Dalia Mogahed, a Muslim adviser to President Obama, is under fire for tweets suggesting that Syrian President Bashar Assad is insufficiently hostile to Israel.
The website Jihadwatch reported that on March 10, Mogahed, who serves in the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, tweeted: "To those siding w/Assad: he cannot deliver stability, protection of minorities, or resistance to Israel. He is a killer w/o legitimacy." Jihadwatch opined that, given Assad's record of supporting terrorism and fomenting hatred against Israel, it was disturbing that Mogahed regarded Assad as being "not hostile enough."
Mogahed (who has been described as the "most influential person" shaping Obama's Middle East message) has worked to insure that radical Islamist groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) are included in the White House office's activities.
After Jihadwatch reported on her Assad tweet, Mogahed replied Sunday that it was directed at supporters of Assad rather than Israel: "I am criticizing ppl who support Assad because they think he resists Israel. My issue w/him is he murders his own ppl."
A woman following Mogahed tweeted back that "Since Obama took office, and with you as advisor, we've not seen the Arab Spring, but an Islamist uprising. 2+2 still equals 4." Mogahed sarcastically replied that "your logic is flawless. I surrender. Confession: I created the Arab Spring."
Breitbart.com reported that other Mogahed tweets have been undeniably anti-Israel. After Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren's March 9 Wall Street Journal op-ed contrasted Israel's record on religious equality with the persecution of Palestinian Christians by Hamas and Fatah, Mogahed tweeted a rebuttal of sorts, linking to these anti-Israel letters distributed by Friends of Sabeel-North America, which is part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel.