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National Womens March Leadership is Anti-Semitic, Apologize or Resign
National Women’s March has undoubtedly impacted the US political atmosphere in ways that have empowered previously uninvolved masses. Emboldened by the show of force in the face of the sexism of the 45 Regime, the Women’s March sparked a national movement, conversation, and expanded the playbook for how to fight for women’s rights and stem the tide of authoritarianism.
Unfortunately, Women’s March’s national organization has lost its credibility and poisoned its own spirit based on one very simple yet disturbing fact: It’s anti-Semitic.
https://egbertowillies.com/2018/03/05/national-womens-march-anti-semitic/
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bettyellen
(47,209 posts)
JI7
(89,247 posts)who are organizing against Gun Violence and to do something about gun violence.
question everything
(47,468 posts)Yes, it was not supposed to have been pro-Hillary movement, but to try to belittle her place in women's movement was unforgivable.
riversedge
(70,186 posts)unforgivable. I try to associate with the local groups. I just read most of the this entire article. I do not see how this issue can continue and still have them leadership positions.
Cha
(297,137 posts)she Ignored Hillary like she never even existed.. right after the rigged election, wherein Hillary won the popular VOTE.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)I immediately backed off and was totally unsurprised when time revealed more.
I marched in St. Petersberg, though. Like almost everyone, it had nothing to do with them.
EllieBC
(3,013 posts)living room. Seems like the far left and far right are United in hate. 
nolabear
(41,959 posts)It’s indefensable under any circumstances but given the history of activism it makes no sense at all.
EllieBC
(3,013 posts)I used to laugh when my grandfather would say he never fully trusted the friendship of non-Jews. With bullshit like Farrakhan at the Women's March I get it.
Where am I, a Jewish woman, supposed to go? I'm not going to associate with Mallory or Sarsour or anyone who does. How can I associate or support anyone who invites someone who says "The Satanic Jew" at a WOMEN'S MARCH? Is the Jewish woman not invited? Then this Jewish woman will take her support and dollars elsewhere.
nolabear
(41,959 posts)What a bizarre history we’ve created on this planet. So much strange fear though we can imagine and long for otherwise.
*sigh*
EllieBC
(3,013 posts)Like, hahahaha you vehemently defended the National Women's March and now you look like an idiot because they basically said All Women BUT You.
It's a pretty major letdown.
nolabear
(41,959 posts)Good people are so very much needed.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)nothing to do with them, and will again. I would not have marched in DC if I'd lived there, though.
What's important is to continue this movement while ousting them, or shunting them to the side. Remember what happened when they named Bernie Sanders (Jewish, btw) the main speaker at a women's event that Hillary was again not invited to speak at? Outcry, Sanders discovered he had a previous engagement, and event a failure due to reaction. But others did well elsewhere under other organizers.
I hope everyone finds a reason and a way to continue to be part of the women's marches. They're much bigger than these nasty little people who elbowed their way to the front of one group.
JI7
(89,247 posts)so i would just everyone needs to tell them "fuck off" . don't let them control it and they do not speak for most of those who attend.
EllieBC
(3,013 posts)would only turn into accusations of racism and islamophobia.
Better idea would be to starve them of donations, mentions, media coverage, bodies. And then start a new movement.
JI7
(89,247 posts)They try to take control of it for their own purpose. And many who can't stand them are other minority women so i wouldn't worry about what they want to accuse others of.
Right now they are trying to take over the movement started and organized by high school kids against gun violence.
EllieBC
(3,013 posts)JI7
(89,247 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)Shameful.
iluvtennis
(19,845 posts)would know better. Guess not.
Caliman73
(11,730 posts)Being discriminated against does not magically give people the sense not to do it to someone else. Like you said, one would think that it should, but when you fear and you hate, your brain is no longer functioning and you are reacting as a scared animal.
marybourg
(12,618 posts)numbers of Muslim immigrants to the U.S. and their sympathizers. Pre-1970's, anti-semitism and anti-Zionism were not prominent threads in the U.S. progressive movement. That's not to say they didn't exist, but if they did, it was only in whispers.
arthritisR_US
(7,286 posts)others faith. Honestly, I’m of the left but can’t buy your simplicity.
Morris64
(78 posts)
uponit7771
(90,335 posts)leftynyc
(26,060 posts)And I've felt for a long time she should be shunned by the movement. How did I deal with it? I marched with a Jewish women's group in NYC. The Zioness movement. There are wonderful, brilliant women involved and I was proud to march alongside them and we got plenty of support at the NY Women's March.
P.S. I was hugely disappointed to see sansour on Chris Hayes show just before the March. I sent him an email explaining my position on her. Hopefully I wasn't the only one and he won't be doing that again.
octoberlib
(14,971 posts)from her and Tamika Mallory on Twitter. They call themselves the leaders just because they got the permit for the original Washington march. Not only is Farrakhan anti-semitic but he's also a misogynist! Women belong in the kitchen and all that. It's really disturbing to see them co-opt the March for our lives kids.
