Twitter’s new “editorial curation lead” for the Middle East and North Africa has been selected despite the anti-Israel views she has expressed in the past.
Not only are her historic tweets concerning, but her first Tweet regarding her new position included 17 flags but failed to mention Israel, despite it being a Middle East country.
“Cats out the bag, I’m thrilled to say that I join Twitter as Editorial Curation Lead for MENA today,” Jassem tweeted on her now-private Twitter account. “Very excited to get stuck in and delve deeper into the discussions that matter from this diverse and lively region.”
As reported by Israel Hayom, her announcement was immediately criticized by pro-Israel organizations like Israel War Room, which tweeted on Monday, “Hey, Twitter, why did your new MENA Editorial Curation Lead not list Israel alongside its Middle Eastern neighbors? This is either woeful ignorance of the territory Fadah Jassem is supposed to cover or anti-Semitic erasure of the only Jewish state.”
Further digging into Jassem’s Twitter history by Gnasher Jew uncovered more anti-Israel tweets, including one from 2010 and 2011, in which Jassem said Israel was “not born” but “dropped like a bomb in the middle of Palestine.” She also tweeted quotes from antisemitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, questioning why tax dollars are spent on foreign aid to Israel and calling him a “great example of faith transcending boundaries.”
“No TWITTER, a person who erases Israel from the map cannot be Twitter’s Middle East gatekeeper. What’s next? Longtime Twitter user Ayatollah Khamenei on your board? Twitter empowers every anti-Semite by elevating this bigot to censor Middle East news,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in a news release on Tuesday.
Before making her profile private, Jassem apologized for omitting the Israeli flag after receiving outrage from Twitter users, posting another tweet including the flags of Israel, Turkey, and Djibouti, and saying that she was unable to find one of Oman.
She also responded to Emanuel Milleredia analyst with HonestReporting.com regarding her anti-Israel tweets.
“I can see that I have been ill-informed with some tweets when younger. I apologize for any offense caused by these particular tweets, and like I said, for forgetting the Israeli flag with reference to MENA as I did others,” she tweeted.
“What a fascinating day. Thanks for the lovely messages to my news today and support RE the trolling,” Jassem wrote before making her account private. “I’ve been advised to make my profile private, which I’ve done now. Not easy having horrid allegations thrown your way but always better to ignore – however tempting.”
Twitter, like many social media outlets, has had problems with anti-Semites using the site to spread their hatred. There is a perception that Twitter is left-wing and its new curation has pointed to that in the past, with the news being pushed by the site being acutely one-sided. Sadly, it seems this appointment is a continuation of this trend and is unlikely going to be resolved. It is also troubling that a social media giant would allow someone who quotes anti-Semites and has clear anti-Israel sentiments (one of the countries she is overseeing the news for) to be allowed to obtain a position where her influence could have an impactful effect.
Twitter’s decision does not demonstrate the high standard expected of it, nor does it reflect the standards Twitter expects of those using its platform.
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