A Muslim woman says her Twitter is awash with spiteful attacks after an article highlighted her helping a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) panel.
“I understand that this is a really difficult political climate,” Laila Alawa said Tuesday, according to CNN Money. “People are afraid … but it is entirely defamatory. This has been really difficult.”
{mosads}Alawa, 24, reportedly collaborated on a Homeland Security report released earlier this month titled “Countering Violent Extremism.” Alawa served on a subcommittee that helped brainstorm solutions documented in the report.
Alawa said the subcommittee met about three times over a six-month period, resulting in roughly 40 hours total. Alawa’s name is not listed on the department’s final report, she said, but is available in other documentation online.
The Daily Caller last week published an article describing Alawa as a “Syrian immigrant” before resurfacing her past remarks on 9/11.
The story flagged a tweet Alawa wrote in September 2014 stating the terrorist attacks “changed the world for good.”
Alawa on Tuesday said she meant “for good” as “forever” rather than “for the good” in the controversial post.
Alawa added her Twitter is now flooded with “terrifying” messages painting her as a “radical Islamic terrorist” over the post’s content.
“CNN Money” said Alawa, who is Syrian, was born in Denmark and also lived in Japan before immigrating to the U.S. as a child.
A DHS spokesman on Tuesday said Alawa was selected for an agency subcommittee based on background and youth.
“Laila Alawa was selected as a subcommittee member because of her perspective as a Syrian American woman of the millennial generation,” J. Todd Breasseale, assistant secretary for public affairs at the DHS, said in an email. “[She] is not a member of the … Homeland Security Advisory Council [HSAC], as has been erroneously reported by some.”
Daily Caller reporter Peter Hasson on Tuesday said his story is accurate, adding he does not support attacking Alawa.
“To be clear: Ms. Alawa never served on HSAC itself — only on the subcommittee on combating violent extremism,” he said. “My piece reflected that distinction. I wholeheartedly condemn any harassment or threats.”
The DHS report Alawa collaborated on urges the Obama administration to expand the scope of its battle with extremism so it includes “anarchists, sovereign citizens, white-supremacists and others.”
Alawa on Tuesday said she would not mute her social media output following backlash over her public remarks.
“This just shows them that they’ve won and that they’ve silenced me,” said Alawa, who heads a website on issues for millennial women called The Tempest. “That would be the ultimate loss for me.”