In a video message to mark International Women’s Day on March 8, firebrand Palestinian-American activist and co-chair of the Women’s March, Linda Sarsour, claimed the movement and other left-wing pressure groups helped water-down the language of a resolution aimed at condemning anti-Semitism that passed in the House Thursday night.
The resolution – introduced by Democratic lawmakers to condemn anti-Semitism in the aftermath of anti-Jewish remarks made by freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) – failed in the final version to single out the congresswoman by name. Instead, the language of the resolution had been broadened under pressure to condemn all forms of bigotry.
“Friends (…) you know the Women’s March were going through some rough times and if you know anything about this past week, I’m going to give you some ideas of what we did this week,” Sarsour said as she tried to rally support behind her efforts. “So, many of you know that our sister, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, was under attack.”
Sarsour then took credit for influencing the language of the resolution, saying: “You know being able to mobilize progressive leaders across the country to sign on to a letter to organize a press conference in support of Ilhan Omar to call on the Democratic leadership to actually expand the language of the resolution to include condemning all forms of bigotry – that’s the kind of movement we’re a part of.”
The letter described criticism of Omar as “unfounded accusations of antisemitism,” when Omar had, in fact, questioned Jewish loyalty to the United States. Deborah Lipstadt, a prominent scholar of the Holocaust, assessed that Omar’s statements were not critical of Israel but were “relying on anti-Semitic stereotypes, anti-Semitic tropes, anti-Semitic memes.”
Hiding behind the language of progressive idealism while defending Omar’s anti-Semitic remarks, Sarsour noted that “the Women’s March is a movement that unequivocally rejects all forms of racism and anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia and that’s what we called on the Democratic leadership to do — that in our lifetime we made history with a resolution that is going to be in the public record for life.”
Last week, Sarsour attacked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D – Calif.) for introducing the resolution. “Nancy is a typical white feminist upholding the patriarchy doing the dirty work of powerful white men. God forbid the men are upset – no worries, Nancy to the rescue to stroke their egos,” Sarsour wrote.
She accused Pelosi of “dividing our base” and giving Republicans “an easier path towards 2020.”
“You want a resolution? Condemn all forms of bigotry,” wrote Sarsour, who has been accused of promoting anti-Semitism on several occasions. “All forms of bigotry are unacceptable. We won’t let them pin us up against each other. We stand with Representative Ilhan Omar.”
[Photo: Cindyseestruth / Twitter ]