Muslim woman in US faces FBI grilling over pro-Palestine Facebook posts

Rolla Abdeljawad, a Muslim American woman who was questioned by FBI agents over her pro-Palestine posts on Facebook, has expressed shock over last week's incident, saying the agents should be pursuing actual criminals.

In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Abdeljawad, who resides in the US state of Oklahoma, maintained that none of her posts violated freedom of expression.

"Honestly, I'm very shocked. As a person who's travelled the world, what makes me unique in any country that I go to is that I'm an American," she said.

"In America, we uphold freedom of speech. We can be individuals, we don't have thought policing. These are things that are very innately American," she added.

Abdeljawad said the incident made her "feel unsafe in my own home in my community" and that no one should ever get to that point.

"What a waste of time for the FBI when there are actual criminals committing crimes, that they could be looking into people that post manifestos and they're aware of them," Abdeljawad said.

Voice of the voiceless'

Abdeljawad said that she uses social media to be the "voice of the voiceless" and for educational purposes, referring to her posts about Gaza:

"I do utilise my platform to speak up for the voiceless. I do use it as a means to educate individuals as to what is going on on the ground".

Abdeljawad recalled that children and innocent people are being killed every few minutes in Gaza, adding that "this is just not right."

"I had one thing to advise my fellow Americans is do not be intimidated. We have a constitution. We have free speech. You must be an advocate for yourself, and those who can't be advocates for themselves. That's all," she added.

Abdeljawad's attorney, Hassan Shibly, said that according to the American legal system, "you have no obligation to answer questions of the FBI, just like you don't have an obligation to answer questions of any stranger that knocks on your door."

Shibly said that freedom of expression is protected by the Constitution.

"If the FBI is targeting her because of her exercise of free speech, then they are curtailing on her rights, and on the US Constitution, which they swore to protect. So it is very concerning".

Shibly also said the Muslim community in the US has statistically lower rates of crime and lower rates of violence, but the FBI spends too much effort and resources targeting the American Muslim community.

"There isn't actually a threat from the Muslim community that would justify this targeting. So a lot of times what these agents do is they go, and they try to use these as opportunities to recruit informants from within the Muslim community," he added.

Shibly contacted the FBI's Oklahoma office regarding Abdeljawad's case and is awaiting a response.