HonestReporting Clarification: Twitter’s New Middle East & North Africa ‘Editorial Curation Lead’ Apologizes for Antisemitic Posts

Fadah Jassem on Monday announced that she would be joining Twitter as 'Editorial Curation Lead' for the Middle East and…

By November 02, 2021

Fadah Jassem on Monday announced that she would be joining Twitter as ‘Editorial Curation Lead’ for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

“Very excited to get stuck in and delve deeper into the discussions that matter from this diverse and lively region,” the former Al Jazeera reporter wrote in a Twitter post.

In the message, she included the flags of 16 countries in the region, as well as the Palestinian one.

However, social media users were quick to point out that Israel’s flag was conspicuously absent.

Jassem subsequently posted a tweet that included the flags of the Jewish state, Turkey and Djibouti, while noting that she could not access the flag of Oman.

Nevertheless, the GnasherJew account revealed that Twitter’s newest hire had previously shared antisemitic content.

Indeed, Jassem in 2010 seemingly cited Louis Farrakhan as saying that “we give you our tax dollar to support Israel every year.”

The Nation of Islam leader’s Jew-hatred, as documented by the Anti-Defamation League, is well-known. For instance, in 2009, Farrakhan claimed that “the Israeli lobby” controls the US government and questioned the “veracity of the [fatality] figures of the Holocaust.”

In 2010, Farrakhan waged a public relations campaign against what he called “the synagogue of Satan” and “Satanic Jews.”

Yet, that same year, Jassem called Farrakhan a “great example of faith transcending boundaries” and quoted him at least four times.

The items related to Farrakhan were posted when Jassem was in her mid-twenties, shortly before she was employed as a freelance producer by NBC News’ London desk.

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Additionally, Jassem retweeted a post declaring that Israel was “not born” but, rather, “dropped like a bomb in the middle of Palestine.” She also amplified false claims that “Jesus was a Palestinian.”

Following an overture by HonestReporting, Jassem expressed regret.

“I can see that I have been ill-informed with some tweets when [I was] younger. I apologise [British spelling] for any offence caused by these particular tweets,” she wrote to HonestReporting’s Emanuel Miller.

Thereafter, Jassem shut off public access to her Twitter account.

But HonestReporting flagged a post late on Monday that complained about “trolling.”

Twitter’s curation team claims to “quickly, accurately and impartially” summarize “complex conversations” in consonance with the social media giant’s guidelines. According to her job description, Jassem will be responsible for highlighting the “best, most relevant, and timely content that reaches, engages and delights one of the largest daily audiences in the world.”

Earlier this year, Twitter’s apparent double standard when enforcing its hate speech policies was highlighted in Israel’s parliament. Lawmakers posed one burning question: Why is Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei allowed to promote genocide on Twitter?

Related Video: Israel Presses Twitter: Stop Giving Iran’s Khamenei Free Pass

Khamenei has used his Twitter account to repeatedly call for the Jewish state’s destruction. When asked point-blank why these tweets have not been removed, a Twitter representative stumbled over the question.

Given Jassem’s apology for disseminating “ill-informed” tweets, HonestReporting urges her to take a public stand against and actively work towards the elimination of anti-Jewish racism on Twitter.

Featured Image: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025

Akiva Van Koningsveld

Akiva Van Koningsveld

Originally from The Hague, Akiva Van Koningsveld left The Netherlands for Israel in the fall of 2020. Before joining the HonestReporting team, he worked as a policy officer at the Center for Information and Documentation Israel, a Dutch organization dedicated to combating antisemitism and spreading awareness of the Arab-Israel conflict.

Akiva studied journalism at the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht. In 2020, he graduated from Utrecht University with a law degree, focusing on the intersection of human rights and civil liability.

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