A Human Rights Icon’s Ugly Side: ancient hatreds and modern social media felled a champion for women

[DonViejo]

A Human Rights Icon’s Ugly Side: Samira Ibrahim’s Hateful Tweets

by Eleanor Clift Mar 16, 2013 4:45 AM EDT

The Egyptian activist was set to be honored by the State Department, until her Twitter postings were discovered. How ancient hatreds and modern social media felled a champion for women.

While American women argue about why not enough of them head Fortune 500 companies, women around the world, especially in developing countries, have far more basic concerns. Speaking out against sexual abuse and humiliation, gaining access to education, defending human rights, they look to the U.S. for help and inspiration, and last week the State Department prepared to recognize 10 women who have shown extraordinary courage in advancing democratic values.

Then one of the women was struck from the list. The day before the ceremony with Secretary of State John Kerry and first lady Michelle Obama, Samira Ibrahim of Egypt had her award withdrawn after anti-American and anti-Semitic postings were uncovered on her Twitter account and reported in various outlets. She initially denied the tweets were hers, said someone must have hacked her site, but after a series of conversations in which her award was at first deferred, then canceled, Ibrahim was sent packing by a somewhat chagrined and embarrassed State Department.

The tweets, reprinted in a column by Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, are stomach-churning in the visceral hatred they express toward America, Jews, and Israel. The State Department does not have the luxury of compartmentalizing Ibrahim’s very different views when it comes to advocating for women’s rights. She was one of the women highlighted in the media during the Arab Spring. Time named her one of the “100 most influential people in the world” last year, and she was celebrated for her courage at The Daily Beast/Newsweek’s Women in the World Summit in 2012.

Her title on the business card she handed me reads, “Coordinator Know Your Rights Movement.” She had come to Washington to be honored for her courage in speaking out as one of seven women forced by the Egyptian military to undergo “virginity tests” after they were detained in March 2011 during a protest in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. At great danger to herself, Ibrahim brought charges against the government and continues to protest against the extreme religious practices of the Muslim Brotherhood.

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more:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/16/a-human-rights-icon-s-ugly-side-samira-ibrahim-s-hateful-tweets.html