Meowmee
(5,164 posts)As far as I recall. I haven’t participated in any of the marches due to health issues but I wouldn’t if I could based on this. People need to speak out about this. It’s terrible.
OregonBlue
(7,754 posts)Women's March organizers across the United States need to let these two horrible people know that they are not welcome. They are not the Women's March. Hatred and discrimination are the very things we are fighting against and they need to go. The West Coast marches have nothing to do with them and I a suspect that if they came here trying to spread their hate they would be sent packing PDQ. How awful.
GaryCnf
(1,399 posts)While you all are trashing Tamika Mallory et al., who else do you want us to apologize for in order to join your version of "progressive?"
Malcolm X? James Baldwin? How about Reverend Al? Jesse? How about the hundreds of thousand of black people who follow the teaching of Islam who are NOT members of NOI?
While I abhor anti-Semitism, those of you who come from a background free from oppression should pause before you start attacking people who have risen from oppression for not apologizing for what someone else said.
EllieBC
(3,013 posts)I didn't know it is a competition.
If Mallory and Sarsour expect allyship they probably shouldn't refuse to condemn someone who says the Satanic Jew is responsible for helping Hollywood turn men into women.
Caliman73
(11,730 posts)Also, how do you know that people making the criticism come from a background free from oppression? As far as I know, the person who posted originally Egberto Willies, is a Black man. The author of the article is Daniel Cohen, a Jewish man, and many of the people responding to the post are women.
Are you implying that a Black man, a Jewish man, and women are "backgrounds free from oppression"?
The article calls for the womens march movement to distance itself from the anti-Semitism of Farrakhan.
People are complicated. People like Malcolm X and Baldwin and Sharpton and Jackson may have held more radical or separatist beliefs at one time, but they moderated and became more inclusive as time and experience showed them the way. Farrakhan continues to spew anti-Semitic and misogynistic rhetoric and should not be endorsed by people trying to maintain a national movement for women.
GaryCnf
(1,399 posts)That egbertowillies is not representative of the people jumping on Tamika, who is a personal friend. I'm also not going to argue about the subject of whether people of color are in a unique position vis a vis our current and historic setting.
As for the attempt to sanitize those of us you would rather not condemn, James Baldwin actually came to hold even more questionable views as he aged and Malcolm never really changed at all. Farrakhan is a ass and always has been, but the post is about Tamika and Linda Sarsour and I can tell you that at least the former has plenty of support in our community.
Caliman73
(11,730 posts)The post is about how Tamika and Linda stood there silently while Farrakhan said what he said, and how there has not been a strong response to the anti-Semitism expressed at that event from those representing the movement, who were there.
The original post was about Cohen asking for a response from the two ladies indicating their stance on the anti-Semitic speech, and barring that, requesting for them to step down.
The other responses from posters at DU were expressions of their concerns and experiences.
We all want to see our personal friends as above and separate from problems like the one presented in the article and post. Politics is a rough business. Rather than dismiss the messenger and message, maybe go back and take a closer look at what was being said.
People of color are always in a unique position because our experiences are never the norm, never what is accepted as truth, and we always have to have an understanding of ourselves in context of our environment wherever we are. That is how it is for people of color. There is no argument to be had.
GaryCnf
(1,399 posts)I can't argue about the lack of strong responses to LF, but it's a widespread problem with people I talk to. It's far from limited to Tamika. My concern in the way she gets singled out by some is that they are the same people who have attacked her over her perceived lack of enthusiasm for one particular Democrat.
Caliman73
(11,730 posts)I think both sides of that particular issue need to move on.
When we get into turf wars about who supported and didn't support a particular candidate, it makes us look foolish and leaves us open to division.
The bigger issue is what Democrats and Progressives stand for and I can say with 100% certainty that it cannot be anti-women, anti-people of color, or anti-Semite. There is already a party that stands for those things and it is the Republicans.
JI7
(89,247 posts)Not what someone may have said in the past.
It's not a "silent majority" situation. Whether the party wants to accept it or not, activists like Tamika are strongly supported on the street. Attacking them and more so the issues they stand for cost us more votes in more vital places in 2016 than all other factors combined.
JI7
(89,247 posts)keep issuing clarifications, apologies etc.
GaryCnf
(1,399 posts)I don't want anyone in this community to be silent.
I am just telling you what is going down outside. I speak to several hundred young people of color from every demographic from college students to gang members every year on social justice topics. Tamika and people like her are heard way more than politicians who won't stand up for them in public because their target audience gets all sweaty palmed when we talk about standing up for the national anthem and start running for the hills when we get to things like blue on black genocide.
JI7
(89,247 posts)I'm not talking about politicians. I'm talking about regular people who volunteer and attend political events like the marches.
GaryCnf
(1,399 posts)"activists" whose last anti-Tamika outrage just happened to be over a perceived snub and a perceived endorsement?
JI7
(89,247 posts)They needed to apologize just like now
Lee-Lee
(6,324 posts)It’s about her conduct alongside it, being a part of it, not speaking up against clearly bigoted rhetoric.
