Rama Duwaji promised to donate the income from a T-shirt she designed to assist a grassroots Gaza charity — however by no means despatched the $2,000 raised, The Put up has discovered.
A yr after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist strikes on Israel, New York Metropolis’s now-first woman designed shirts to profit Dahnoun Mutual Assist, a gaggle based mostly in Gaza that gives important companies to displaced Palestinians, in keeping with its social media posts.
The $47 T-shirts — which featured a drawing of a chook on prime of a lady’s head with the Arabic phrase “Khair Ya Tair” (“Excellent news, oh chook!”) — have been bought on Everpress, a London-based platform that labored with charities to promote gadgets for fundraising.
Duwaji pledged 100% of the income from the shirts, which have been marketed on her Instagram account and raised about $2,000, a supply advised The Put up. That cash went into “a creator” account on the firm, the supply mentioned.
The Put up is advised that Everpress appealed a number of occasions to Duwaji to ship her banking data in order that they may wire her the money, which she then was required to ship to the charity.
“That’s the way in which it’s purported to work,” mentioned the supply, including that the platform, which shut down in Could, routinely labored with giant charities comparable to Battle Little one and UNICEF. “Everpress took within the funds for the creator [then] despatched the cash to the creator for the charity.”
The supply mentioned that the workforce at Everpress repeatedly reached out to Duwaji on her private electronic mail account and through Instagram, however she didn’t reply and the $2,000 stayed within the account.
“On the time we had no thought who she was, however for those who say you’re going to donate to one thing, then it is advisable donate,” the supply advised The Put up. “We thought perhaps she donated on her personal, however we couldn’t discover any proof that she did that.”
A spokeswoman for the Mayor’s workplace advised The Put up that Duwaji didn’t preserve the proceeds from any of the T-shirt gross sales.
“First Girl Rama Duwaji designed a shirt for which 100% of the proceeds would go in direction of Dahnoun Mutual Assist for Gaza,” mentioned Dora Pekec. “The shirt was bought through the third-party web site Everpress HQ, which permits impartial creators to promote clothes with out upfront prices. At no level have been the proceeds within the First Girl’s account. The proceeds stay at Everpress HQ and will probably be despatched to the mutual assist group.”
However the firm issued a number of notices to “creators” noting that it might be shutting down in Could. “With rising prices and an rising difficult market, we’ve needed to make the tough determination to wind issues down,” mentioned an Everpress discover posted by a former creator earlier this month. The supply famous that Duwaji’s marketing campaign came about in 2024, and she or he had two years to assert the money for the charity.
A web based fundraiser for Dahnoun Mutual Assist exhibits no donations from Duwaji. The charity has raised $1.1 million in direction of its $2 million objective. The group didn’t return a request for remark this week.
“Khair Ya Tair is a hopeful ask, a quiet reassurance, an open palm,” wrote Duwaji in an outline of the T-shirt design on the Everpress web site. “The Tair in query is the Palestinian Sunbird, an emblem for freedom and defiance of restrictions and borders.100% revenue from this garment goes in direction of winter garments in North Gaza through Dahnoun Mutual Assist.”
Duwaji, 29, is described as a “Syrian illustrator and animator based mostly in Brooklyn, NYC” on the positioning. “Utilizing drawn portraiture and motion, Rama examines the nuances of communal experiences and sisterhood.”
Duwaji has confronted criticism for “liking” posts celebrating Hamas terrorists prior to now. She has apologized for previous posts, together with one from 2015, when she raged that Tel Aviv “shouldn’t exist within the first place” and one other by which she dropped the N-word.
