Raquel Saraswati, a racially simplistic white Muslim, preached about Islamist extremist violence for years before being exposed for lying about her Arab, Latino and South Asian heritage.
A 2015 MidPoint interview by Saraswati, 39, with host Ed Berliner on NewsmaxTV resurfaced amid accusations of “cultural vulturism” – while her family exclusively told that she was “British, German and Italian”.
In the video, Saraswati appeared to condemn the Islamist extremist behind the al-Qaeda terrorist attack in France that claimed 12 lives in 2015.
She also expressed disappointment that the attackers were labeled as Muslim and Islamic extremists, which “oppresses” the Muslim community as a whole. She accused countries like Saudi Arabia of “promoting a very malicious interpretation of Islam.”
“There is a history of Muslim dissidents trying very hard to hear our voices. We are being drowned out by leaders who unfortunately are occupying the power halls of our government,” she said. “I am a patriotic American, but I am deeply disturbed by the fact that our government continues to side with the worst in my community.”
Raquel Saraswati, 39, preached on Islamist extremist violence in 2015 after the terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo editorial office in France. A 2015 MidPoint interview by Saraswati, 39, with host Ed Berliner on NewsmaxTV resurfaced amid accusations of “cultural vulturism.”
Saraswati lied that she was “Arab, Latino and South Asian” and was revealed to be “British, German and Italian” by her family.
At the time, Saraswati claimed the US government was choosing the worst interpretation of Islam and was urging officials to step down to give “non-violent” Muslims a chance to speak out.
‘[It] hurts me as an American and it hurts me as a Muslim striving for change and believing what America is about.’
“We need to see law enforcement getting involved with Muslims like me and getting involved with Muslims who really understand what the issues are and really seek the voices of these dissidents who are trying to speak out. We’re out there trying to make a difference, but around the world voices like ours are often silenced.’
Calling herself a patriotic American, she insisted it was time for officials to create Muslim allies with a better interpretation of Islam than herself.
“There is a history of Muslim dissidents trying very hard to hear our voices. We are drowned out by leaders who unfortunately occupy the power halls of our government.
“We really need the support of non-Muslim allies to amplify the voices of those of us who are speaking very honestly and openly about what the problems really are.”
Hired by a Philadelphia-based Quaker group as chief equity, inclusion, and culture officer, Saraswati never had to prove her race
Saraswati has been accused of lying about her alleged parentage – her biological mother confirms she is in fact “British, German and Italian”.
The resurfaced video came to light amid the scandal that Saraswati lied about her Muslim heritage.
Until recently, Saraswati served on the Mayor’s Commission on LGBT Affairs and served as Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). She was also named Woman of the Year.
The AFSC confirmed it had resigned from its position last week and said there were no requirements for staff to prove their race or ethnicity.
In a statement to , they wrote: “Raquel Saraswati, AFSC’s Chief Equity, Inclusion, and Culture Officer, who has faced public allegations that she has misrepresented her background and past connections, has informed us of her intention to to separate from the organization.
“AFSC supports you in this difficult decision. This is a deeply personal matter and we respect their privacy and ask others to do the same.’
The organization has emphasized its commitment to work with people worldwide “of all faiths, ethnicities, races and backgrounds for lasting peace with justice”.
“Throughout our history and to this day, AFSC has brought the Quaker belief in peace, justice, integrity and the divine light within every human being to vital work in the United States and around the world,” the statement continued.
“We see ending all forms of racism as a crucial part of this work both within our organization and in the world.”
Saraswati, who grew up as Rachel Seidel, was investigated by a “group of people who care deeply about the AFSC” and delivered an open letter exposing years of deception.
Human resources expert Oskar Henry Castro, who participated in the ASFC Saraswati recruitment committee, told Intercept that in interviews he saw, Saraswati portrayed himself as “multi-ethnic” and a “queer person of color who happens to be Muslim”.
“I definitely feel betrayed. I feel betrayed,’ he said.
The 39-year-old was seen hanging out with celebrities including Jodie Foster (left) and Nathan Lane (right) after receiving an award
Family members, who asked to remain anonymous following the backlash from the embattled breed faker, told the 39-year-old is of “British, German and Italian” descent and began to form her new identity after attending boarding school .
