Attacks on Palestinian-American Delegate Linda Sarsour
After DNC delegate and Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour spoke at an official DNC event of the Muslim Delegates and Allies Assembly on August 18th, 2020, Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for the Joe Biden campaign, issued a statement saying,
“Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel and a vehement opponent of anti-Semitism his entire life, and he obviously condemns her views and opposes BDS, as does the Democratic platform. She has no role in the Biden campaign whatsoever.”
As Palestinian-American delegates and allies, we stand by our fellow Palestinian-American delegate Linda Sarsour and condemn any effort to exclude elected national DNC delegates from official DNC events. We reject efforts to marginalize and demonize the Palestinian narrative. We also call upon the Democratic National Committee to renew its commitment to its own core principles of equality and justice for all.
The DNC seeks to represent an inclusive and diverse population and should not discriminate against any segment on the basis of ethnicity, religion or political dissent. The vast majority of Democratic voters are calling for accountability, including BDS as a nonviolent form of curbing Israeli violations and challenging Israel’s impunity. The statement by the Biden campaign has willfully dropped the reference to freedom of speech from its platform language quote in the rush to malign, condemn and exclude Sarsour. Such an attack goes against the principles of the Democratic Party and the 2020 Democratic Party Platform to end systemic racism and to build a coalition.
While we recognize the prevalence of anti-Semitism, criticism of Israel must not be conflated with anti-Semitism. Israel has repeatedly violated international humanitarian law and human rights as well as American international aid conditionality. Moreover, Jake Tapper of CNN has a history of singling out Palestinian-Americans, Muslim-Americans and anyone who stands behind Palestinian human rights or criticizes the Israeli occupation.
This disavowal of Linda Sarsour reeks of misogyny, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bigotry. It provides a false shield for Israel’s human rights abuses. The Biden campaign must not follow the lead of the Trump administration and should rise above these attacks and make a concerted effort to be inclusive and represent the collective vision for a truly democratic Party.
Palestinian-American delegates and allies demand an immediate retraction and apology from the Biden campaign that smeared a prominent Palestinian-American activist, undermined her constitutional right to free speech, and weaponized anti-Semitism to silence the just critique of Israeli oppression of Palestinians.
Sincerely,
Palestinian American Delegates
Huwaida Arraf, MI Delegate (CD-10)
Zeina Ashrawi Hutchison, VA Delegate (CD-10)
Samia Assed, NM At-Large Alternate (CD-1)
Summer Awad, TN Delegate (CD-2)
Sam Hindi, CA Delegate (CD-14)
Hatem Natsheh, TX Delegate (SD-25)
Emad Salem, TX Delegate (SD-10)
Murad Sarama, CA Delegate (CD-6)
Ibraheem Samirah, VA At-Large Delegate (CD-11)
