Prominent anti-Israel activist and former
Women’s March co-chair Linda Sarsour
US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has denounced and distanced himself from a prominent anti-Israel activist, who voiced support for him in the live stream of the Democratic National Convention.
Linda Sarsour, former Women’s March co-chair, participated in the Democratic National Convention’s Muslim Delegates Assembly on Tuesday.
Biden’s campaign spokesman Andrew Bates immediately reacted to the pro-Palestinian activist’s presence in the convention, saying that she “has no role in the Biden campaign whatsoever.”
“Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel and a vehement opponent of anti-Semitism his entire life, and he obviously condemns [Sarsour's] views and opposes BDS, as does the Democratic platform,” Bates said.
Sarsour, a Palestinian-American activist, has been a vocal supporter of The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) international pro-Palestinian movement that has been campaigning for a boycott of all Israeli goods, and academic and cultural activities for over 15 years.
She responded in a tweet later that she “just came here to remind you that you need a coalition to defeat Donald Trump and that Muslim Americans are an important voter bloc in key states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Virginia, Texas, Pennsylvania & I know a little something about how to organize them.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations reacted to Biden’s campaign’s move, saying that “smearing” Sarsour and other American Muslims as anti-Semitic for supporting Palestinian human rights is “predictable, despicable and unacceptable.”
The political action group, MoveOn, also called Sarsour “a leader in the fight for justice for all of us.”
“Biden can support Israel without implying that critique of Israeli government policy is anti-Semitic or condemning advocates for Palestinian rights,” it added.
The group called on Biden to build “a big tent” that welcomes Muslim Americans and progressives “even where policy disagreements exist."
Sarsour formerly campaigned for Senator Bernie Sanders, who was Biden's leading rival for the Biden.
She said in a tweet earlier this month, “It's no secret that I have disagreements with both VP Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris, but I know what I need to do: elect the Biden-Harris ticket and prepare to hold them accountable in the White House.”
The pro-Palestinian activist said last year that, “How can you be against white supremacy in America and the idea of being in a state based on race and class, but then you support Israel that is based on supremacy, that is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else.”
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