American political activist and former Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour said during an American Muslims for Palestine conference on Nov. 28 that Israel “is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else.”
In her speech at the conference, Sarsour said that when she speaks on college campuses, she tells students to ask progressive Zionists: “How can you be against white supremacy in America and the idea of being in a state based on race and class, but then you support a state like Israel that is based on supremacy, that is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else?”
The Progressive Zionists of California said in a statement to the Jewish Journal that “as progressive Zionists, it is imperative to support the self-determination of both the Jewish and Palestinian people, not one at the expense of the other. It is unfortunate that Ms. Sarsour is choosing to perpetuate a narrative rejected by most scholars and other experts on the matter. We will continue to speak out for the human rights and self-determination of all marginalized peoples, and invite fellow progressive activists to join us.”
Associate dean and director of global social action agenda Rabbi Abraham Cooper said in a statement to the Journal that “Linda has a problem—her hate is based on denying that the Jewish people’s love affair for their land is 3,500 years old. Palestinians are the supremacists; they insist no Jews can live as neighbors.”
Democratic Majority for Israel tweeted on Dec. 2 that Sarsour’s statement was “a vicious, anti-Semitic lie. Israel’s built on idea that every people is entitled to self-determination.”
They added in a subsequent tweet: “That’s why Israel favored [the] U.N. partition plan creating Jewish & Palestinian states. Arab leaders rejected it, launching a war of destruction against Israel. We [and] many Israelis still favor Palestinian state, but after decades of war [and] terrorism Israel’s security must be protected.”
Sarsour endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for president on Sept. 6, saying at the time that she wanted to help “elect the first Jewish-American president this country has ever seen.” She has since been a surrogate for his presidential campaign.
This article first appeared in the Jewish Journal.
