-air prison, for millions of people who have committed no crime and have had no trial.” The Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism cited Duwaji’s interaction with the post as part of its justification to bar her, according to Haaretz.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli reportedly called Duwaji’s public comments about Israel and Palestine “unrestrained.”
"This is an unprecedented moral low, and we will not allow people like Mrs. Mamdani to enter the territory of the State of Israel," Chikli reportedly said in a statement, incorrectly identifying her by her husband's last name.
Duwaji has not responded to Hyperallergic’s request for comment.
Israel's possible barring of Duwaji based on social media activity echoes a broader trend of conflating social media likes with endorsements of violence.
Last year, Florida Atlantic University suspended art historian Karen Leader after she reposted content criticizing Charlie Kirk’s right-wing politics following his assassination. More recently, the children’s star and pro-Palestine activist Ms. Rachel issued a public apology after she said she accidentally hit the like button on an antisemitic comment.
In a March 6 press conference after Duwaji’s social media history activity made headlines, the New York City mayor answered an unrelated question about his wife, describing her as a “private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my City Hall.”
City Hall has not yet responded to Hyperallergic's request for comment.
Last June, Mamdani diverged from other candidates in a mayoral debate when he declared that he would not visit Israel if elected mayor.
Hyperallergic contacted the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism for comment.
