To the Editor:
The Times’ piece on Linda Sarsour and the efforts of Russian troll farms to disrupt the Women’s March in 2017 raises important points about disinformation campaigns and their harm, and the malicious intent of the Russian government (“How Russian trolls Helped Keep the Women’s March Out of Lock Step,” Sept. 18).
This, however, in no way should obfuscate or distract from the antisemitic statements and actions by Ms. Sarsour and other founding co-organizers of the Women's March.
As the piece notes, Ms. Sarsour is a supporter of the BDS movement, an active effort to delegitimize the Jewish state, a modern manifestation of an age-old antisemitic trope. What the article fails to mention is that in her role at the march, Ms. Sarsour sought to exclude Zionists from what was supposed to be an intersectional movement, claiming it was impossible for one to be a supporter of Israel’s right to exist and a feminist at the same time. She repeatedly has demonized supporters of the Jewish state and used inflammatory anti-Israel rhetoric, despite the fact that such slander indisputably encourages real-world antisemitism.
This, along with co-organizer Tamika Mallory’s appearance at Saviours’ Day in 2018, an annual gathering of the Nation of Islam led by notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan, and their initial reluctance to distance themselves from his views, must be taken into consideration when discussing what happened to the original leadership of the Women’s March. Their views were out of step with the values of the Women's March and the vast majority of its volunteers -- this is why they ultimately stepped aside.
Sincerely,
Jonathan A. Greenblatt
CEO and National Director
Anti-Defamation League
New York, NY