New York Mayor Mamdani’s wife to travel to Al-Qaeda state with taxpayer-funded NYPD security after 9/11 anniversary

New Delhi: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, is scheduled to travel to Syria and Lebanon beginning September 20, with an initial report saying she would be accompanied by members of the taxpayer-funded NYPD security detail assigned to the city’s First Family.

The proposed trip has drawn scrutiny because both countries are subject to the US State Department’s highest-level “Do Not Travel” advisory, while Duwaji’s political activism and public positions have already generated controversy.

Duwaji, 29, is a Syrian-American artist with family connections to the region. She describes herself as a “Syrian Illustrator” on her website, and her parents, who are Syrian Muslims originally from Damascus, have strong ties to Syria.

The trip is expected to begin on September 20, shortly after the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, giving the planned journey an especially sensitive backdrop for critics concerned about the security implications of sending New York police personnel into dangerous West Asian environments.

The original report said Duwaji had requested NYPD protection after travelling abroad the previous month without police security. Mayor Mamdani’s office initially confirmed the planned trip and said the security detail would accompany her while she travelled to Syria and Lebanon to visit family.

The report also said the journey was not official city business. The New York Post reported that the trip was not being undertaken on behalf of New York City.

A private trip into high-risk territory

The controversy centres not simply on Duwaji’s destination but on the proposed use of New York police resources for a private overseas journey. Syria and Lebanon remain among the most dangerous destinations listed by the US government, with the State Department warning Americans against travelling there because of armed conflict, terrorism and instability.

Critics have questioned the wisdom of placing New York police officers in environments where they could themselves become targets. Dov Hikind, founder of Americans Against Antisemitism and a former Brooklyn Assemblyman, argued that police officers could face serious risks if deployed to the region.

Hikind described Syria and Lebanon as war zones and argued that Duwaji herself would be less vulnerable than the officers assigned to protect her, claiming that militant organisations could provide protection for her because of her political sympathies.

The issue has also raised questions about the use of taxpayer-funded resources for personal travel. The planned journey is described as a family visit rather than an official diplomatic or municipal mission.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's wife, Rama Duwaji, is facing criticism after traveling to Mallorca, Spain, for a sold-out Islamic "spiritual wellness" retreat during America's 250th anniversary celebrations.

She flew from Newark to Palma to attend a retreat centered on… pic.twitter.com/8CYRa8B9b4

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 12, 2026

Duwaji previously travelled overseas in July without NYPD officers. The new request for police protection reportedly followed that journey. Her trip also comes at a particularly demanding period for the NYPD. The 81st United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to take place in New York in September, when the department traditionally faces extensive security demands because of the arrival of world leaders and senior foreign officials.

Mamdani has separately urged New Yorkers to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attendance at the UN gathering, potentially adding further security pressures around the event.

Duwaji’s political activism under scrutiny

Duwaji’s planned journey has attracted additional attention because of her political activities and outspoken views on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The New York mayor’s wife is known for her pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activism. She has participated in events connected to Palestinian causes and has produced artwork for political campaigns and activist organisations.

In 2019, Duwaji attended an artist residency at the Haven for Artists in Beirut, a cultural feminist organisation that describes itself as operating at the intersection of art and activism.
In July 2026, she co-hosted a pro-Palestinian, all-female spiritual retreat on the French island of Corsica. The event was organised by Women Sanctuary, a Muslim- and women-focused travel organisation run by Parisian designer Rym Nur.

She had also skipped America’s 250th anniversary celebrations to attend an earlier Women Sanctuary retreat on the Spanish island of Mallorca, where she served as artist-in-residence at a sold-out “Plants Of The Quran” workshop. The mayor’s office said she did not have NYPD officers accompanying her on that trip.

Duwaji also created artwork for the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America as the organisation promoted PalestineOnTheBallot.com, a campaign encouraging support for Democratic primary candidates who rejected funding from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and backed the Not on Our Dime Act.
That proposed legislation would target registered charities found to support what the bill describes as Israeli settler violence.

Her political associations have been accompanied by controversy over older social-media activity. Reports have highlighted posts in which Duwaji criticised Israel and made inflammatory statements about Tel Aviv. In 2015, she reportedly wrote that Tel Aviv “shouldn’t exist in the first place” and referred to its residents as “occupiers.”

Two years earlier, as a teenager, she used a racial slur in a social-media post.
Duwaji apologised in April 2026 for the hurt caused by some of her past social-media activity, although critics noted that the apology did not directly address all of the Israel-related material that had attracted scrutiny.

From Hamas controversy to Syria and Lebanon

Duwaji’s political profile also came under renewed attention following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel. She reportedly curated Spotify playlists containing songs with profanity-laced anti-Israel lyrics after the attacks.

She was also accused of liking Instagram posts celebrating the Hamas assault and a post claiming that rapes committed against Israeli hostages and victims were a “mass hoax.” The allegations became part of wider scrutiny of Duwaji shortly before and after her husband assumed office as New York City mayor.

Mamdani has defended his wife by describing her as a private person and arguing that her social-media activity should not make her the focus of public scrutiny. Duwaji’s Syria and Lebanon connections, meanwhile, are personal as well as political. Her parents are from Damascus, and she has maintained links with the region through family, art and activist networks.

The planned September journey therefore combines several sensitive elements: a private family visit to two countries under the US government’s highest travel warning, reported plans for police protection, Duwaji’s history of political activism and the timing of the trip soon after the September 11 anniversary.

I found 70+ posts liked by Rama Duwaji, Zohran Mamdani's wife, of radical anti-Israel content—and even Holocaust inversion. pic.twitter.com/Q7NEKVXSnG

— Olivia Reingold (@Olivia_Reingold) March 7, 2026

The controversy has also revived questions about the relationship between Mamdani’s political identity and that of his wife. Duwaji has been active in pro-Palestinian and Democratic-socialist circles, while Mamdani has himself become a prominent critic of Israel and has supported political positions that have generated sharp debate in New York.

The planned journey has consequently become more than a question of overseas travel. It has placed the mayor’s administration under scrutiny over the boundaries between private family activities, public resources and the security responsibilities attached to New York’s First Family.

The initial announcement that NYPD personnel would accompany Duwaji triggered particular concern because the trip was described as personal rather than official. The destinations themselves carry substantial security risks, while the timing places the proposed deployment against the backdrop of the anniversary of one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in American history.

The situation has also produced conflicting accounts between City Hall and the NYPD over whether officers would actually accompany Duwaji. City Hall initially said that the security detail would travel with her, while the NYPD subsequently said it does not send officers to countries under Level 4 travel advisories for discretionary, non-investigative travel.

For critics, however, the episode has highlighted a broader concern over how public security resources are handled when the family of a major American city’s mayor undertakes private international travel, particularly when the destination is a region marked by terrorism, armed conflict and political instability.