The resounding clap back against this years Women’s March
The Women’s March of 2019 had been shrouded in controversy before it even took place this weekend. With rumours of antisemitism surfacing as well as the co-founders’ close association with outspoken antisemite, Louis Farrakhan, the whole aim of the march was lost.
The purpose and goals of the Women’s March was to protest against the lack of equality and opportunity for women and minority groups. In 2017, the march followed the election of Donald Trump and his campaign attacking women, Muslims and LGBT. The march of that year became the largest single-day protest in U.S history whilst also inspiring similar ones in 81 different countries. This year, the turnout was low and a number of fundraising groups affiliated with the cause had backed out. With the Women’s March committee intent on encouraging diversity, allegations of antisemitism within its ranks are notoriously hypocritical and unjustifiable.
Louis Farrakhan, the founder of the Nation of Islam (NOI) and a man who has used heinous antisemitic tropes with his position, was closely linked to organisers of 2019’s march. Farrakhan and the NOI have been officially labelled a hate group from the Southern Poverty Law Center for projecting racist, sexist and black separatist dialogue. His nationalist tendencies are highly incongruous to a march that promotes community and respect. It is questionable why a leading figure in the Women’s March, Tamika Mallory, felt compelled to attend events hosted by Farrakhan and then endorse his work on social media. She has since failed to outright condemn the NOI, refusing to answer that specific question directed to her on ABC News’ The View last week.
In reports from the New York Times and Tablet magazine, journalists have provided information to suggest that this years Women’s March was centred on toxic antisemitism. A reporter from Tablet has said that meetings about the organisation of the march were quickly twisted to include antisemitism. Mallory was alleged to have said that Jews ‘bore collective responsibility as exploiters of black and brown people’ and were ‘proven to be the leaders of the American slave trade’. Although she has flatly denied such claims, her views could have reached her through Farrakhan. He and his organisation popularised this ideology with a book, The Secret Relationship between Blacks and Jews. The published work has since been deemed the “bible of the new antisemitism’.
The result of the reports of antisemitism plaguing the Women’s March, a swath of donors and groups supporting it had refused to do so this year. The Democratic National Committee, Emily’s List and the Southern Poverty Law Center are three renowned organisations to have done so. Furthermore, according to Israel newspaper Haaretz, only two recognisable Jewish groups affiliated with this year’s march compared to a litany of others in the years preceding.
If the Women’s March wishes to continue and the co-founders keep their positions at the top, it must change its image immediately. The march becomes ineffective when the leaders are guilty of the same hate speech they would be quick to decry if coming from the hateful Trump. The left can not claim the morality position if they choose not to categorically refute the shameful rhetoric espoused by a political figure they align with. Also, the Women’s March in the future should encompass all women. There was a astounding lack of representation from conservative women, pro-life activists and surely Jewish women. The march is wrong to be elitist. To succeed, change is needed. A turnover of organisers and a complete disassociation with certain groups is critical when tackling a barbarous president.
