Orange County wanted a courageous female speaker. Was Sarsour an ‘insensitive’ choice?
Controversial activist and community organizer Linda Sarsour — self-described as “every Islamophobe’s worst nightmare” but called anti-Semitic by others — will headline a Women’s History Month event Sunday.
“We are thrilled to have Linda bring her message of empowerment, social justice and activism to Orange County,” Human Rights and Relations Director Annette Moore said in a news release.
This will be the second Orange County appearance for Sarsour, a Palestinian-American Muslim who co-chairs the Women’s March on Washington. She also was the keynote speaker Feb. 22 for the UNC Minority Health Conference in Chapel Hill.
She is being paid $5,000, plus travel expenses, to appear Sunday at the Whitted Building in Hillsborough. She was recommended as a speaker by the county’s Human Rights and Relations Department and approved by the advisory Human Relations Commission (HRC).
But the “Courageous Conversations with Linda Sarsour” event has drawn fire on social media and in emails to the county commissioners. Protests are rumored by Jewish and conservative groups, although Hillsborough officials said Friday no one has been issued an event permit.
A group of Chapel Hill and Durham rabbis warned the county in a letter this week that Sarsour’s appearance could divide rather than unite the community. There are better activists to spotlight, they said.
“Whether one agrees or disagrees with her, I don’t think it’s deniable that she’s a polarizing figure, and for that reason, I think it’s an incredibly poor and short-sighted and insensitive choice,” said Rabbi Daniel Greyber, of Beth El Synagogue.
He noted Durham’s response last year to concern about a statement opposing militarized police training in Israel. The decision “left the organized Jewish community feeling very unheard and bruised by the decisions that were made,” Greyber said.
“The result was the extreme voices within the community were amplified,” he said. “Voices that represent certainly a small minority within the Jewish community, and I would argue voices that represent a small minority in the community as a whole.”
Other area residents, who urged Orange County in emails to support Sarsour’s freedom of speech and move the event to a bigger venue, did not return calls seeking comment. As of Friday, the event was full, with all seats taken.
Activist or hatemonger?
The great thing about Orange County is its diverse opinions, HRC chair Deborah Strohman said. The HRC was founded after a 1980s Ku Klux Klan march and doesn’t support those “who discriminate or are hatemongers,” she said.
“There are people who speak that I don’t necessarily go and listen to,” Strohman said. “There are times I will go to listen to see if there is something that will challenge me, to make me stronger in terms of my convictions and values, and there are times when I won’t go.”
Sarsour, is former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York and co-founder of MPower Change, the first Muslim online organizing platform. She also is a member of Justice League NYC, a nonprofit advocate for criminal justice reform.
But since serving as co-chair of the 2017 Women’s March, Sarsour, an outspoken critic of Israel, has become a polarizing figure accused of anti-Semitism, support for terrorist organizations and promotion of Sharia law as a replacement for U.S. law.
She also has been criticized for her and Women’s March co-chair Tamika Mallory’s association with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, a well-known anti-Semite. The claims caused a split in the Women’s March organization, spawning a second movement.
Sarsour’s supporters, including some Jewish groups, note her fundraisers for the Tree of Life Synagogue victims’ funerals in Pittsburgh and to help repair damaged Jewish buildings and cemeteries in St. Louis and Colorado. They praise her activism and, according to the N.Y. Daily News, her work building relationships between Muslims and Jews in Brooklyn.
‘Strengthen our community’
Rabbi Jen Feldman, of Kehillah Synagogue in Chapel Hill, said she and rabbis Greyber, John Franken and Zalman Bluming wrote their letter to the county because it’s important to invite speakers “who bring all of us together to strengthen our community.”
It’s especially important now because of rising violence and bigotry targeting Jews and Muslims, Feldman said. Sarsour’s statements — “there is nothing creepier than Zionism,” Zionists can’t be feminists, and defending a Palestinian woman convicted of killing Israelis in two bombing attacks — reflect her hostility, Feldman and others said.
There is a difference, Franken added, in being hostile to Israeli state policies and in being hostile to the Jewish people.
“I have no problem with somebody who wants to criticize the Israeli government over policies,” Franken said. “I have no problem with anybody criticizing the American government over its policies, but it’s a different animal to deny the right to exist of an entire country, and that’s really where Sarsour comes from.”
Sarsour has been asked to speak about a topic related to “Women in History,” “Islamophobia” and “Intersectional Feminism,” the county statement said. Intersectional feminism categorizes discrimination based on a woman’s race, religion and other identifiers.
“Ms. Sarsour has not been invited to Orange County to share her views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” it said. “As an international leader for change, she has been invited to share her sentiments about nonviolent activism, community organizing and social justice and to empower women to be strong advocates on these issues.”
Efforts to reach Sarsour for an interview were unsuccessful.
Letter from local rabbis
The full letter from local rabbis Jen Feldman, Daniel Greyber, John Franken and Zalman Bluming states:
“We appreciate the mission of the Orange County Human Relations Commission ‘to promote the equal treatment of all individuals; to protect residents’ lawful interests and their personal dignity; and to prevent public and domestic strife, crime, and unrest within Orange County,’ and all the work the Commission has done in the past in service to the community.
We are concerned, however, about the upcoming Women’s History Month “Courageous Conversations” event featuring keynote speaker Linda Sarsour. The Commission has announced that this is an event “… about community unity and bringing people together …” Yet by inviting Ms. Sarsour, whose statements on Zionism and Israel alienate many in the Jewish community, the Human Relations Council is dividing rather than uniting us.
In the wake of the Christchurch and Pittsburgh attacks, and rising Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, it is essential for us to stand united in opposition to all forms of hatred and bigotry. We fully support the Commission’s desire to address women’s history, Islamophobia and discrimination against Muslims; we urge that speakers be chosen who bring all of us together to strengthen our community.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2019 at 5:22 PM.
