Muslim Activist Linda Sarsour Arrested at International Women’s Day Protest

Protestors gathered outside Trump Tower in New York on Wednesday were told to disperse and clear the area.

They were issued several warnings and some International women’s Day protestors obeyed. Others, including Palestinian-American activist, Linda Sarsour, did not.

Accepting her handcuffs proudly, pictures posted on social media show a radiant Sarsour, replete in her red hijab, being led from the scene and later seated in a police wagon.  She was held for six hours on a charge of disorderly conduct before being released.

Speaking to reporters, Sarsour, former executive director for the Arab American Association of New York, said of the incident, “I feel empowered. I feel proud of what I did today and I’ve done this many times before… I hope it sends a message to people that you’ve got to risk it, you’ve got to be bold in this moment.

Sarsour has, in fact, done this before. No stranger to controversy, she spoke from the podium yesterday, challenging those who would not accept her view of feminism as lacking inclusivity. “If your feminism doesn’t include all women, if it doesn’t include the hijab that I wear on my head, we don’t need your feminism.” She went on to urge protestors and activists to “keep resisting” and “keep motivated.”

Sarsour was one of the organizers of the Women’s March movement, begun the day after US President Donald Trump’s inauguration. It earned her some admirers but also some serious detractors. Late in January an online campaign of misinformation began to target her, accusing her of being affiliated with militant groups, being a proponent of Sharia Law and an anti-Semite. Never one to shrink from a challenge or a fight, the fierce activist called her attackers “fake news purveyors” and “right wing media outlets recirculating false information.”

In February, following the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri, Sarsour partnered with other Muslim activists to crowdfund a restoration of the damaged headstones. The group managed to raise more than $125,000. Speaking of the gesture, she said it was her hope that it would “send a united message from the Jewish and Muslim communities that there is no place for this type of hate, desecration and violence in America.”

Source : Morocco World News