The activists said Sarsour is the victim of a slanderous and Islamophobic smear campaign that started late last month, when the New York Daily News published a vicious op-ed by Democratic New York state assemblyman Dov Hikind.
Hikind, who called on the City University of New York to rescind its invitation for Sarsour to deliver the commencement speech at its School of Public Health, argued that Sarsour is anti-Semitic, as well as an “apologist for terror” who has “no lack of affection for dead Jews.”
Sarsour’s supporters, many of whom are Jewish, refuted these claims in the strongest terms, accusing Hikind of conflating Sarsour’s criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. They pointed to her interfaith work in the Jewish community and her long history of condemning terrorism.
Watch city council member Brad Lander, who is Jewish, defend Sarsour at Monday’s rally:
Thank u @bradlander for ur common sense & reason against a sea of fearmongering and hate (vid by @_JacksonHL_ ) https://vimeo.com/216582041
Hikind’s piece marked the beginning of a full-throated crusade against Sarsour, which was soon joined by members of Congress, conservative pundits and anti-Muslim hate sites. This has precipitated an online harassment campaign directed at Sarsour, who showed HuffPost multiple death threats she has received in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, Hikind is promoting a video in which he points to evidence he says proves Sarsour is a terror sympathizer. And on May 1, he tweeted: “Social justice activist or terrorist advocate? @lsarsour has some questions to answer.”
But if there’s anyone who has questions to answer regarding terrorism, it’s Hikind.
The powerful, taxpayer-paid elected official ― who has represented Brooklyn’s Borough Park and its large Orthodox population in the state assembly since 1982 ― spent years as a leader of an actual terror group.