Endorsed by the following delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention:
Abdul-Khabir, Kareema – CA Delegate, CD-8
Ahmad, Nadia – FL Delegate, CD-7
Alexander, Cory – ID Delegate, CD-1
Ali, Faiza – NY Delegate, CD-10
Alvarez, Roberto – CA Delegate, CD-38
Aszterbaum, Joey – CA Delegate, At-Large
Bagheri, Aaron – CA Delegate, CD-24
Baker, Dana – CA Delegate, CD-4
Beall, Elise – CO At-Large Delegate
Beichler, Amber – VA Delegate, At Large
Bellanca, Jay – NY At-Large Delegate
Bernal, Karen – CA PLEO Delegate, CD-6
Beyer, Timothy – CA Delegate, CD-43
Bignell, Mark – MI Delegate, CD-4
Bishop, Heather – OR Delegate, CD-4
Blochowiak, Patricia – OH Delegate, CD-11
Bonge, Sam – AZ Delegate, CD-8
Britto, Lisa – FL Delegate, CD-10
Brown, Michele – FL Delegate, CD-18
Caballero, Josie – CA Delegate, CD-53
Cea, Sergio – PA PLEO Delegate
Choudhury, Leila – VA Delegate, CD-5
Chrisliquori@gmail.com
Chu de León, Chris – TX Delegate, SD-13
Corley, Troy – CA Delegate, CD-26
Cramer, Gina – TX Delegate, SD-26
Culver, Jon – WA Delegate, CD-1
Davis, Mina – TX Delegate, SD 5
De Delva, Namcy – NY Delegate, CD-5
Dean, Amy – VA Delegate, CD-7
Derton, Robin – TX Delegate, PLEO Delegate, SD-5
Dinkin, Leah – CO Delegate, CD-2
Dlugosz, Anne – Delegate, Democrats Abroad
Dominguez, Silvia – MA Delegate, CD-05
Dunbar, Melissa – WA Delegate, CD-6
Dupont, Aimee – MA Delegate, CD-2
East, Shana – IL Delegate,
Enriquez, Ivan – CA Delegate, At-Large CD-46
Espinosa, Giancarlo – FL Delegate, At Large
Ester, Lesley – CA Delegate, CD-2
Evans, Stevevonna – CA Delegate, CD-33
Farokhia, Sudi – CA Delegate, CD-45
Farokhnia, Sudi – CA Delegate, CD-45
Fleming, Joanne – WA Delegate, CD-5
Foley, Linda – TX Delegate, SD-12
Garcia Centeno, Krystal – IL Delegate, CD-11
Garcia, Brandon – TX PLEO Delegate, SD-19
Giardinelli, Bryan – CA Delegate, CD-42
Gibson, Emily – OR Delegate, CD-2
Gloria, Ernesto – TX Delegate, SD-9
Gonzalez, Ana – CA Delegate, CD-35
Gonzalez, Elizabeth – CA Delegate, CD-46
Gordon, Patrick – IL Delegate, CD-8
Hassan, Syed – TX Delegate, SD-22
Hastings, Erika – TN Delegate, CD-8
Hernandez, Thomas – WA Delegate, CD-3
Hicks, Jared – MA Delegate, CD-7
Hill, Lauren – NC At-Large Delegate
Hoyt, Margie – CA Delegate, CD-43
Huntley, Paul – CA Delegate, CD-19
Huynh, Katherine – CA Delegate, CD-43
Ibarra, Antonio – IL Delegate, CD-11
Isak, Barbara “Babs” – UT Delegate, CD-3
Jiang, Zhenzhen – CA Delegate, CD-14
Johnson, Cavla – FL Delegate, CD-15
Johnson, Heather – CA Delegate, CD-31
Johnson, Valerie – TX Delegate, SD-9
Hanieh Jodat Barnes – CA Delegate, CD-45
Joyce, Rommy – CA Delegate, CD-19
Jun Nawabi, Aleena – CA Delegate, SD-52
Kain, Matthew – MI Delegate, CD-14
Kang, Mani – CA Delegate, CD-46
Kaur, Gurdeep – CA Delegate, CD-40
Kessel, Michelle – TX Delegate, SD-25
Khan, Varisha – WA Delegate, CD-1
Khoury, Kari – CA Delegate, CD-9
Klemmer, Isabel – WI Delegate, CD-6
Knight, Mary Ann – TX Delegate, SD-10
Langford, James – FL Delegate, CD-7
Larranaga, Chris – NM Delegate, CD-1
Lee, Briana – MN Delegate, CD-5
Lefebvre, Lyndsey – CA Delegate, CD-39
Lim, Cheng-Sim – CA Delegate, CD-28
Liu, Melanie – CA Delegate, CD-18
Ly, Ricky – FL Delegate, At Large
Lynch, Nita – CO Delegate, CD-1
MacLeod, Duncan – MI Delegate, CD-3
