It’s been over two years since I wrote about Linda Sarsour, the odious anti-Semite and ousted head of the Women’s March, and believe me, I don’t miss her. She used to feature on this site quite often (see the collection of posts here), but she’s not in the limelight any more—not after having “resigned” from (been ousted from, in my view) the Women’s March, in which she was one of the co-leaders who tarnished a worthy endeavor with her anti-Semitism and cozying up to Louis Farrakhan. For a while she was a Bernie Sanders “surrogate”, empowered to campaign on his behalf, but that ended when Bernie dropped out. Now she’s back in the campaign news, but not in a positive way.
Among the many bright spots of the Democratic National Convention was the repudiation by Biden’s people of Sarsour. Because of the tainted reputation that Sarsour, Tamika Mallory (a big fan of Louis Farrakhan), and other leaders gave to the Women’s March, the Democratic National Committee itself withdrew sponsorship of the March in January, 2019.
And although The Daily Beast just reported that Sarsour and Mallory were “back in the DNC’s good graces,” that doesn’t seem to be the case. Although Mallory spoke briefly at Monday’s DNC Black Caucus, Sarsour’s become a pariah in the DNC, at least according to this Yahoo News article, which seems to have been taken from the National Review and some Twitter statements by CNN correspondent Jake Tapper. (Tapper’s been concerned for years with the Women’s March connection to Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.)
An excerpt from the Yahoo report (I’ve added a link to Jake Tapper’s tweets), which itself links to the and the Democratic platform, including its views on Israel. The best part is the Biden campaign’s statement that she has “no role whatsoever” in their push for the White House (my emphasis):
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden condemned the views of former Women’s March co-chair Linda Sarsour, who has been repeatedly accused of anti-Semitism, after she participated in a Democratic National Convention council meeting on Tuesday.
Sarsour, a Muslim activist who endorsed Biden after he announced Senator Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) as his running mate last week, spoke at the DNC’s “Muslim Delegates and Allies Assembly” on Tuesday, sparking disapproval in light of her history of controversial comments on Jews and Israel.
“Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel and a vehement opponent of anti-Semitism his entire life, and he obviously condemns her views and opposes BDS, as does the Democratic platform,” Biden spokesman Andrew Bates said, according to CNN’s Jake Tapper. “She has no role in the Biden campaign whatsoever.”
Bates then pointed out that the official Democratic platform says, “We oppose any effort to unfairly single out and delegitimize Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement.”
I was pleased to see that the Democratic platform is not only anti-BDS, but favors a negotiated two-state solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict, which is my view as well. (Nobody thinks that’s going to be easy!) Here’s what the platform says:
Democrats believe a strong, secure, and democratic Israel is vital to the interests of the United States. Our commitment to Israel’s security, its qualitative military edge, its right to defend itself, and the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding is ironclad. Democrats recognize the worth of every Israeli and every Palestinian. That’s why we will work to help bring to an end a conflict that has brought so much pain to so many. We support a negotiated two-state solution that ensures Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state with recognized borders and upholds the right of Palestinians to live in freedom and security in a viable state of their own. Democrats oppose any unilateral steps by either side—including annexation—that undermine prospects for two states. Democrats will continue to stand against incitement and terror. We oppose settlement expansion. We believe that while Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations, it should remain the capital of Israel, an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths. Democrats will restore U.S.-Palestinian diplomatic ties and critical assistance to the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza, consistent with U.S. law. We oppose any effort to unfairly single out and delegitimize Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement, while protecting the Constitutional right of our citizens to free speech.
The swipe at the United Nations, whose behavior towards Israel has been unfair, biased, and unconscionable, is especially welcome. A lot of “progressive” Democrats won’t endorse that part of the platform (AOC and the “squad,” for instance), but I agree with nearly all of it.
At any rate, Sarsour isn’t exactly a big booster of the Democratic ticket, at least according to the New York Post:
Prior to Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) joining former Vice President Joe Biden on the presidential ticket, Sarsour declined to endorse.
Once she finally did, the progressive’s endorsement was less than enthusiastic.
