The Palestinian-American and Muslim activist, Linda Sarsour, who was one of the co-chairs of the Women’s March in January, is a prominent advocate for human rights on social media. In spite of this – or perhaps because of it – she has been bizarrely attacked by rightwing media over her perceived intention to support Sharia law in the United States. Now, in the latest episode of manufactured outrage from the right, Sarsour was accused of using Hurricane Harvey to fund her own political organization. The problem with the attack is that the organization in question isn't even her own.
Alexandra Desanctis wrote recently in the National Review, “Linda Sarsour seems unable to pass up any opportunity to make a quick buck, even at the expense of vulnerable Americans.” The criticism implies that the fund that Sarsour linked to belongs to her, which it doesn’t. The article hasn't been updated to reflect the truth, and it probably never will be.
Desanctis continues, “This week, Sarsour has also actively discouraged people from donating to the Red Cross, suggesting instead that they contribute to sundry political-activist organizations. Sarsour has already shown her willingness to use disunity to turn a profit. Now we know she’s willing to exploit disaster in the same way.”
A strange criticism in retrospect, considering that the Red Cross has taken heat for its response to the earthquake disaster in Haiti – which is the reason many have called for donations to be given to other organizations, including Facebook.
Far from being a “sundry political-activist organization," the Hurricane Harvey Community Relief Fund advocated by Sarsour is administered by the Texas Organizing Project, which helped rebuild parts of Houston after Hurricane Ike in 2008.
Picking up on the same story, the conservative site Bizpackreview reported that Sarsour “shamelessly used the tragedy of Hurricane Harvey to solicit funds for a left-wing political organization.” The website's headline has since been updated to reflect the fact that the Hurricane Harvey Community Relief Fund doesn't belong to Sarsour – a fact that is problematic because the article suddenly has no teeth.
Meanwhile, the Washington Examiner boldly proclaimed that “Anti-Trump ‘resistance’ hero Linda Sarsour steers Harvey Relief Funds to political activist group,” then quietly admitted in the middle of the article, "it's worth mentioning that the TOP has a record of assisting hurricane victims in low-income and minority communities.”
Once again, the rightwing press, in its eagerness to slander social justice activists and Trump critics, has manufactured a problem it cannot help but contradict, even in its own reporting. As Sarsour smartly countered in a tweet following the reports: "Texas Organizing Project is not my PAC, but who cares about facts when you are white supremacists obsessed w/ smearing women of color."
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