At the expense of the American taxpayer: Mamdani's wife travels to Syria and Lebanon with police security
Rama Dawaji is scheduled to depart on September 20 for a family visit to the region, despite severe State Department travel warnings. The decision by the NYPD to provide a security detail at taxpayer expense has drawn criticism due to the risks posed to officers.
Rama Dawaji, the wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, is planning a visit to Syria and Lebanon next month. Her controversial trip to the Middle East will be accompanied by NYPD officers, whose salaries and security expenses are fully funded by American taxpayers. This was reported by the New York Post.
The trip is scheduled for September 20, despite both countries being under the most severe travel warnings from the US State Department due to dangerous security conditions. A source familiar with the security arrangements stated that the city's First Lady, previously described by her husband as a "private individual," requested the police escort herself, after traveling abroad last month without any security. Dawaji, a 29-year-old American-Syrian artist, maintains family ties in the region, as her parents are Syrian Muslims from Damascus.
The Mayor's office confirmed the trip and the security detail. City spokesperson Dora Paketch stated: "On the strong recommendation of the NYPD, the First Lady's security detail will join her when she travels to visit her family in Syria and Lebanon." Conversely, the same source emphasized to the New York Post that "this is not an official trip, and it contributes nothing to New York City."
The decision to send American police officers to hostile countries has sparked sharp criticism. Dov Hikind, founder of "Americans Against Antisemitism" and a former member of the New York State Assembly, argued that the move puts officers in real danger. "We are putting officers at risk, who will be perceived there as the 'bad guys.' These are war zones," Hikind explained, adding cynically: "Dawaji doesn't need security. She will receive a hero's welcome and will be protected by Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. She will be just fine."
Dawaji's past is filled with anti-Israel statements. After the Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2023, it was reported that Dawaji created public playlists including songs with offensive lyrics against Israel. Furthermore, she was seen "liking" social media posts that celebrated the murderous attack, as well as a post claiming that acts of rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas terrorists against Israeli victims were nothing more than a "mass prank."
A few weeks before Mamdani took office as Mayor, other inflammatory posts by Dawaji were exposed. In 2015, she claimed that Tel Aviv "should not have existed in the first place" and called its residents "occupiers." Last April, she published a general apology for the "offense" caused by her past posts, but pointedly avoided expressing regret for the anti-Israel content itself.
Dawaji's political activity includes deep involvement in campaigns for the "Democratic Socialists of America." She created illustrations for a campaign promoting Democratic primary candidates who refused donations from AIPAC and committed to supporting legislation aimed at punishing and dismantling pro-Israel charitable organizations in the United States. In recent months, she chose to boycott US Independence Day celebrations in favor of participating in closed workshops of pro-Palestinian women's organizations in Corsica and Mallorca.
