Iraq News Now

The 3rd annual Women’s March was held in Washington, D.C., and around the United States on January 19. The media was full of stories of how many politicians and celebrities have distanced themselves from the march because of the anti-Semitic stance of its leadership, pointing to activist Tamika Mallory and her association with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Missing from the event was its co-founder Linda Sarsour. The American-born Palestinian has faced her own problems with claims of being anti-Semitic. 

Her defense is that she is anti-Zionist and not anti-Semitic. She has called for the destruction of Israel and has been a strong supporter of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. While the focus has been on her anti-Semitism in the mainstream, Western media has been careful not to include her support for Sharia law.

As an acclaimed advocate of feminism and leader of a movement that should support women’s rights and universal equality, she has refused the rights of women who are pro-life to join in on her movement. She has also claimed one cannot be a feminist and support Israel. Then there is her support of Sharia law, a part of Middle Eastern culture that some in society falsely interpret to allow for female genital mutilation, "honor" killings, and makes legal the practice of forced child marriages where girls as young as 7 years who have been forced to wed much older men.

Sarsour has been called anti-feminist by many feminists as she claims that Sharia law only applies to Muslims. Sharia law is said to derive from the Quran but in fact it is more supported more by Hadith. Much like the Talmud it is a guide for civil and ceremonial law and legend. Sarsour hides behind religion and then becomes immune from criticism by the media and many political leaders — many of whom fear being mislabeled or having their words twisted.

The self-claimed feminist contradicts her views and ideas about religion and women's rights — evidenced by the face she can be the supporter of Sharia. On one hand, she supports putting women subservient to men, while at the same time she fights for a supposed emancipation of women and for equal rights.

The three Abrahamic religions — Judaism, Christianity and Islam — all began in the same region of the world and had many of the same customs. Islam is the only one which significantly grew in the region and many regional customs, followed by all, are attributed to it.

Judaism and Christianity, for the most part, have abandoned many of their out-of-date customs and regularly face criticism by Muslims when ultra-conservative sects try to revive the traditions. If the Women’s March was truly supporting universal women’s rights it needs to reject Sarsour and the barbaric customs she supports. Sharia law has no place in feminism. 

Chiman Zebari is a Kurdish American human rights activist and author. As a Muslim woman, she is the director of the ??Middle Eastern American Women Coalition that is based in Washington, D.C., and a critic of Sharia law. 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.