Don’t join this year’s Women’s March unless you’re good with anti-Semitism
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With the Pittsburgh shooting so fresh and anti-Semitism (alas) so necessary a topic, it’s time for a reckoning with the Women’s March. This January, women who say they stand with Jews need to boycott the Women’s March.
The first year of the march, it made sense that many otherwise normal people would attend. It was just two months after Donald Trump’s shocking victory. Many were dazed and upset. The march was quickly organized by people whose names were not yet known to everyone.
Linda Sarsour is one of the leaders. Articles soon sprung up about terrible comments she made: She supported the radical Muslim Brotherhood. She praised Sharia Law, which, among other things, includes second-class status for women. She was open about her fandom of Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam.
In 2012, she tweeted: “When we write the history of Islam in America, the Nation of #Islam is an integral part of that history.”
Perhaps she didn’t know Farrakhan said “Hitler was a very great man” in a 1984 speech or that in 1985 he warned Jews: “And don’t you forget, when it’s God who puts you in the ovens, it’s forever!”
Maybe she was ignorant of his 1996 remark about “fake Jews,” that is, Jews who disapprove of his anti-Semitic comments: “You are the synagogue of Satan, and you have wrapped your tentacles around the US government, and you are deceiving and sending this nation to hell.”
People change, goes the argument, and comments Sarsour made were several years ago, before she became a high-profile political figure on the left. Perhaps she’s more responsible now.
But in September, Sarsour said American Muslims shouldn’t “humanize” Israelis. There was no overwhelming response from the left to remind her that Israelis are, actually, human. American Jews who ignore this hatred are fooling themselves. Anti-Semitism is specifically about dehumanizing Jews until their murder makes sense.
In July, she tweeted birthday wishes at a fugitive cop killer. This is not a woman who has done a lot of introspection and changed her views. Why stand with her?
Then there’s Women’s March Co-President Tamika Mallory. In a February 2018 speech, Farrakhan said “Jews were responsible for all of this filth and degenerate behavior that Hollywood is putting out, turning men into women and women into men. White folks are going down. And Satan is going down. And Farrakhan, by God’s grace, has pulled the cover off of that Satanic Jew, and I’m here to say your time is up, your world is through.”
Mallory attended the speech. She once posted a picture of herself embraced by Farrakhan, referring to him as “the GOAT” (Greatest Of All Time.) So when she pointedly refused to condemn Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic and anti-LGBT comments after being asked, it was no surprise.
The Women’s March organization issued a tepid statement, without any apology or condemnation of Farrakhan, saying it wouldn’t “tolerate anti-Semitism.” But it is doing exactly that.
What’s the point of a march run by leaders who effectively condone comments like Farrakhan’s? One of the March’s “Unity Principles” is: “We firmly declare that LGBTQIA Rights are Human Rights and that it is our obligation to uplift, expand and protect the rights of our gay, lesbian, bi, queer, trans or gender non-conforming brothers, sisters and siblings. We must have the power to control our bodies and be free from gender norms, expectations and stereotypes.” Yet when faced with someone pushing a vile stereotype, Mallory & Co. do nothing.
Why march with such women? And note: While “Black women, Native women, poor women, immigrant women, disabled women, Muslim women, lesbian queer and trans women” are all specifically mentioned in the “Unity Principles,” Jewish women are not. Meanwhile, anti-Semitic attacks account for more than half of all hate crimes in the US. Maybe it’s not a coincidence.
Some marchers think they can find common ground with these women. That’s misguided. A conservative marching alongside White Nationalist Richard Spencer, because they both happen to agree on, say, economic issues, would rightly be pilloried. This should be no different.
Sure, protest Donald Trump, if you like. Free expression is vital. But don’t do it under the Women’s March umbrella. Start another march, join with friends, do something different. It’s November, you have more than two months to think and plan.
But don’t prop up people whose values are so corrupt. Don’t march in the Women’s March. It’s too late to plead ignorance. They can’t say they don’t know. And neither can you.
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