Teresa Shook, the founder of the Women’s March, called for Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory and other Women’s March co-chairs to step down because they “allowed anti-Semitism, anti-LBGTQIA sentiment and hateful rhetoric to become part of their platform” [“Farrakhan ties upend Women’s March,” news, Nov. 22]. Ms. Sarsour responded by releasing a statement saying they should have been “clearer in helping people understand . . . our commitment to fighting anti-semitism.” Ms. Sarsour missed the point. It is their active engagement in anti-Semitism, not merely their unwillingness to fight it, that is abhorrent.
When Ms. Mallory and Ms. Sarsour spew medieval canards about Jews, that’s anti-Semitism. When Ms. Mallory refers to Louis Farrakhan as the greatest of all time, despite the years of hate speech he has aimed at Jews, that’s anti-Semitism. The words and actions of Ms. Sarsour, Ms. Mallory and other co-chairs embody the very bigotry, narrow-mindedness and prejudice the Women’s March had hoped to combat. SOURCE