🚨FDD's Feel-Good Fables vs. Unanswered Facts:
Why Defenders of Jomana Qaddour Ignore Her Anti-Israel Friend and Brotherhood Ties
It's striking how quickly certain "experts" - especially at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) - rush to defend Jomana Qaddour with glowing personal anecdotes about her supposed pro-Israel and pro-Jewish views, while overlooking basic public facts that raise red flags about her associations.
A prime example: Qaddour's close friendship with Celine Kasem, captured in a recent photo of them together in a cab, posted by Kasem herself while defending Qaddour against the RAIR Foundation report
Kasem has repeatedly raged against Israel in what I would think FDD would deem extreme terms. In a March 1, 2026, video titled "On Iran, Israel, and our region," she declared:
"Today, Israel is the occupying, genocidal cancer of our region, and it has been genociding our brothers and sisters in Gaza for the past two years, live on TV with full impunity from the whole entire world."
Her feed includes similar rhetoric, accusing Israel of bombing Syrian civilians, collaborating with Assad, and more.
If Qaddour is truly a "genuine philosemite" committed to normalization, why maintain such a visible bond with someone who calls Israel a "genocidal cancer"?
Yet FDD affiliates have yet to address this - or produce any substantive rebuttal to RAIR Foundation journalist
@ReneeNal's recent report.
Instead of tackling documented claims (like Qaddour's education at a school run by Muslim Brotherhood operative Hamed Ghazali, or her father Jihad Qaddour's ties to the Muslim American Society), they've flooded X with feel-good emotional stories.
Another overlooked fact we just discovered: In 2013, Qaddour served as Corporate Secretary on the board of Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA), per their annual report and IRS filings.
The Middle East Forum and others have highlighted IRUSA's ties to the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), which has faced bans in multiple countries, funding scrutiny for alleged Hamas links, and explicit U.S. State Department condemnation in 2020 for "antiSemitism exhibited repeatedly by IRW's leadership."
The entire IRW board resigned amid scandals involving praise for Hamas and anti-Israel rhetoric
It's been over 24 hours since the RAIR report dropped, with zero factual refutations from FDD, just endless anecdotes.
We will continue fleshing out the endless information pouring in from so many people's tips. Thank you!
Quick reminder: Jomana Qaddour isn’t a private citizen venting views - this is a senior State Department official shaping U.S. Syria policy on the taxpayer’s dime.
Jomana Qaddour once boasted about advising the partisan “Syrian Americans for Biden” group (calling it one of her top achievements in 2021); now she wields real power at Foggy Bottom.
Unrebutted ties to Muslim Brotherhood-linked entities, a close friendship with someone who brands Israel a “genocidal cancer,” and an unanswered RAIR report aren’t minor footnotes - they’re red flags that demand rigorous investigation.
Taxpayers fund foreign policy, not feel-good anecdotes or synagogue selfies. Ignoring these associations isn’t a defense; it’s dereliction.
Read the report:
rairfoundation.com/muslim-br…