Incompetence would be the charitable explanation, and let's hope that is the reason behind the stunning decision of the State Department to honor one Samira Ibrahim with the State Department's "International Women of Courage Award." (see press release here). The award sup[posedly is given to "women around the globe who have shown exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for women's rights and empowerment, often at great personal risk."

Thanks to the excellent work of Samuel Tardos in the Weekly Standard, we have evidence of Ms. Ibrahim's virulent Jew-hatred:

On Twitter, Ibrahim is quite blunt regarding her views. On July 18 of last year, after five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver were killed a suicide bombing attack, Ibrahim jubilantly tweeted: "An explosion on a bus carrying Israelis in Burgas airport in Bulgaria on the Black Sea. Today is a very sweet day with a lot of very sweet news."

Ibrahim frequently uses Twitter to air her anti-Semitic views. Last August 4, commenting on demonstrations in Saudi Arabia, she described the ruling Al Saud family as "dirtier than the Jews." Seventeen days later she tweeted in reference to Adolf Hitler: "I have discovered with the passage of days, that no act contrary to morality, no crime against society, takes place, except with the Jews having a hand in it. Hitler."

Ibrahim holds other repellent views as well. As a mob was attacking the United States embassy in Cairo on the eleventh anniversary of 9/11, pulling down the American flag and raising the flag of Al Qaeda, Ibrahim wrote on twitter: "Today is the anniversary of 9/11. May every year come with America burning." Possibly fearing the consequences of her tweet, she deleted it a couple of hours later, but not before a screen shot was saved by an Egyptian activist.

Just today, apparently after having been warned that her vicious tweets might cause her trouble during her visit to the U.S., she has written on twitter: "My account has been previously stolen and any tweet on racism and hatred is not me." However, in the past she never made any mention of her account being "stolen." The record of her anti-Semitic tweets is still available online.

The award is slated for Friday, March 8. There is still time for the State Department to wise up. If Foggy Bottom is sitting on its bottom, oblivious to its blunders, then Michelle and SecState Kerry will be delivering an honor to someone who is the very opposite of a person deserving honor.

Hat tip: Clarice Feldman