A Brooklyn middle school used Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife’s artwork in a seventh-grade activist-themed lesson — at around the same time it had temporarily blocked a Holocaust survivor from speaking to students, The Post has learned.
Illustrations by Rama Duwaji — who Mamdani has bizarrely claimed isn’t a public figure — were showcased alongside celebrity writers, dancers and musicians like Kendrick Lamar in a course called “Art for Social Change” at MS 447 in Boerum Hill.
“Students have been busy throughout this unit thinking about their own deep culture, their identities, their interests and activities, and social justice issues connected to one, some, or all of these, MS 447 teacher Joy Cannon said in a notice to parents last fall.
“They have looked at mentor art and artists like Misty Copeland, Kendrick Lamar, Alvin Ailey Dance Company, Rama Duwaji, Libre Gutierrez, and Marianne Williamson,” Cannon added.
Educators presented the first lady’s work to students and encouraged them to use it as inspiration to create their own personal art.
“What is the message in Syrian-American Rama Duwaji’s art?” the students were asked. “How do you think her deep culture shapes what she cares about and what she creates?”
Duwaji’s illustrations include headings and messaging such as “Stillness of Displacement,” “People Will Rise Against Tyranny,” “Pulse of Protest,” “Quiet Refusal to Be Spoken For,” and “And in Sisterhood What It Means to Belong.”
Last November, parents complained to school officials that MS 447 was pushing an anti-Israel agenda by using Duwaji’s artwork while denying a request to have Holocaust survivor Sami Steigmann speak to students.
He was eventually allowed to speak last month following a firestorm of criticism.
Pro-Israel activists have accused Duwaji, 28, as harboring anti-Israel or even antisemitic views due to her past social media activity and affiliations.
“I was concerned about a double standard and not teaching in a critical manner, and just forcing a political ideology on students,” an MS 447 parent told The Post on Monday.
Moshe Spern, a city public high school teacher who heads Jewish United Teachers, questioned the revelation on X.
“MS 447 a Brooklyn middle @NYCSchools originally refused a Holocaust survivor over falsehoods but had no issue teaching @NYCMayor wife’s antisemitic artwork!!” Spern said. “Help this make sense???”
The Post reported Sunday that Duwaji was deeply involved in a democratic socialist activist campaign that pushed for political candidates who would be critical of Israel and backed a controversial bill targeting pro-Israel charities
Duwaji created artwork for the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America as the lefty group unleashed a public campaign called “PalestineOnTheBallot.com.”
The effort promoted candidates running in Democratic Party primaries who snubbed funding from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and vowed to support the Not on Our Dime Act — a bill that would punish or dissolve registered charities found to support “Israeli settler violence.”
The revelation of her gig with the anti-Israel DSA came after old tweets surfaced of Duwaji liking social media posts cheering Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, onslaught against Israel, praising Palestinian terrorists and criticizing the US military.
She also deactivated an old X account after a series of resurfaced posts showed her praising Palestinian terrorists, bashing Israel and criticizing the US military.
MS 447, the city Department of Education and the mayor’s office declined to comment.
