The Women's March Just Lost Major Sponsors Over Antisemitism Scandal
Women's March Is Falling Apart, Major Sponsor Pulls Out. The Southern Poverty Law Center has removed itself as a sponsor of the Women's March following the controversy over leaders Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez, and Tamika Mallory. The SPLC cites other projects as the reason but one can only assume it is due to their ties to Louis Farrakhan.Following this we are hearing that the Women's March is infighting among its local chapters with NYC set to have TWO competing marches and Chicago having been announced to be canceled.Yet in spite of all the negative press and evidence of abhorrent behavior and anti social justice rhetoric the feminist organization Women's March still has a huge list of sponsors including the ACLU and Planned Parenthood.
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Over the past several weeks, the Women's March organization has been embroiled in a controversy over anti-Semitism at the highest levels.
This was published by Tablet Magazine and then corroborated by the New York Times.
We're now hearing that the Southern Poverty Law Center has stepped away from supporting the Women's March.
We're hearing now that local organizations that typically worked peripherally to the Women's March are stepping away as well, with Chicago's march being cancelled.
Some other organizations have also removed their names from the Women's March.
Right now, local organizations have to contend with the fact Today, let's take a look at exactly what's going on at the Women's March and what we can expect in the coming week when the March is actually supposed to take place, but actually might face some serious turmoil.
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From harrits.com, Southern Poverty Law Center, Emily's List, distanced themselves from Women's March following controversy.
Neither appear on the roster of groups behind this year's Women's March.
Linda Sarsour, we should have been faster and clearer in helping people understand our values and our commitment to fighting anti-Semitism.
A leading U.S.
organization fighting bigotry and hate and a high-profile political action committee backing Democratic women are no longer sponsors of the 2019 National Women's March in Washington, D.C.
this year after having partnered to support the event in the past.
Neither the Southern Poverty Law Center nor EMILY's List appear on the roster of groups behind the Women's March published by the organization on Thursday.
The list of the sponsors was unveiled ahead of the third annual march set for January 19, an event that has been clouded by controversy over the refusal of three of the march's co-chairs to clearly denounce Reverend Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam and its anti-Semitic and homophobic positions.
Asked by the Daily Beast about its absence from this year's list, a spokesperson for the SPLC told the Daily Beast that it had refrained from sponsoring the march because other projects were a priority.
In the past, The SPLC has designated the Nation of Islam as a hate group, bizarre theology of innate black superiority over whites, a belief system vehemently and consistently rejected by mainstream Muslims, and the deeply racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-LGBT rhetoric of its leaders, including top minister Louis Farrakhan, have earned the Nation of Islam a prominent position in the ranks of organized hate.
The Women's March is clearly aware of the damage that has been done as a result of the controversy, which anti-march activists say has sharply reduced the number of sponsors of the event.
The Women's March homepage features no fewer than three statements released on the matter, the most recent by the March's co-chair and national organizer, Linda Sarsour, admitting that, "...we should have been faster and clearer in helping people understand our values and our commitment to fighting anti-Semitism."
We regret that.
Every member of our movement matters to us, including our incredible Jewish and LGBTQ members.
We are deeply sorry for the harm we have caused, but we see you, we love you, and we are fighting with you.
Now personally, I really don't accept that response.
Because often in the media, when there is someone who gets associated with the far-right or ultra-nationalists or whatever, they can denounce all day and night, but it's just not good enough.
No one believes them.
They call it crypto-fascism.
You'll see many organizations on the left claiming that people who have ever even talked with certain groups are clearly alt-right, alt-right adjacent, or crypto-fascist, which means they're secretly fascist but just pretending that they're not.
And in some instances, it's actually true.
I know personally there are some individuals who claim they're not alt-right, and they actually are behind the scenes, but for PR reasons try to avoid the brand.
It's not true of everyone who's ever been accused, but there are some people, of course there'd be, there's nuance in politics.
And the same is probably true for Linda Sarsour and the Women's March.
If you asked me, I'm gonna have to go ahead and say they didn't change their beliefs overnight.
They have praised Louis Farrakhan in the past, they've been to his events, They've spoken in his defense.
You don't just change your views overnight all of a sudden when you're facing a PR backlash.
I think it's really simple.
It is obvious these people hold these views, and it's obvious why the Southern Poverty Law Center is walking away.
Unsurprisingly, the SPLC isn't calling them out for their antisemitism.
Because in my opinion, well obviously the SPLC is very partisan and they're trying to be careful about who they offend.
It's really interesting how we know for a fact, based on the New York Times and Tablet Magazine, that the organizers of the Women's March are anti-Semites, and they believe ridiculous, fringe, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
But where is mass condemnation?
In fact, the march is still going to happen.
They still have sponsors, and for some reason, even after all of this, there are still women willing to stand behind overt Anti-Semites and March with them.
On the Women's March website, some organizations that absolutely do not care, it would seem, about their anti-Semitism.
ACLU, Planned Parenthood and the AFT, a union of professionals.
We can also see there is a huge list of Women's March partners.
The list is actually It's huge!
I have to say, it is incredibly surprising to me to see so many organizations take no issue with the anti-Semitism at the highest levels of the Women's March.
