Overview
- Duwaji, in a Hyperallergic interview, said she felt shame over old posts and apologized for using harmful language, including a racial slur she wrote as a teenager.
- Reports highlighted additional posts from her teens and early 20s that criticized Israel, including a message that Tel Aviv should not exist, and praised figures tied to the PFLP, which the U.S. and EU label a terrorist group.
- Coverage also cited likes on Instagram that appeared to celebrate Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack and promoted a claim that rape reports were a mass hoax.
- The Washington Free Beacon linked historic accounts to Duwaji in part through facial recognition, a method noted in reports and challenged by critics over verification standards.
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his wife holds no formal role and called her a private person, as NDTV, the New York Post, and Israel National News presented the apology with differing emphasis on the posts, the attribution, and his response.