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Statue of Liberty wears a burqa in MAGA pics after Zohran Mamdani win
MAGA supporters are sharing edited pictures of the Statue of Liberty wearing a burqa after Zohran Mamdani won New York City's Democratic mayoral primary.
MAGA supporters are sharing edited pictures of the Statue of Liberty wearing a burqa after Zohran Mamdani won New York City's Democratic mayoral primary. Results were not yet final, but Mamdani -- who is just 33 and would become the city's first Muslim mayor -- had such a commanding lead that his biggest rival, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, conceded defeat overnight.
Mamdani’s religion – he is a Muslim of Gujarati ancestry – has led to Islamophobic posts against him. American far-right politician Marjorie Taylor Greene was among those who shared digitally altered photographs of the Statue of Liberty covered in a black burqa.
MAGA supporter Don Keith was another person who shared the photograph along with a sarcastic “Congratulations New York”.
Pictures of Zohran Mamdani wearing a kurta pajama were also shared on social media with the caption “Never Forget” - referring to the September 11 attacks by the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001.
The hate from MAGA supporters is not surprising - Mamdani has been vocal about his criticisms for Republican Donald Trump. The Ugandan-born state assembly man has time and again criticised Israel and PM Benjamin Netanyahu and has also voiced his support for Palestinians.
More about the Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty, a symbol of freedom and democracy, was a gift from France to the United States in 1886 to commemorate the centennial of American independence and celebrate the enduring friendship between the two nations.
Designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, with its metal framework engineered by Gustave Eiffel, the statue was assembled on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. It is today seen as a beacon of hope and opportunity, particularly for immigrants arriving by sea, becoming one of the most iconic landmarks of New York.
However, not many know that the Statue of Liberty was originally envisioned as a Muslim woman. According to a report in the Smithsonian magazine, the statue was “originally intended to represent a female Egyptian peasant as a Colossus of Rhodes for the Industrial Age.”
(With inputs from AFP)