Manos, Michelle – CA Delegate, CD-29
Mansoor, Nabila – TX Delegate, SD-18
Maro, Anthony – CO Delegate, CO-5
Martin, Beth – WA Delegate, CD-9
Martin, Grayson – CA Delegate, CD-52
Martinez, Eduardo – CA Delegate, CD-11
McClain, Christopher – CA Delegate, CD-31
McCord, Kathleen – NM Delegate, CD-1
McGrath, Bob – CO Delegate, CD-7
McLain, Brian – IA Delegate, CD-3
Merritt, Madeline – CA At-Large Delegate
Meyer, Katie – CA Delegate, CD-53
Moffa, Jamie – MO Delegate, CD-1
Mohammed, Sabina – TX At Large Delegate, SD-22
Moran, Kate – WA Delegate, CD-46
Moreno, Gabriel – MD Active Alternate Delegate, CD-2
Moxley, Kyle – MI Delegate, CD-8
Nasrullah, Mohammed – TX Delegate, SD-11
Nguyen, Lisa – OH Delegate, At Large
Nygard, Dorothy – CA Delegate, CD-10
O’Hea, Justin – NJ Delegate, CD-12
Ocampo, Christina – CA Delegate, CD-8
Okuzumi, Margaret – CA Delegate, CD-17
Omeish, Abrar – VA PLEO Delegate, CD-11
Orgel-Olson, Shawn – CA Delegate, CD-20
Palma, Dayja – TX Delegate, SD-22
Parr, Andrew – VA Delegate, CD-8
Patterson, Kevin – TX Delegate, SD-30
Perkel, Leah – WA Delegate, CD-3
Pfeiffer, Mindy – CA Delegate, CD-27
Phillips, Gregory – FL At-Large Delegate
Pierce, Eric – CA Delegate, CD-28
Ramos Rios, Virginia – NY Delegate, CD-7
Ramos, Stacey – CA Delegate, CD-35
Rawson, Katherine – UT Alternate Delegate
Recendez, Denis P. – CA Delegate, CD-32
Rehmani, Tasneem – CA Delegate,
Reynolds, Samantha – CO Delegate, CD-2
Rizvi, Maha – CA Delegate, CD-42
Rodriguez, Maya – CA Delegate, CD-41
Rodriguez, Tisa – CA Delegate, CD-41
Roemer, Katy – CA Delegate, CD-13
Saines, Koran T. – VA PLEO Delegate, CD-10
Scoville, Carrie – CA PLEO Delegate, CD-44
Shaughnessy, Christian – CA Delegate, At-Large
Shepherd, Jeri – CO Delegate,
Shergill, Amar – CA Delegate, CD-7
Shimizu, Christine – CA Delegate, CD-30
Siddiqui, Aftab – TX Delegate, CD-6
Siddiqui, Zahid – CA Delegate,
Smith, Benjamin – TN Delegate, CD-02
Smith, Megan – ME Delegate, CD-2
Solomon, Norman – CA Delegate, CD2
Sondahl, Birrion – CO Delegate, CD-2
Stevens, Karen – CA Delegate, CD-26
Sukaton, Samuel – CA Delegate, At-Large
Sullivan, Maureen – IL Delegate, CD-3
Summervillle, William Moses – CA Delegate, CD-48
Talevski, Susie – IN Delegate, CD-1
Tatlock, Nina – FL PLEO Delegate,
Taylor, Tarah – TX Delegate, SD-15
Terpening, Stephanie – MI Delegate, CD-4
Terrazas, Stephanie – CA Delegate, CD-39
Thompson, Victoria – CA Delegate, CD-7
Torres, Nelly – PA Delegate, CD-11
Touati, Khalid – TX Delegate, SD-16
Toy, Shirley – CA Delegate, CD-6
Ty, Yaddi – WA Delegate, CD-2
Uddin, Nazim – NC Delegate, At-Large
Usman, Sameena – CA Delegate, CD-17
Valladares, Victor – CA Delegate, CD-48
Vazquez, Juan – CA Delegate, CD-10
Verhey, Molly – WA Delegate, CD-08
Wang, Anlin – PA Delegate, CD-3
Ward, Kenneth – ID Delegate, CD-2
Weekley, Dakin – FL Delegate, CD-26
Wells, Marley – FL Delegate, CD-1
Williams, Susana – CA Delegate, CD-9
Winograd, Marcy – CA Delegate, CD-24
Wong, Audrey – CA Delegate, CD-33
Woodhall, Adam- FL Delegate, At Large
Wright, Lissette – Delegate, Democrats Abroad
Wunderly, Maggie – IL Delegate, At Large
Youngblood, Brandon – CA Delegate, CD-9
Zaman, Rubina – TX Delegate, SD-11
Zeisel, Jodi – OR Delegate, CD-3