Sarsour is a self-described feminist and was a co-Chair of the 2017 National Women’s march.
[9] However, as
Politico pointed out, Sarsour was sharply criticized for imposing her rigid left-of-center ideology on Women’s March participants.
[10] Most notably, Sarsour prohibited liberal women who oppose abortion from taking part in the event,
[11] and she argued that there was no room in the feminist movement for supporters of Israel.
[12]
In July 2019, Sarsour,
Bob Bland, and
Tamika Mallory stepped down from the board of Women’s March due to controversy surrounding Mallory’s ties to anti-Semitic black nationalist
Louis Farrakhan and accusations of financial mismanagement.
[13]
Sarsour has also been sharply criticized as a “fake feminist” who is just using the movement to advance her own radical anti-Israel political agenda. These critics point to a 2011 statement by Sarsour in which she threatened to assault and take away the genitals of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Muslim who was previously the victim of female genital mutilation.
[14] Sarsour has made controversial statements in support of the policies of authoritarian Muslim governments
[15] and Islamic religious law.
[16] [17]