The national Women’s March Inc. came out against anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) legislation in their platform.
Page 25 of the platform states, “One of the biggest threats to speech today are the attempts to silence social movements, including those advocating Palestinian rights.”
“Whether it’s the attempts to create federal or state laws banning political boycotts or criticism of Israel (including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions tactic), targeting environmental protest or preventing students and faculty on college campuses from expressing their views or engaging in peaceable assembly, the silencing of one side of the debate is precisely what our First Amendment protects against,” the platform states.
During the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, Women’s March co-president Linda Sarsour said, “We will protect our constitutional right to Boycott, Divest and Sanctions in this country.”
StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein said in a statement that StandWithUs is “deeply disappointed” in the Women’s March Inc.’s opposition to the anti-BDS legislation.
“Anti-BDS legislation is about ensuring that states will not do business with companies that engage in discrimination on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin. Nothing more, nothing less,” Rothstein said. “It is hypocritical for BDS activists to claim the mantle of free speech, while they themselves frequently try to stop those they disagree with from speaking.”
Rothstein added, “It is telling that while this new document commits to opposing hatred against Jews, it makes no mention of anti-Semitism on the far left. Anyone who cares about supporting Jewish communities must acknowledge and fight this racism on both sides of the political spectrum.”
The Women’s March Inc. leaders have been plagued by accusations of anti-Semitism in a Tablet report and have been criticized for their associations with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Women’s March Inc. co-president Tamika Mallory recently said, “I don’t agree with Minister Farrakhan’s statements” when asked by Meghan McCain, a co-host of ABC’s “The View” on if she condemns Farrakhan. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) reportedly dropped its sponsorship to the Women’s March “over anti-Semitism concerns.”
Sarsour told CNN on the morning of the march, “We unequivocally have rejected the comments made by Minister Farrakhan on LGBTQ communities and on Jewish communities.”
