Politico Whitewashes Linda Sarsour’s Record

Sarsour, Politico tells readers, is number forty-six.

Reporter Taylor Gee called Sarsour a “lightning rod of the resistance” and “the picture of defiance.” The article noted that Sarsour is an advocate for “intersectional progressivism” and that “her insistence on Palestinian rights as part of the progressive package has met vociferous opposition from pro-Israel Democrats, who label her exclusionary and anti-Semitic.”

This, however, is a vague—and misleading—description. As CAMERA’s Ricki Hollander noted in a May 23, 2017 report, Sarsour has a history of silencing “those who shed light on misogynic practices and to avert criticism from the societies that tolerate or encourage them (“Who is Linda Sarsour?“).” The self-styled progressive activist even threatened Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born feminist and former Muslim, calling to take her ‘vagina away,’ in a crude 2011 tweet that Sarsour later deleted. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a victim of female genital mutilation (FGM).

Indeed, ugly and exclusionary statements are Sarsour’s specialty. She has called Zionism—the belief in Jewish self-determination—as “creepy” and a form of “racism.” This echoes Soviet-era propaganda which sought to paint the Jewish state of Israel as being unnatural and unworthy of existence.

Politico does not specify what sort of “Palestinian rights” their awardee advocates for. But Sarsour has been clear on this point via her support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS) that seeks to single out Israel for opprobrium. As CAMERA has noted, BDS leaders like Omar Barghouti have explicitly called for the destruction of Israel. U.S.-designated terrorist groups like Hamas—whose charter quoted Adolf Hitler—are also BDS supporters. Sarsour, however is a BDS defender—despite studies that show BDS to be economically harmful to Palestinians.

In fact, Sarsour is noticeably quiet about the abuses Palestinian people endure at the hands of their autocratic leadership in the form of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, or Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority (PA), which rules the West Bank (Judea and Samaria). It’s a revealing omission.

As Hollander noted, what Sarsour really advocates is “the replacement of the Jewish state with a Palestinian one.” Politico should have told its readers about this fact—and the rest of Sarsour’s history—when the publication offered its whitewashed portrait.