New York Citys education bureaucracy is once again under fire after a Brooklyn middle school showcased artwork by Mayor Zohran Mamdanis wife, Rama Duwaji, while initially blocking a Holocaust survivor from addressing students.
The controversy centers on MS 447 in Boerum Hill, where a seventh-grade course titled Art for Social Change featured the New York City First Ladys illustrations alongside cultural figures such as Kendrick Lamar, Misty Copeland, and the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. According to The Post Millennial, students were prompted with questions including, What is the message in Syrian-American Rama Duwajis art? and How do you think her deep culture shapes what she cares about and what she creates?
Duwajis illustrations, presented to students as mentor art, include slogans such as People Will Rise Against Tyranny, Pulse of Protest, and Quiet Refusal to Be Spoken For. A notice sent to parents last fall explained that students would explore identity, culture, and social justice issues through selected artists, including Duwaji, even as the school had refused a request for Holocaust survivor Sami Steigmann to speak.
That decision was reversed only after public backlash, raising questions about why radical political art was welcomed while a firsthand witness to Nazi atrocities was initially turned away. Moshe Spern, a New York City public school teacher and head of Jewish United Teachers, condemned the double standard on X, writing, MS 447 originally refused a Holocaust survivor over falsehoods but had no issue teaching [the] mayors wifes antisemitic artwork.
Duwajis public record reveals a long trail of extremist and anti-Israel content that would alarm many parents in a system already accused of politicizing classrooms. She previously shared posts praising members of the US-designated terrorist organization the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), including a 2017 post featuring plane hijacker Leila Khaled and one of her quotes declaring her willingness to die for the cause.
She also promoted material glorifying the First Intifada, reposted content attacking the US military, and circulated claims blaming white people for the creation of al Qaeda. Other posts included anti-Israel rhetoric, including statements that Tel Aviv shouldnt exist in the first place, and she used a racial slur against blacks in 2013.
In the wake of Hamas October 7, 2023, massacre of Israelis, Duwaji liked Instagram posts celebrating the attack, including one that dismissed reports of sexual violence as a mass rape hoax. After public scrutiny intensified, she deleted her old X account but kept her Instagram profile, where she maintains roughly 2 million followers and continues to wield significant cultural influence.
Duwaji also produced artwork for the Democratic Socialists of Americas PalestineOnTheBallot.com campaign, which backed candidates hostile to Israel and supported legislation targeting pro-Israel charities. For many families, the episode at MS 447 underscores a broader concern: that New Yorks public schools are elevating radical, anti-Western voices while marginalizing historical truth and moral clarity, even as the citys political classfrom socialist-aligned officials to Democratic activistslooks the other way.
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