NYC Mayor Faces Backlash After Wife Liked Posts Framing Oct 7 Attack as Resistance

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing growing criticism after reports revealed that his wife engaged with social media posts that appeared to portray the October 7 Hamas massacre in supportive terms.

According to reporting published this week, Rama Duwaji, Mamdani’s wife, “liked” a series of Instagram posts in the hours and days following the Hamas attack on Israel the deadliest assault on Jews since the Holocaust.

The October 7 massacre left roughly 1,200 people murdered and 251 kidnapped after Hamas terrorists stormed Israeli communities along the Gaza border.

Among the posts Duwaji reportedly liked was one shared by the activist organization The Slow Factory on the day of the attack.

The post included images taken during the assault, including a bulldozer used by Hamas terrorists to breach the border barrier and militants driving a captured Israeli military vehicle.

Text placed over the images described the attack as “breaking the walls of apartheid and military occupation” and framed it as “resisting apartheid since 1948.”

The caption accompanying the post warned that any Israeli military response would mean Gazans were being “punished for wanting freedom.”

According to the report, Duwaji also liked posts that included the slogan “from the river to the sea,” a phrase widely used in anti-Israel activism that many Jewish organizations say calls for the elimination of the State of Israel.

When asked about the controversy at a press conference, Mamdani did not condemn the content or the rhetoric surrounding the October 7 massacre.

Instead, he emphasized that his wife is not part of his administration.

“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.

Critics say the response avoided addressing the substance of the posts themselves, including content that appeared to frame the murder of Israeli civilians as a form of political resistance.

The controversy comes amid ongoing debate over Mamdani’s views on Israel.

The mayor, a democratic socialist who took office earlier this year, has previously accused Israel of “apartheid” and “genocide,” supported boycotts targeting Israeli-linked institutions, and declined to clearly condemn slogans such as “globalize the intifada.”

Shortly after entering office, Mamdani also moved to reverse several pro-Israel policies enacted under former mayor Eric Adams.

Among those changes were the removal of the city’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism and the rollback of executive orders that had restricted city business decisions discriminating against Israel.

For many observers, the report has intensified concerns about the tone coming from New York City leadership toward Israel and the Jewish community.

Jewish communities around the world continue to grapple with the trauma of the October 7 massacre and the rise in antisemitic incidents that followed.

In that context, critics argue that public leaders must speak clearly against rhetoric that appears to justify or celebrate violence against Jews.

The controversy surrounding the mayor’s response has sparked renewed debate about how political leaders should address antisemitism and anti-Israel extremism in the public sphere.

Israel continues to stand strong against those who seek its destruction and against efforts to justify violence against Jews. Share this article and subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed on issues affecting Israel and the Jewish people worldwide.