Mayor Zoran Mamdani’s family found themselves in a tricky situation when they encountered an anti-Israel activist who made derogatory remarks about Jews, calling them “cockroaches” and “vampires.” This was surprising given their attempts to dissociate from such sentiments.
Susan Abulhawa, 55, is part of this narrative. Mamdani’s father, Mahmoud Mamdani, a professor at Columbia University, joined him during this incident.
The group in question, with only 29 members, was established in London in 2024 and presents itself as an independent “people’s tribunal” focused on gathering evidence against Israel related to events in Gaza. Notably, Jeremy Corbyn, a British Parliament member, is among its public figures.
Last week, Mamdani’s wife, artist Rama Duwaj, faced criticism for illustrating a short story that appeared in a collection co-edited with Abulhawa. The story, titled “Trail of Soap” by Diana Airai, is part of “Every Moment is a Life: Gaza in the Time of Genocide,” published by Simon & Schuster this year in both English and Arabic.
The story also features in the February edition of Everything is Political, a publication by Slow Factory.
A spokesperson for Mamdani worked to clarify that Duwaj, 28, had “never been involved or met” with Abulhawa, aiming to separate the two. Yet, Abulhawa had previously featured Mamdani Sr., who teaches at Columbia’s anthropology department, in events linked to Columbia University’s Center for Palestine Studies.
Duwaj’s illustrations for the Gaza writing collection sparked further scrutiny, particularly because Zoran Mamdani remained supportive of her despite her social media activity. This included a contentious “like” on a post that dismissed a Hamas-related rape incident as a “hoax.”
Additionally, Abulhawa has a background in advocating for Palestinian rights, even signing a 2018 open letter calling for the release of Khatoon al-Fashi, a professor and women’s rights activist, alongside Mamdani’s parents.
Having visited Gaza in 2024, Abulhawa conducted eight writing workshops aimed at nurturing young writers. She founded the Palestine Writes Literature Festival and a nonprofit organization, Playgrounds for Palestine Inc., established in 2001.
This nonprofit has claimed to fund literary organizations and reported spending $255,000 to construct a playground and skate park in 2024, coinciding with the escalation of conflict in Gaza.
While requests for comments from both the organization and Abulhawa went unanswered, Abulhawa has expressed support for Hamas, calling events following their attack on Israel a “spectacular moment” and raising questions about Israel’s prior knowledge of the incidents.
Amidst this, Mamdani condemned Abulhawa’s remarks regarding Jews, which were deemed “reprehensible.” He defended his wife, maintaining that she had not met Abulhawa until the illustration project began.
In a social media response to Mamdani’s criticisms, Abulhawa accused him of conceding to external pressures and warned him that succumbing could threaten both his personal and professional life, suggesting that his spirit could be diminished if he wasn’t cautious enough.
