Sarsour Says Israel Being ‘Built On the Idea That Jews Are Supreme’ Comment Was About Nation-State Law

Former Women’s March, Inc. leader Linda Sarsour tweeted on Dec. 3 that her Nov. 29 remark about Israel being “built on the idea that Jews are supreme” was referencing Israel’s nation-state law.

Sarsour tweeted, “Over the weekend, I made comments about Israel that require context to understand. I was specifically referring to the racist argument at the heart of the nation-state law recently passed by the Israeli government – not the Jewish people. I apologize for the confusion.”

She added in a subsequent tweet that she had asked, “How can some be against white supremacy in America but support the state of Israel that operates on a supremacist system?” Sarsour later tweeted, “We need to be consistent and challenge the State of Israel on its system based on valuing one people over another. We are against a supremacist state in America that values race/class over others [and] we need to be honest in how we speak about Israel.”

THREAD:

Over the weekend, I made comments about Israel that require context to understand. I was specifically referring to the racist argument at the heart of the nation-state law recently passed by the Israeli government – not the Jewish people. I apologize for the confusion.

— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) December 3, 2019

This speech happened at the Annual Palestine Convention in Chicago where over 3,500 Palestinian Americans and their supporters attended. There were keynotes, lectures, trainings, fashion shows & entertainment.

— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) December 3, 2019

Recent nation state law: 1) States that “the right to exercise national self-determination” in Israel is “unique to the Jewish people. ”It establishes Hebrew as Israel’s official language, and downgrades Arabic — a language widely spoken by Arab Israelis — to a “special
status.”

— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) December 3, 2019

It establishes “Jewish settlement as a national value” and mandates that the state “will labor to encourage and promote its establishment and development.” You can learn more here:https://t.co/njnnXhR4uU

— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) December 3, 2019

With recent foreign policy actions and decisions from Trump and the Administration's statements that Israeli settlements are not inconsistent with international human rights law are dangerous, especially for Palestinians who are losing their homeland on a daily basis.

— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) December 3, 2019

We need to be consistent and challenge the State of Israel on its system based on valuing one people over another. We are against a supremacist state in America that values race/class over others & we need to be honest in how we speak about Israel.

— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) December 3, 2019

This is a further attempt to paint the Left in USA & UK as antisemitic to disrupt potential transformative campaigns & opportunities for true progress for our nations. I'm a consistent advocate for human rights for ALL oppressed people all over the world. My track record is CLEAR

— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) December 3, 2019

I vehemently criticize any country who violates human rights, including my own, the United States of America. I have been outspoken for Uyghur Muslims in China, Rohingya Muslims, Kashmir, workers and women in Saudi Arabia, for democracy in Syria, Sudan and Lebanon, etc.

— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) December 3, 2019

MLK said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” I believe that and will practice it daily. End of thread.

— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) December 3, 2019

Some weren’t satisfied with her explanation.

“There’s a cycle here: Linda Sarsour does something anti-Semitic, Jews speak out, Linda gaslights and victim-blames Jews, Linda Sarsour does something anti-Semitic again…” pro-Israel activist Hen Mazzig tweeted.

There’s a cycle here: Linda Sarsour does something antisemitic, Jews speak out, Linda gaslights and victim-blames Jews, Linda Sarsour does something antisemitic again… https://t.co/I56wNabhTt

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) December 3, 2019

Reservists on Duty tweeted, “That wasn’t a ‘confusion’ that was a deliberate hateful speech you didn’t think [would] get out.”

That wasn't a 'confusion' that was a deliberate hateful speech you didn't think will get out. https://t.co/qOAW43TdrF

— Reservists On Duty (@reservistsduty) December 3, 2019

Earlier in the day, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt called Sarsour’s Nov. 29 comments “shocking. She slanders the founders of Israel as supremacists, invoking a centuries-old anti-Semitic trope when she describes them as having believed that Jews are ‘supreme to everybody else.’”

The amount of hate in Linda Sarsour's latest diatribe is shocking. She slanders the founders of Israel as supremacists, invoking a centuries-old anti-Semitic trope when she describes them as having believed that Jews are “supreme to everybody else.” https://t.co/AYCnFKXzu4

— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) December 3, 2019

She then compares American Jews’ support for Israel to domestic white supremacy. This is morally offensive and utterly dangerous. Millions of Jews have been murdered in the name of white supremacy, incl. 12 in US last year alone.

— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) December 3, 2019

There should be no place for such hateful demagoguery or blatant prejudice in the public conversation. Responsible leaders should push back on such bigotry and call this out for what it is: anti-Semitism plain and simple.

— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) December 3, 2019