She’s a devout civil rights activist, a firm believer in racial justice and she is unapologetically Muslim.
This past weekend, Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American from Brooklyn, co-chaired the Women’s March on Washington–what is said to be the largest march in American history. After organizing a successful march that nearly half a million people attended, she is now under attack by the far-right. They have coordinated a vicious attack campaign against her and we must stand up and defend her just like she has continuously defended our rights.
She’s being called “anti-American” and “Jew hating” and being accused of having ties to terrorist organizations.
These are tactics by the far-right to undermine the progress Linda Sarsour is making fighting for the rights of marginalized communities. They are terrified by the idea of a successful hijabi Palestinian-American Muslim woman, so they are trying to take her down.
“I need extra prayers sisters and brothers,” Sarsour wrote on Facebook. “They have a coordinated attack campaign against me and it’s vicious and ugly. It’s not the first time, but it’s definitely more intense – the fact that my children see it is what is bothering me the most.”
But many on social media quickly came to her defense and #IMarchWithLinda began trending on Twitter.
People showed their solidarity through tweets and commended her leadership and activism.
Sarsour, who is the Executive Director of the Arab American Association of New York, gave a powerful speech at the Women’s March on Washington on Saturday.
Palestinian American activist Linda Sarsour’s powerful speech at the Women’s March On Washington. @lsarsour #Womensmarch pic.twitter.com/BYyhklFip1
— Palestine Info Centr (@palinfoen) January 23, 2017
“You can count on me–your Palestinian Muslim sister–to keep her voice loud, keep her feet on the streets, keep my head held high because I am not afraid,” Sarsour said during her speech. “We know where we need to go and we know where justice is because when we fight for justice, we fight for it for all people, for all our communities.”
Sarsour has dedicated her energy and time to fighting for the rights of marginalized people. She is bold, passionate and not afraid to defend what she believes in.
We must do the same for her and call out the Islamophobic bigots who are targeting her. We cannot remain quiet when one of our community leaders is under attack because that means we are all under attack.
Her critics hate how vocal she is against injustice and they loathe the amount of support she is receiving. Linda Sarsour has taken a firm stance against hateful rhetoric and we must do the same by standing in solidarity with her.
