Mamdani’s Wife Glorifies Palestinian Terrorist Who Shot Down Plane

Zohran Mamdani speaks at a press conference; Julia Bacha is visible among the crowd — Photo: Ron Adar / Shutterstock

A boutique olive oil label credited to Rama Duwaji used the face of a famed plane hijacker—and the backlash now sits on New York City’s doorstep.

Story Snapshot

Art on pricey olive oil bottles is credited to Rama Duwaji, New York City’s first lady.
Past posts praised Leila Khaled, a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacker, reports say.
Scrutiny focuses on whether the art and posts signal sympathy for terrorism.
The episode shows how political art becomes a reputational test in public life.

An illustration crosses from kitchen shelf to political stage

Reports identify artwork on high-end olive oil bottles as the work of Rama Duwaji, wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The brand is described as a Brooklyn-worthy object with hand-drawn labels and a near three-figure price tag. The label imagery ties to Duwaji’s black-and-white portrait style and symbolism found in her broader portfolio. The product’s quiet life on a shelf ended once the art and old posts aligned with a charged symbol: Leila Khaled, the most recognizable face of airplane hijacking in the 1970s.

Coverage from the Washington Free Beacon stated that in 2017, when she was 20, Duwaji used a Tumblr account to post an image of Leila Khaled with a caption echoing Khaled’s militant creed about accepting death for the cause. Newsweek, the New York Post, and others amplified that reporting, framing it as praise for a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated terrorist group. Times of Israel summarized the same claim and placed it at the core of the current scrutiny.

Why a label matters in a city defined by memory and security

New York City holds the largest Jewish community outside Israel. That fact makes symbols of airplane hijacking more than edgy nostalgia; it evokes fear, grief, and the memory of terror. When such symbols appear in the orbit of City Hall, leaders face a duty to draw bright lines against political violence. American conservative values demand moral clarity: do not glamorize hijackers, do not blur lines between “resistance” and attacks on civilians, and do not excuse it as mere art or youthful zeal.

Critics argue the Tumblr post and related art choices signal sympathy for terrorism and hostility toward Israel. They point to the specific use of Khaled’s image and words as evidence of endorsement, not analysis or critique. That argument gains force because Khaled’s public identity is not ambiguous. She is the face of hijacking, displayed in posters and archives, a symbol carefully kept alive across decades. When a public figure’s spouse adopts that symbol, even as an artist, the meaning does not stay private.

The art-politics collision that never ends

Observers of political art see this as part of a recurring pattern. Once art enters public view, meaning shifts from the artist’s intent to the audience’s response. Institutions and collectors often learn the same hard lesson: provocative images can carry reputational risk, and political art seldom sits quietly on a shelf. Critics will read the most charged version of the symbol, not the most generous. That reading then becomes the story, especially when security, religion, and national identity sit in the frame.

Supporters of hard accountability say this is simple, not abstract. A hijacker is a hijacker. A line exists between debate and praise. If you quote a militant’s words with admiration, expect consequences in public life. That stance aligns with common-sense norms: leaders and their families should reject any glamor of terror. Even if a person wrote such things when young, adults own their words and images today, and public trust requires clear correction, not coy rebranding.

What leadership looks like after the label

The path back begins with direct statements that reject violence against civilians without caveats. An apology that names the wrong, not only the optics, helps. Clear separation from groups that bless terror helps more. Art can still challenge and provoke, but symbols tied to attacks on innocents should be off-limits for anyone near civic power. That is a standard New Yorkers grasp. It is also the clean line a plural nation needs to keep civic peace.