Progressive Jewish Group Gives Linda Sarsour $10K For Security

By Daniel J. Solomon June 2, 2017

Muslim civil rights activist Linda Sarsour has become a lightning rod for controversy over her political advocacy work and statements about Israel and the Middle East. Because of this, she has received a hefty number of death threats and been forced to beef up on security.

So the progressive Jewish group Bend the Arc is giving Sarsour an assist, donating $10,000 raised in an online crowdfunding campaign to pay for her private security expenses.

“For years Linda has been a leading voice in our shared interfaith work of building a more just society,” CEO Stosh Cotler wrote in a press release. “Rather than allowing our communities to be pitted against one another, we will respond with action based in love and solidarity.”

Sarsour was heavily criticized for past statements defending sexist aspects of Islamic law and criticizing Israel and Zionism – with far-right provocateur Pamela Geller demanding she be disinvited from speaking at a CUNY commencement ceremony.

The Jewish left has largely stuck with Sarsour, with more than 100 community leaders signing a letter expressing their solidarity with her and condemning threats.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO