New York City first lady Rama Duwaji to visit Syria and Lebanon with taxpayer-funded security detail.By World Israel News StaffNew York City first lady Rama Duwaji is set to travel to Syria and Lebanon next month with an NYPD security detail, despite both countries being under the State Department’s highest-level “Do Not Travel” advisory, according to a report Monday.Duwaji, the 29-year-old wife of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, is expected to begin the trip on September 20 and visit relatives in the two countries.The New York Post first reported the plans, citing a source familiar with the first couple’s security arrangements, while City Hall subsequently confirmed both the trip and the presence of NYPD officers.“Upon the strong recommendation of the NYPD, the First Lady’s security detail will be joining her when she travels to visit family in Syria and Lebanon,” mayoral spokesperson Dora Pekec said.The Post reported that Duwaji requested police protection for the trip after traveling overseas without her NYPD detail in July.A source familiar with the arrangements emphasized that the upcoming journey is personal rather than connected to Mamdani’s administration.“It’s not official business. It’s not doing anything for the city,” the source said.The mayor’s office did not disclose the anticipated cost of sending NYPD personnel with Duwaji or how many officers would accompany her.Duwaji does not hold a formal City Hall position, and Mamdani has repeatedly characterized his wife as a “private person.”The security arrangements have drawn particular attention because of the conditions in the countries Duwaji plans to visit.The State Department currently places Syria at Level 4 and advises Americans not to travel there “for any reason,” citing terrorism, unrest, kidnapping, hostage-taking, crime and armed conflict.The advisory, updated August 7, says the US government cannot provide routine or emergency consular services inside Syria and warns that violence remains possible throughout the country.Lebanon is also at Level 4. The State Department warns of terrorism, kidnapping, unrest, land mines and armed conflict and says US Embassy personnel themselves face restrictions on personal travel inside the country.The department ordered non-emergency US government employees and family members to leave Lebanon in February and warns that Americans and other foreigners may be viewed as kidnapping targets.Dov Hikind, a former Democratic New York state assemblyman who now heads Americans Against Antisemitism, argued that deploying NYPD officers on Duwaji’s private trip would unnecessarily expose them to danger.“We’re putting the police officers in danger. They will be viewed as the bad guys. These are war zones,” Hikind said.He contended that Duwaji herself was unlikely to face the same danger, claiming, “Duwaji doesn’t need security. She will get a hero’s welcome and be protected by Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.”“Duwaji will be fine,” Hikind added.Duwaji is a Syrian-American illustrator whose family comes from Damascus and who describes herself professionally as a Syrian illustrator. She has previously spent time in Lebanon.The September trip will come roughly two months after Duwaji traveled to Mallorca and Corsica for a pair of women’s spiritual retreats organized by Women Sanctuary.She attended the group’s “Plants of the Quran” retreat in Mallorca from July 1 through July 6, serving as an artist-in-residence, before traveling to Corsica for another retreat from July 9 through July 14.The trip overlapped with America’s 250th Independence Day celebrations and prompted criticism from several Republican New York City officials. Mamdani’s office said at the time that Duwaji traveled without a taxpayer-funded NYPD security detail.Duwaji has also faced scrutiny over years of anti-Israel activism and past social-media activity, including posts and reposts sharply hostile to Israel.A Washington Free Beacon review of her old X and Tumblr accounts found that in 2015 Duwaji retweeted a series of posts attacking Snapchat for featuring Tel Aviv in its “live story” service.A comment she reposted said Tel Aviv “shouldn’t exist in the first place” and described its residents as “occupiers.”The same investigation found that she reposted material praising members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, including Leila Khaled, who participated in airline hijackings, and Shadia Abu Ghazaleh.More recent controversy followed reports that Duwaji had liked Instagram posts celebrating Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, including one that characterized reports of sexual violence against Israelis as a “mass rape hoax.”Duwaji apologized in April for offensive language in some of her teenage posts, including racial and anti-gay slurs, saying she understood the hurt her comments had caused.She did not specifically address her anti-Israel posts in that apology.The post Mamdani’s wife to visit Syria, Lebanon with NYPD security despite ‘Do Not Travel’ warnings appeared first on World Israel News.