NYC First Lady At Retreat Whose Organizers Called To Abolish Israel

NEW YORK (VINnews) — New York City first lady Rama Duwaji is serving as an artist-in-residence at a luxury Islamic wellness retreat in Portugal run by a group that has called for Israel to be abolished and has used language widely criticized as a call to erase the Jewish state.

Duwaji, 29, a Syrian American illustrator, animator and ceramist, is taking part in “Journey through Islamic Calligraphy,” a women’s retreat hosted by Women Sanctuary in Porto, according to published reports. The program is being held at an 18th-century property converted into a hotel and event space. Packages have been listed at about $4,300 for a shared room and about $5,260 for a private room.

Women Sanctuary, founded by Paris-based creative Rym Nur, describes its gatherings as an “ode to Allah” and as a setting for sisterhood and spiritual connection. Its public Instagram account has also carried repeated political posts about Israel.

In an October 2025 post, the group wrote that “the apartheid colonial state of Israel has committed a genocide against the Palestinian people” and added, “Abolish the colonial apartheid state of Israel. Free Palestine.”

A May 2024 post expressed hope that freedom would “illuminate the blessed lands of Palestine, from the river to the sea.” Jewish organizations and many governments treat that slogan as a call for the elimination of Israel between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

In September 2024, the account posted a prayer asking Allah for the “liberation of Palestine” and to “cleanse Palestine from tyranny and from its oppressors.” A March 2025 post said, “May the winds of freedom sweep across Palestine, ushering in the complete and rightful restoration of the land’s true stewards.”

The posts were first detailed by the Washington Free Beacon and reported Wednesday by the New York Post. Neither Duwaji nor the mayor’s office had publicly addressed them as of Thursday, according to those accounts.

This is not Duwaji’s first role with the group. Over the summer she led what the organizers called a “marvelous illustration workshop” at a Women Sanctuary session in a manor house in Arcos de Valdevez, in the Portuguese countryside, with rooms priced in the same range.

In July, she skipped New York events marking the United States’ 250th anniversary to attend the group’s “Plants of the Quran” retreat on Mallorca, Spain, listed at about $3,400. She was then scheduled to help host a sold-out session in Corsica from July 9 to 14. The mayor’s office said at the time that she was not accompanied by the couple’s taxpayer-funded NYPD security detail.

The Portugal trip comes as Mayor Zohran Mamdani has publicized a city strategy on antisemitism and appeared with Jewish New Yorkers during Sukkot, including visits to Brooklyn sukkahs. Critics said the first lady’s role at a retreat whose hosts have called for Israel’s abolition undercuts that message. Supporters of the gatherings have described them as faith-based wellness programs open to women of different backgrounds.

Duwaji has drawn earlier scrutiny over her own social media, including posts praising Palestinian terror groups and criticizing U.S. service members for aiding Israel, the Free Beacon reported in March. Some of those posts were later deleted.

Women Sanctuary did not immediately respond to requests for comment reported by news outlets.