“It’s no secret that I have disagreements with both VP Joe Biden & Senator Kamala Harris. But I know what I need to do – Elect the Biden-Harris ticket and prepare to hold them accountable in the White House,” she wrote on Twitter after the announcement.
After Sarsour was seen participating in the convention event Tuesday, Team Biden was quick to note that she was not involved in the former vice president’s presidential bid.
This repudiation by Team Biden offended Sarsour:
Sarsour appeared to take offense to the Bates comment and the Biden campaign’s rejection of her.
Taking to Twitter, she wrote a post mentioning Bates directly and firing a warning shot.
“@AndrewBatesNC, just came here to remind you that you need a coalition to defeat Donald Trump and that Muslim Americans are an important voter bloc in key states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Virginia, Texas, Pennsylvania & I know a little something about how to organize them,” she said.
Well, that’s a bit of a threat. “Nice victory you have brewing, Joe and Kamala. It would be a shame if anything would happen to it.” Sarsour has always had political ambitions, and sees herself, I think, as the Muslim-American version of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The more distance the DNC puts between itself and Sarsour (and Mallory as well), the better.
h/t: Ginger K.
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I would think American Muslims have ample reason to vote against tRump (by voting for the Biden-Harris ticket) without the need for the Democrats to pander to Sarsour.
I agree. There is no one who Trump hasn’t offended other than murderous dictators, bigots, racists and fascists.
I’m with you. Though I take a bit of amusement in thinking about this: the two state solution has been around at least since 1974 (when the UN officially endorsed it). Which means we could interpret modern U.S. politics on this issue as: the Democrats are the conservatives and the GOP are the radicals demanding change.
😉
The absence of a two-state solution seems like the price Israel has to pay for the absence of a major war. Correct me if I’m wrong, but are the Palestinians not the beneficiaries of the current status quo anyway?
I suppose corrupt Palestinian officials are benefiting. Also members of Hamas are benefitting since flogging the animosities between Palestinians and Israel is what keeps them from being forced out of office.
As Mark says, I wouldn’t say the Palestinian people are benefiting. But some higher caste might be. Kinda like Republicans in the US, they seem to have the problem of supporting policies that benefit only the top caste, under the assumption that if they just keep supporting, they will become the top caste.
One item is needed to consolidate the democratic vote and that item is Trump. They really need nothing else. Trump’s latest trick is to praise QAnon. Possibly Trump is thinking of starting another religion when his time in politics is over.
One of the most insidious and successful parts of antisemitic propaganda and strategy is the assertion/assumption presented as fact that pro-Israel = anti-Muslim.
Hiding behind it is the disregard for protecting the rights of Palestinians against Hamas, the PA, and being used as exceedingly cheap pawns by various other political entities.
It’s at least refreshing to see that people at the top are not taken in by Sarsour. The Women’s March was a dismal failure and I suspect that is because the leaders weren’t really interested in what they claimed to be but were narcissistically interested in their own self promotion.
My sense is that Israel is moving away from the two-state solution. After nearly 50 years of watching the PLO/PA reject everything except an open program of terrorist murder and listening to Palestinian rhetoric notching ever upwards to claiming all of Palestine, people have had enough.
There is also a sense that the Palestinians have had enough as well, and would perhaps prefer being under the umbrella of Israel rather than the PA.
At the same time, Israel is in no rush and favors the status quo. Things have been relatively quiet outside of Gaza, and there is a lot to occupy the thoughts of the Israeli security apparatus at the moment, eg, Iran.
And Israel is quietly negotiating diplomatic relations with those of its neighbours who share its distaste for Iran. Yesterday the UAE; next up Sudan, maybe.
Sudan seems confirmed. Crossing my fingers for Saudi Arabia.
Ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia are an open secret.
I’ve been trying to watch this too. A hope is that it will have a domino effect, where different Arab states follow each others’ lead to improve relations with Israel. Anything to further isolate Hamas, which is a huge impediment to any progress.
Can you cite some examples of events that give you this sense?
When you speak of Palestinians preferring to be under Israel’s “umbrella,” do you mean while foregoing the rights of full Israeli citizenship?
