U.S. postpones award for Egyptian women over alleged Twitter remarks
In an embarrassing about-turn, the U.S. Thursday said it would delay giving a prestigious award to an Egyptian activist to check reports she had made anti-American and anti-Semitic remarks.
Samira Ibrahim was to have been honored Friday along with nine other women with the International Women of Courage Award at a glittering event to be hosted by top U.S. diplomat John Kerry and First Lady Michelle Obama.
The award "annually recognizes women around the globe who have shown exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for women's rights and empowerment, often at great personal risk," according to a released statement.
The American rightwing Weekly Standard said Ibrahim, who is prolific on Twitter, had written in August: "An explosion on a bus carrying Israelis in Burgas airport in Bulgaria on the Black Sea. Today is a very sweet day with a lot of very sweet news."
She also allegedly wrote on September 11 "Today is the anniversary of 9/11. May every year come with America burning," the Standard said.
Ibrahim has told the State Department that her account was hacked.
The Egyptian woman had been initially chosen "because of the incredible bravery and courage she displayed at the time of the Tahrir Square protests," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. said.
Her case is a harrowing one, subjected to a 'virginity test,' torture and abuse by the Egyptian army in 2011, she resisted cultural pressure and took the armed forces to court.
Nuland acknowledged the department "became aware very late in the process about Samira Ibrahim's alleged comments."
"After careful consideration we've decide that we should defer presenting this award to Ms. Ibrahim this year so that we have a chance to look further into these statements," she told journalists.
Of the 18,000 tweets Ibrahim has sent out in recent years, "she is denying authoring some four that were brought to our attention, two of which were anti-Semitic, two of which celebrated terrorism."
Other women from the Middle East and Islamic world to be awarded include Malalai Bahaduri from Afghanistan and Razan Zeitunah, a human rights lawyer in Syria who will be awarded in absentia.
Since the inception of the award in 2007 the U.S. Department of State has honored 67 women from 45 different countries.
08 Mar, 2013
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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/egypt/2013/03/08/U-S-delays-award-for-Egyptian-woman-over-twitter-remarks.html
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