Artist behind Hamas-obsessed installation had virtual love affair with Palestinian dentist in Gaza, bonding over strange ‘vampire jokes’

Her love story bites.

The artist behind an antisemitic and Hamas-obsessed installation on taxpayer-funded Governors Island had a virtual love affair with a Palestinian dentist in Gaza —  bonding over bizarre “vampire dentist jokes,” she acknowledged online.

Rebecca Goyette, whose art sparked outrage when it appeared at a Halloween event over the weekend, had a strange online romance with a pediatric dentist she identified as Mo’min Zahar, starting in April of last year, she wrote in an online article.

“We built a genuine connection with trust and humor, and over time, lots of romantic emojis, silly fiery redhead flirtings, and vampire dentist jokes like, ‘I’m gonna bite you,’” Rebecca Goyette wrote in the arts publication Hyperallergic in September 2024.

“After a recent attack, he said, ‘You are my soul,’ and now I say back, ‘You are my heartbeat,’ wrote Goyette — whose art features  a mock street sign reading, “F–k Israel Ln” and a “Hamas Lover” poster.

Her online tale of love, titled “My Love Story With a Dentist in Gaza,” says she met Zahar online  when he contacted her to compliment her on a Pro-Palestine quilt she made. 

“[He] reached out to me from Gaza to tell me he loved the quilt and the solidarity of the artists with Palestine. We started chatting regularly, instantly feeling a connection,” she wrote.

“He shared that he was a pediatric dentist whose dental practice and family home were bombed in late October of 2023,” she wrote.

“Known for his goofy sense of humor and gentle manner, he is loved by his community. He shared stories of the children who’d always been afraid of going to the dentist until they visited him,” she added.

Their friendship began  “with shop talk” —  but things soon got romantic, she said.

“Suddenly, being an artist and being a dentist didn’t feel so different,” she wrote.“We found strength and trust in each other, while schools, hospitals, mosques, and entire bloodlines of families were being wiped out.”

Eventually, she wrote, he gave her a pet name because of her efforts to help raise money for Palestine through art.

“Mo’min calls me his ‘revolutionary.’ He is so proud of me, but I feel ashamed. Why can’t we do more?,” she wrote.  

He also dotes on her by asking,  “Have you eaten?” when she’s upset about bombings, she said.

“Take from the money we raised and buy yourself a rose. You deserve a rose and so much more,” she says he wrote to her.

She said she responded, “I got a beautiful red rose, thank you. I placed it on
my altar to pray for us.”

Zahar didn’t immediately return The Post’s request for comment.