Linda Sarsour: More Palestine Talk Is Just What Democrats Need
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Although Democrats flipped the House in Tuesday’s midterm elections, Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour said she didn’t see a “Blue Wave” — she saw a “blue dribble,” and it’s because voters didn’t vote progressive enough.
In a live midterm election night special hosted by Intercept and Democracy Now!, Sarsour noted that Democrats need to get “our act straight for 2020.” She suggested that out of fear, voters shied away from Palestinians, leftists and socialists.
“They stay away from those of us who are actually creating the momentum and the energy that is on the ground,” she said.
She continued by explaining that the Democratic Party doesn’t have a clear foreign policy platform, not one that most candidates, such as New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are well-enough informed of. Being worried about push-back, Sarsour said, means moving away from a progressive agenda.
“If you’re not willing to go all the way progressive, you’re just not going to win against Donald Trump in 2020,” she said.
Several commentators left their opinions on the sentiment with Jewish Insider.
Alan Dershowitz, an emeritus professor at Harvard Law School and frequent cable news talking head, said, “The Democrats will lose if they move to the far left. Many far left candidates lost yesterday precisely because they didn’t represent centrist Democrats. Sarsour is an enemy of democracy and America, and of Israel.”
Democratic Party strategist Ann Lewis wrote in an email to JI that she sees Sarsour’s point.
“As I read it, Sarsour is complaining that in an election when Democrats flipped the House and won important Governors, and legislative chambers – they stayed away from her and her friends,” she said. “If that is her point, this may be the rare instance when I agree with her.”
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
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