Saraswati was the focus of a media frenzy following the deception, but commentators noted the irreparable damage her misrepresentations have caused to the minorities she had so vocally tried to represent over the years.
“This isn’t about ‘proving’ one’s heritage, it’s about lying, misrepresenting and taking opportunities from real women of color,” tweeted documentary maker Laila Al-Arian, who described Saraswati as “Rachel Dolezal of the Muslim community”.
Journalist Sana Saeed, who drew attention to Saraswati’s legacy back in 2015, tweeted about the “damage she has caused – particularly over the years working essentially as a ‘homegrown whistleblower’ for anti-Muslim organizations and platforms”.
So far, Saraswati has remained silent on the matter – she has deleted her social media platforms and retreated from her once prominent and shamelessly self-promoting lifestyle.
Family members gave an insight into the web of lies Saraswati had dished out over the years, saying she had become “fascinated” by a school friend’s culture.
They noted that Saraswati, whom they knew as Rachel, had lived a fairly “sheltered life in a fairly white town” in her youth.
Members of Saraswati’s family – who were privy to her life prior to the “fraudulent” claims – exclusively told that her new life began to take shape while she attended the prestigious Emma Willard School in Troy, New York.
Saraswati’s relative, who claims to have watched the 39-year-old grow up from the age of three until she began attending the scholarship-funded private girls’ school, said she remembered Saraswati, then going from Rachel Seidel, as “bright and bright”. terribly creative’ young woman
Members of Saraswati’s family – who were privy to her life prior to the “fraudulent” claims – exclusively told that her new life began to take shape while she attended the prestigious Emma Willard School in Troy, New York
Pictures provided by family members show a young Saraswati with blonde/brown hair and a visibly paler complexion
One of Saraswati’s relatives, who claims to have watched the 39-year-old grow up from the age of three until she began attending the scholarship-funded private girls’ school, said she remembers her as a “bright and terribly creative” boy Woman.
“She went to a small public school where everyone knew her, and then she went to a private school and nobody there was American — most were European or Eastern European,” the family member said.
They further said that it was here that Saraswati met her roommate, a friend from Turkey named Fatima who was of the Muslim faith.
“In her first year at school she had a roommate from Turkey who was Muslim and Rachel was very fascinated by this culture, she was a very curious kid,” they explained.
“Rachel converted to the Muslim religion while she was in school and we never found out because she lived there … we found out much later that this was her new role.”
However, Saraswati’s early years were a stark contrast as she was raised in a Christian household.
Pictures provided by family members show a young Saraswati with blond hair and a visibly paler complexion.
Her hair appears to have darkened with age, but her complexion remains the same.
Photos published by from the early 2000s show Saraswati with a similarly pale complexion, thin eyebrows and a slight blush.
However, Saraswati’s appearance began to change when she publicly denied her heritage and began claiming that she was of Latino, South Asian or Arabic descent.
“Rachel was a very sweet, loving child. She went to church with us and she belonged to several different church groups,” the family member said.
“We all had an expectation that she would do great things because she was smart and politically astute, but what we didn’t know was that it would be done fraudulently.”
The relative told that the entire family was “shocked” and “sad” by the whole situation as they believed they were once “near Saraswati”.
In 2007, Saraswati herself told conservative media host Glenn Beck that she was “estranged” from her family “for reasons I cannot go into.”
“It’s strange and bizarre,” the relative said.
“The comments about Glenn Beck were really bizarre because she said she was estranged from her family.
“I was very sad because we mistakenly thought that we were very close to Rachel and that she was a very smart, politically smart woman.
‘She went about this all wrong.
“There’s no way we didn’t have a relationship with her. Her friends, who would all continue to see us, were still asking us how she was, and we had to embarrassingly admit that we didn’t know.
The family have not spoken to Saraswati, who they say they last saw at her graduation, except for an alleged phone call in which she blasted her birth mother for revealing her true parentage.
“We went to her graduation, had lunch with her and never saw her again.”
The family stressed that they never tried to “out” Saraswati’s “double life”.
“Her mother really had no input into this information emergence, her double life … we knew about it for a while and no one tried to correct it,” they said.
“It came from people who were concerned about where she worked, who suspected something wasn’t quite right.
“We’ve always said it’s a crazy, crazy situation, and the people we know who knew her from childhood also agree that it’s just crazy.”
Saraswati’s early years contrasted sharply with the deceptive identity that prevailed in the later years of her life
Family members of a race-falsifying white Muslim social justice activist have claimed she turned her back on her heritage after attending boarding school
The pivot, an open letter from the anonymous group, provided an in-depth analysis of the 39-year-old’s parentage and her work, and expressed concerns about her role.
They accused Saraswati – who converted to Islam in high school and has since come out as gay – of “cultural vulturism” and noted that “the shades of bronzer she puts on her face have darkened over time.” .
The authors of the scathing open letter called on the AFSC to investigate “why a member of their most senior leadership has so severely eroded trust among people of color.”
Noting her appearance on conservatively moderated shows, they asked, “Are there any outside entities that Saraswati works with?”
The case is being compared to that of Rachel Dolezal, a white woman exposed in 2015 for years of posing as black and rising to become president of an NAACP group in Spokane, Washington.
Saraswati’s identity was first questioned by media commentator Sana Saeed, who tweeted in 2015: “Can we talk about ‘Raquel Dolezal’ in the Muslim community? You all know who I mean.”
The allegations received fresh impetus this month. On February 10, the letter was published on Medium, and on February 16, The Intercept spoke to Saraswati’s biological mother, Carol Perone, who confirmed that her daughter was not a person of color.
“I call her Rachel,” said Perone. “I don’t know why she does what she does.”
Perone said her daughter is of “British, German and Italian descent” – not Hispanic, South Asian or Arabic origins as she claims.
“I’m as white as snow, and so is she,” she said.
Perone told the site that her daughter converted to Islam in high school, which likely influenced her decision to present as a different ethnicity.
“I’m German and British, and her father was Calabrian Italian,” her mother added.
“She chose to live a lie and I find that very, very sad.”
Perone was adopted by Carl and Winifred Seidel, who ran a guest house in the Catskill Mountains in Windham, New York.
Saraswati’s grandparents were Ed Newman and Myrtle Burkhardt – an alcoholic from Alliance, Ohio, who had 18 children and put most of them up for adoption, according to a 1988 newspaper account found by the letter’s authors.
Perone said Saraswati’s father is now dead. She had a relationship with him before marrying Flory Perone, who died in 2006.
The family have not spoken to Saraswati, who they say they last saw at her graduation – except for an alleged phone call in which she blasted her birth mother after the scam surfaced
Saraswati seems to have started claiming Amerindian ancestry around 2005. She is pictured celebrating the election of Kamala Harris, the first Indian-American vice president
Saraswati was born in Paterson, New Jersey and spent much time in Windham, where she attended school before being sent to boarding school in Troy, New York.
She studied at Simmons University in Boston, settled in Massachusetts and married her friend Anh Dao Kolbe in 2005.
In 2004, the couple was mentioned in a Boston Globe feature where Saraswati went by the name Seidel and said she was of Arabic and Latino descent.
“Raquel Evita Seidel, 20, of Brookline, said she and girlfriend Anh Dao Kolbe had been together for nine months,” the author wrote.
“While confident that they want to get married, they also want to take the time to plan something that respects Seidel’s Arabic and Latin traditions and 33-year-old Kolbe’s Vietnamese traditions.
“We want it to be something special, not about hype and not about the media,” said Seidel.
Sometime around the time of this article she changed her name to Saraswati. In 2005, she performed belly dances under her new name.
Their marriage was featured in an article on Indian-American marriages.
The couple are now divorced, and Saraswati relocated from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania, where she now resides.
She rose to prominence after 9/11 when she appeared on Beck’s show and in a 2013 film produced by the Clarion Project, an organization that specializes in “rabidly anti-Muslim films,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
She worked with the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, another group accused of promoting Islamophobia.