Linda Sarsour

Linda Sarsour is an American political activist, who has stumped for Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign, marched with the Black Lives Matter movement and co-founded the Sarsour was born in Brooklyn, New York and is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants. At 17, she entered an arranged marriage.
==Muslim feminist==
Sarsour is Muslim and considers herself to be a feminist. She is very proud of wearing the hijab,Refinery29. Are Islam and Feminism Mutually Exclusive | Get Real | Refinery29. YouTube, 0:52. and she claims that "oppression of women is absolutely shunned in the Islamic faith."Refinery29. Are Islam and Feminism Mutually Exclusive | Get Real | Refinery29. YouTube, 1:17. Due to Sarsour embracing Islam while claiming to be a feminist, she has been criticized by other feminists. Ayaan Hirsi Ali called Sarsour a "fake feminist". Together with Tamika Mallory, Bob Bland, and Carmen Perez, Sarsour was an organizer of the 2017 Women's March, a march of progressive groups protesting President Donald Trump's election.
===Criticism===
In 2011, Sarsour tweeted:The tweet has since been deleted, but is archived here.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali was a victim of female genital mutilation (FGM). American journalist tweeted that this was "pretty vile to say about a survivor of FGM."Jake Tapper on Twitter.Additionally, this tweet was not made in good given the existence of transgender women. Sarsour was asked about her tweet at a 2017 event. She did not apologize or even acknowledge the tweet was real. She also incorrectly said she was in her 20s at the time.Sarsour was born in 1980 so she was either 30 or 31 when she posted her tweet in 2011.
==Accusations of antisemitism==
Due to her ties with Louis Farrakhan and her strong anti-Zionist pronouncements, Sarsour has been — with varying degrees of justification — accused of anti-Semitism. Two directors of the U.S.-based Jewish NGO the Anti-Defamation League, along with the president of the Zionist Organization of America, have criticized Sarsour's stance on Israel. Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL's director, has said that Sarsour's support of BDS "encourages and spreads anti-Semitism". Sarsour has associated with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and refused to condemn his extremely anti-Semitic, homophobic and transphobic rhetoric. Sarsour spoke at a 2015 rally organized by Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam; she has also promoted Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam organization as "an integral part" of "the history of Islam in America."Linda Sarsour on Twitter. (archived) She has also been criticized for her support for Rasmea Odeh, convicted of involvement in the bombing of a supermarket in Jerusalem.Linda Sarsour DNC appearance draws GOP ire Sarsour has defended her stance and claims that Odeh did not get a fair trial.Linda Sarsour on Twitter
At the same time, she is supported by Jewish Voice for PeaceJVP-NYC Stands with Linda Sarsour. Jewish Voice for Peace, May 3, 2017. and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice.Sasson, Audrey. The 2017 Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer Risk Taker Awards!. Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, December 21, 2017. If one wishes to reconcile her alliances together, it would be more accurate to say that she associates with all sides of the political spectrum as Martin Luther King Jr. did in seeking justice, although she loses points by her refusal to condemn hateful rhetoric when necessary as King was willing to do with his peers.
==Views of race and racism==
Sarsour rejects the standard definition of racism and believes that "Racism is bigotry + power. The group that doesn't have power can't be racist."Linda Sarsour on Twitter. (archived) She also thinks that the race of a person depends on their privileges, since she stated: "I am not white. If I had the privilege of a white person, maybe. But I don't."Linda Sarsour on Twitter. (archived) Nevertheless, she later identified as a white girl,Vox. A beginner's guide to hijabs. YouTube, 1:13. and subsequently as a person of color. While discussing the racial identity of Arabs, she has said "At the end of the day it's self-identification. I'm Palestinian; if I want to say 'I'm Black,' — I'm Black!"Elder of Ziyon on Twitter. (video)
==Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine==
In a controversial episode, Sarsour said she was "honored and privileged to be here in this space, and honored to be on this stage with Rasmea [Odeh]."Israellycool. Linda Sarsour Speaks At JVP Conference. YouTube, 2:37. Rasmea Odeh was a member of the terrorist groupCouncil Decision 2012/333/CFSP. Official Journal of the European Union, June 26, 2012.Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Bureau of Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State. "Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine", and was convicted in 1969 for her involvement in a bombing that killed two people and injured several others at a crowded Jerusalem supermarket. (archived)
==Protests and arrests==
Due to her acts of protest, Sarsour has been arrested on several occasions:
* On March 8, 2017, Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez and Bob Bland were arrested after a day of loud but orderly protests for "A Day Without a Woman," a strike the group organized to mark International Women's Day. The group was arrested for disrupting traffic by sitting in the street near the Trump Hotel at Columbus Circle.
* On March 6, 2018, Sarsour and other Muslim-American leaders were arrested at the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, after demanding that he meet them to hear their concerns.
* On September 4, 2018, Sarsour and other women were arrested for obstructing the proceedings at Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearing.
*On July 15, 2021, Sarsour, Congressional Black Caucus vice chair and seven others were arrested after protesting in the Hart Senate Office Building., July 15, 2021
==See also==
* Feminism
* Louis Farrakhan
* Regressive Left
* Sharia
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Anti-LGBT bigots
Category:Antisemites
Category:Feminists
Category:Homophobes
Category:Left-wing activists
Category:Living people
Category:Muslims
Category:Socialists
Category:TERFs
Category:Transphobes
Category:United States politics