Harris says, Topping the list of prominent groups continuing to support the march is the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, and the American Federation of Teachers.
The list also includes other major groups like the Democratic National Committee, the League of Women Voters, the National Organization for Women, and the YWCA, together with numerous smaller groups.
This is the perfect example of the issue I take with many people in the left who claim That they're fighting for equality and in defense of marginalized groups, but support overt anti-Semitism.
And you know what?
Normally, I might be willing to say, okay, well, hold on.
It's only a few people in the Women's March.
Maybe there's some room for discussion.
But when you learn about their histories and their support for Farrakhan, who the SPLC themselves have denounced, it becomes quite clear.
And it's not just clear to me.
It's clear to other local organizers.
From the Hill, Chicago chapter of Women's March cancels 2019 rally amid national organization's anti-Semitism controversy.
The Chicago chapter of the Women's March has canceled its rally planned for January, citing high costs and insufficient volunteer hours, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.
The newspaper noted the cancellation of the event, which in the past drew hundreds of thousands of people to the city, comes amid growing controversy surrounding the group's national leaders and their ties to the Nation of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan, who has made several anti-Semitic comments in the past.
Sarah Kerensky, a Women's March Chicago board member, told the Tribune, We're going to provide ways for people to organize and take action in their local communities.
The story mentions Teresa Shook, a co-founder of the national movement, in November called for national leaders to step down after having allowed anti-Semitism, anti-LGBTQIA sentiment, And it extends beyond Chicago.
In New York, for instance, competing women's march efforts in New York City undercut by infighting anti-Semitism scandal.
groups that espouse these racist, hateful beliefs.
And it extends beyond Chicago.
In New York, for instance, competing women's march efforts in New York City undercut by
infighting anti-Semitism scandal.
This, according to the Daily News.
There will not be one, but two women's march events in Manhattan next week.
Women's March, Inc., the group behind the historic first march in D.C.
in 2017, is holding a rally in Foley Square from 11 a.m.
to 1.30 p.m.
on Saturday, according to a City Parks Department permit granted Friday.
Meanwhile, the Women's March Alliance, an unaffiliated local group that has spearheaded events in the city for the last two years, has also secured a permit for Saturday, And their march near Columbus Circle will also kick off at 11 a.m.
The dueling events are a product of an ugly feud over what and who should be represented in the Women's Marches.
The alliance claims the leaders of the Women's March, Inc.
have tried to bully their way into Columbus Circle and trashed the group for a lack of diversity.
Catherine Simeonko, founder and president of the Women's March Alliance, which developed into a non-profit two years ago, says she had a less than pleasant conversation with Linda Sarsour, a Women's March, Inc.
board member and Palestinian-American racial justice activist, this October.
Linda said, You put us on your leadership board or we'll hold a counter-march.
And I said, I don't put up with bullying.
Simeonko says that Sarsour also implied she wasn't fit to organize a march for all women because she is white.
Sarsour declined to talk to the New York Daily News, and a spokesman for Women's March, Inc.
refuted Simeonko's account of the conversation.
NBC News ran a longer story about the National Women's March being rocked by claims of anti-Semitism.
Now local marches are grappling with the fallout.
People that were working with us began to question working with the Women's March, one organizer said.
And the story essentially covers a lot of what I'm already talking about.
How many people are just not wanting to be involved.
What I find really fascinating in the fallout of the Women's March is that with the Southern Poverty Law Center backing away without overtly saying it's because of anti-Semitism, you still have the ACLU and Planned Parenthood supporting these people.
What we're seeing with New York is actually another interesting controversy, that the national organizers feel they have a right to control other chapters which are unaffiliated non-profits.
They're trying to maintain their power in the wake of this controversy.
If you were to ask me, it sounds like you have several people who are anti-Semites, they're racists, and they're trying to maintain power.
But they've been called out.
The bigger problem here, in my opinion, is the willingness of so many organizations to stand behind overt anti-Semites who have praised Louis Farrakhan, and there's no real repercussion for them.
At least the SPLC has backed away.
At least Emily's List has backed away.
And at least one organizer in Chicago has said they won't stand behind this antisemitism.
But to everyone else, I'm just gonna say it.
If you're willing to march behind these people, I question whether or not you actually oppose antisemitism, or if you are just an opportunistic liar.
Do you even have principles?
I am completely flabbergasted.
That there are people willing to show up, spend money, and march behind an anti-Semitic banner.
What does that say about all of these women who have heard these stories and are still willing to do it?
To the organizer in Chicago, to the other groups that are separating themselves, bravo, you have my respect.
But look at all of those organizations that are still willing to support overt anti-Semitism.
It's mind-blowing if you were to ask me.
But let me know what you think in the comments below.
We'll keep the conversation going.
Do you agree with me that there is a stunning lack of principle For those who are willing to march behind antisemites?
Or is it possible the women who march behind them have principles, and their principles include being antisemitic themselves?
I'd have to say, if they are antisemitic, then of course they're upholding their principles if they march behind other antisemites.
But then it makes me question everything they claim to be fighting for.
It makes me question the ACLU and Planned Parenthood.
Why are you still supporting this?
It's mind-blowing.
Anyway, comment below.
We'll keep the conversation going.
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