Rama Duwaji at Islamic Retreat

NYC first lady joins luxury Islamic retreat whose organizers pushed to abolish Israe

New York City’s first lady Rama Duwaji is wrapping up a week as artist-in-residence at a Portuguese castle retreat whose organizers have repeatedly called for abolishing Israel and “cleansing” the land of Jews.

Duwaji, the wife of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, is finishing a stint with Women Sanctuary at the Paço da Glória near Porto, an 18th-century castle now used as a high-end hotel and event space. The Washington Free Beacon reported she is listed on the group’s site as a team member under the name “Karl Holland” and is believed to be leading Arabic calligraphy work during the second session of the month.

The same organization has a documented record of hard-line anti-Israel messaging on Instagram. That record now sits beside the first lady of America’s largest city, weeks into her husband’s mayoralty and after he rolled out a strategy to combat antisemitism that many Jewish New Yorkers rejected.

Five nights in a private room at the retreat list for roughly $5,216. Shared rooms run about $4,300. The setting is not a community center. It is a Portuguese castle roughly an hour from Porto, marketed as luxury Islamic wellness.