Rama Al-Dawaji’s artwork, published by Slow Factory last February alongside an article by Diana Essalia about a displacement camp in Gaza, sparked political backlash in New York City and raised questions for Mayor Zahran Mamdani’s office.The illustration depicts the face of a woman drawn in black and white, with full eyebrows drawn above a sharp nose, almond-shaped eyes, and a pair of hands extending outward. CNN reported that the article was part of a collection of articles edited by Palestinian-American writer Susan Abu al-Hawa.Key City Hall staffers did not know that Dawaji, the city’s new first lady, had been commissioned to do the artwork or about Abulhawa’s posts, which were first reported by the conservative Washington Free Beacon newspaper earlier this month, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Abu al-Hawa has referred to Israeli forces as “devils of Jewish supremacy” and described the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 shortly after it occurred, as “an astonishing moment that shocked the world” after what she described as “Israel’s criminal siege of Gaza.”While Dawaji has not commented publicly, Mamdani has spoken out against Abulhawa’s language and said that Dawaji’s freelance work was secured through a third party, that Dawaji was not in direct contact with the author and that she was not aware of Abulhawa’s publications.
“I think this rhetoric is completely unacceptable,” Mamdani said on March 13, referring to Abul Hawa. “I think it is reprehensible.”The backlash has raised questions about whether her work should be more closely scrutinized, said people briefed on the incident, who declined to be identified so as not to antagonize the city’s mayor.“The mayor condemned the author’s language, which to his credit,” said Scott Richman, New York regional director for the Anti-Defamation League.
“However, we have not heard from her. Does she have a problem with the writer and her statements? We do not know.”Abul Hawa denied being anti-Jewish and said she was disappointed by what Mamdani said.“You have surrendered to the forces that are out to get you, your beautiful, talented wife, and your business, and you cling tight to every apology or concession you make,” she said. “If you’re not careful, they’ll drain your soul before you even know it.”It was later revealed that pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel posts were shared and liked by Al-Dawaji. They went unnoticed during Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, but now they are creating new scrutiny for both, especially as Mamdani faces skepticism from many in the city’s Jewish community, the largest outside Israel.Al-Dawaji, a professional artist born in Texas and of Syrian descent, is “a private person who has not held any official position in my campaign or on the City Council,” Mamdani said in a press conference earlier this month.His aides and allies asserted that double standards were being applied to the city’s first Muslim mayor and one of the most prominent Muslims in politics, saying that much of the criticism directed at them was fabricated and motivated by Islamophobia. But the mayor and first lady have long focused on pro-Palestinian advocacy in their public lives.