You know how we hold everyone around Trump to task for not speaking up against his racist statements? Yeah, it is no different to hold our own people to that same standard.
When you stand alongside hate and bigotry and don’t speak up against it you are endorsing it.
This isn’t about anyone expecting her to apologize for “what someone else said” and attempting to frame it as such is a bit dishonest. This is about her actions in not speaking up against hate speech in her presence at an event she was part of, and by her inaction tolerating and endorsing that bigoted hate speech.
So it requires even more than apologizing, it requires calling him out right then while she's standing there.
Be honest. This has nothing to do with either of these women not challenging that mf Farrakhan to his face because there are a whole mess of white folks that have stood next to him and said nothing as well. It's about neither of these women paying the "required" homage.
Lee-Lee
(6,324 posts)Maybe you seenwhat you want to in other people’s motives.
But if someone is going to be out there as a leader of a much wider and broader movement they can expect their actions to face more scrutiny and more criticism than people doing the same things that are not in prominent leadership roles.
GaryCnf
(1,399 posts)the same names keep showing up over and over again talking about the same thing over and over again?
EllieBC
(3,013 posts)Why wouldn't anyone expect them to stand up and say, "Your words are wrong and this is not an acceptable message"?.
I know. It's just the Jews. Who cares. Well we are tired of being told antisemitism doesn't matter (because in the Oppression Olympics it doesn't) unless we are needed as a token or talking point. As a Jew, I am going to keep pointing it out and keep pointing out alleged allies that let it slide.
GaryCnf
(1,399 posts)that straw man doesn't substitute for an explanation why ONLY these two get singled out for not talking up.
How about yourself? Where is your attack on Malcolm X? How about your attack on James Baldwin? Heck, they weren't just failing to "speak out," they were saying the shit in the first place. Where's your attack on Muslim people of color for supporting Palestinians and Hamas, or BDS?
The unfortunate truth is that many of the folks in my community have either not shown great courage when it comes to anti-Semitism and more than a few are just flat out wrong. It's a major issue. BUT it's a major issue over on the other side of the board where white folks hang out too and NOBODY is on here saying, "Did you hear that bullshit LF was spreading the other day. Why isn't [insert establishment figure name here] speaking out?
No, the ONLY time anyone grows a backbone when it comes to our (and I mean many of us white and black) silence on this issue is to attack the black female activist who just happened to "disrespect" a certain Democratic politician.
I'm with you on your central point but trying to use it to justify attacking Tamika for the same failure of which far too many of us are equally guilty? Not buying it.
Mosby
(16,299 posts)Thats what I get from your posts.
The fact that Tamika is black is irrelevant.
Other people of color don't get a pass.
GaryCnf
(1,399 posts)Try reading. Try pointing to an example. Try anything other than flaming a fellow DUer.
I've not only made my condemnation of anti-Semitism clear as a bell, I've been honest enough to admit that it is an issue where a lot of people in my community are failing.
The only excuses being made here are for why it's ONLY Tamika that gets called out.
Meowmee
(5,164 posts)Everyone needs to denounce this and anyone associated with it. Certainly people who claim to be leaders of a woman’s movement should be denouncing this vile speech and not associating themselves in any way with it.
Behind the Aegis
(53,949 posts)It is about time. Anti-Semitism had no place in a civil rights' movement...ever! People making excuses for their behavior, hiding behind a thin veneer of 'splainin' and duplicity should be ashamed, but they aren't. Oh well. Perhaps the movement we realize there can never be "perfect people" or "perfect movements", but when one is trying to secure the rights of one group, it is best not to cast aside other minorities through bigotry. Jewish, trans, and lesbians are just as vital to the women's movement and should be shown RESPECT!
GaryCnf
(1,399 posts)The silence is deafening.
The next time someone attacks a "leftist" for being Anti-Semitic, or fitting into any other morally repugnant category, it would probably be a good idea to see if they ever cared about the cause (here, fighting Anti-Semitism) before, or whether they are just taking up the cause just to smear "leftists."
Lee-Lee
(6,324 posts)People didn’t respond fast enough in the 120 minute window after the post was made before you saw it, so that’s a sign of some conspiracy of posters here against someone you like?
It couldn’t be that people were not online in that 120 minute window, or since it was a thread title about LF versus the Womens March maybe not the same people looked at it because some people have an interest in the Womens March and the issues around it but not just in threads about how much LF is a bigot?
It can’t be any of that, because you didn’t see the response you wanted to posted within that short time it must be some sort of conspiracy?
Or if not that what exactly do you think you see there to rest your case on? Because I don’t see it and I don’t think anyone else does either.
You sure are digging really, really hard to try and spin conspiracy theories or try and find any way you can to attack the messengers to deflect blame here.
But I guess when the actual conduct is totally indefensible that is all you have left, to pull out the old “other people did it too, what about them” line (that my parents taught me didn’t cut it in elementary school, that you own your own actions and if doesn’t matter if anyone else did it too or what punishment anyone else got) or the classic attack the messenger and their motives tactic.
GaryCnf
(1,399 posts)Yet still not a word about the mainstream silence.