I spend a fair amount of time on Twitter feeds from people from Israel, and this is what they are saying when talking to the Arabs they know. Life is better for them in Israel and Israel-controlled territories, wages are better, etc. They feel more free. They don’t like the PA much. They want peace WAY more than the PA does , which is to say, not at all. It’s vague, but seems to be there, for a substantial portion of the Arabs, Not all of them, be any means. It helps to remember that the PA will get you killed just for being open about having “normalized” relations with Israel.
And, yes, the possibility would exist that they would not have full rights, akin to people living in US territories like Puerto Rico who can not vote in US national elections. Other Israelis say there might be a process to make them full citizens, but it would require loyalty oaths and complete vetting. Arabs who fail would be deported.
Great! Democrats distancing the party from extremists and the woke is needed for success!
This is in keeping with the American Left being better than the American Right at disassociating itself from its more disreputable elements.
This has been the case going back a good 75 years, to when Eleanor Roosevelt, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Reinhold Niebuhr, Walter Reuther, and others formed the Americans for Democratic Action to purge the pinkos from the American labor movement and the Democratic Party.
As for the Right, William F. Buckley, Jr., tried to purge the John Birch Society in the early Sixties to pave the way for Barry Goldwater’s 1964 US presidential run. But the Grand Old Party has been welcoming this element back into its ranks since the advent of Richard Nixon’s “southern strategy” — culminating in the Conservative Political Action Conference’s welcoming the Birchers back into the fold at its 2010 shindig (the same year CPAC booted the gay Log Cabin Republicans from their booth on the conference floor).
And now the GOP is stuck with Donald Trump, who had to be dragged kicking and screaming into denouncing white supremacy both during his 2016 campaign and after the deadly 2017 Charlottesville riots, and who is at this moment cozying up to the lunatic-fringe QAnon conspiracists (nearly a dozen of whom will be running for congress on the Republican ticket this November, and at least one of whom — Marjorie Taylor Greene — is all but assured the seat from Georgia’s 14th district in next year’s 117th United States congress).
I hadn’t thought of it that way. Republicans can’t shake of the haters in their own tent? What that tells me is there are more haters than policy folks.
When was Trump dragged into denouncing white supremacists? Maybe I blinked and missed it.
When he finally, on the third try, disavowed the endorsement of David Duke, and at his second press conference after the murder in Charlottesville, when he finally got around to denouncing neo-Nazis, although he continued to “both sides” it.
You’ll likely find that the disavowal happens well after most of his tribe have absorbed his original take. The disavowal can be unnoticed by the people he wants to influence. Will the disavowal be covered by Faux News?
I come to bury our American would-be Caesar, not to praise him. 🙂
The evil such men do lives long after them.
Join me Senators at the Theatre. All of you bring your Swiss Army knives.
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Yes, SUB indeed. Sanders fell down on this one big time.
A few months ago, I was at a BLM march where mysteriously Sarsour was leading it with a megaphone. The people marching in the front line carried a long BLM banner. At one point, the march paused. Sarsour strategically positioned herself in front and center of the banner. For a photo op, she borrowed and pushed a stroller with a black child.
This week, the Dems did the right thing.
The Islamists at CAIR are not very happy with Biden sidelining Sarsour.
No doubt the likes of regressives such as PZ Myers and Dan Arel will be gutted as well.
Gooood.
The Islamists at CAIR are not very happy with Biden sidelining Sarsour.
I couldn’t CAIR less.
Ummm. . . this comment doesn’t make any sense.
I just watched Biden’s acceptance speech. Michael Beschloss and others called it his best speech ever. I thought it was very well made. I hope it resonates. It certainly should put to rest any notion that he has cognitive issues.
BINGO Prof – thx for alerting me to that.
Sasour is a scoundrel.
I’m no Bernie Bro though I like some of his stuff, he’s a decent bloke and an incredibly honest, genuine guy. His adoption of Sasour horrified me.
I’m so glad they’re all holding their nose and moving her FAAAR away from the DNC.
Maybe it was her desire to cut out? Was it? Ayan Hersi Ali (whom I like)’s vagina? Because THAT is gauche.
Maybe it was Linda’s obvious psychopathy or narcissistic personality disorder?
Anyway… I’m glad she can sink into the obscurity that hate monger so richly deserve.
D.A., J.D.,NYC
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