Linda Sarsour

Linda Sarsour (born 1980) is an American political activist.

When Sarsour and Atweh were returning from the 2005 Gala opening of the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, their car was struck by a tractor-trailer.

Atweh died of her injuries, and two other passengers suffered from broken bones.

Sarsour, who was driving, was not seriously injured.

She returned to work immediately, saying of Atweh, "This is where she wanted me to be".

She was named to succeed Atweh as executive director of the association at age 25.

Over the next several years she expanded the scope of the organization, building its budget from $50,000 to $700,000 annually.

Sarsour initially gained attention for protesting police surveillance of American Muslims.

As director of the Arab American Association of New York, she advocated for passage of the Community Safety Act in New York, which created an independent office to review police policy and widen the definition of bias-based profiling in the state.

She and the organization pressed for the law after instances of what they saw as biased policing in local neighborhoods, and it passed over the objections of then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg and then-Police Chief Raymond W. Kelly.

Sarsour helped form "Muslims for Ferguson", and she traveled to Ferguson with other activists in 2014.

She has continued to work extensively with BLM ever since.

Sarsour became a regular attendee at Black Lives Matter demonstrations as well as a frequent television commentator on feminism.

Sarsour is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Sarsour also played a part in the successful campaign to have Islamic holidays recognized in New York City's public schools, which started observing Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr in 2015.

In 2016, she ran for a position as a County Committee member with the Democratic Party of Kings County, New York.

She placed third.

She has spoken about her activism in the context of building a progressive movement in the United States,*

She was co-chair of the 2017 Women's March, the 2017 Day Without a Woman, and the 2019 Women's March.

She is also a former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York.

She and her Women's March co-chairs were profiled in Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2017.

A Muslim of Palestinian descent, Sarsour first gained attention for protesting police surveillance of American Muslims, later becoming involved in other civil rights issues such as police brutality, feminism, immigration policy, and mass incarceration.

She has also organized Black Lives Matter demonstrations and was the lead plaintiff in a suit challenging the legality of the Trump travel ban.

Her political activism has been praised by some liberals and progressives, while her stance and remarks on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have been criticized by some conservatives and Jewish leaders and organizations.

Sarsour has advocated for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territories and expressed support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

According to a 2017 article in The New York Times, Sarsour "has tackled issues like immigration policy, mass incarceration, stop-and-frisk and the New York City Police Department's spying operations on Muslims — all of which have largely inured her to hate-tinged criticism".

Sarsour has been hailed by some as a symbol of empowerment and "shattering stereotypes of Muslim women".

In a dual interview with Iranian feminist activist Masih Alinejad about the practice of veiling, Sarsour elaborated on her views that the hijab is a spiritual act and not a symbol of oppression, and stressed the Islamophobia experienced by hijabi women in the West.

Alinejad accused Sarsour of double standards, saying that Western Muslims in general, and Sarsour in particular, often fail to condemn compulsory hijab in the Middle East.

Alinejad also said that if Sarsour is concerned with women's rights, she can not use the hijab "which is the most visible symbol of oppression in the Middle East" as a symbol of resistance.

Following the Shooting of Michael Brown, Sarsour helped to organize Black Lives Matter protests.

Teresa Shook and Bob Bland, organizers of the 2017 Women's March, recruited Sarsour as co-chair of the event, to be held one day after Donald Trump's inauguration.

According to Taylor Gee of Politico, Sarsour had by then become the controversial "face of the resistance" to Trump, adding "For Sarsour, Trump's election came after years of standing up for people he had maligned—not just women, but Muslims, immigrants and black Americans, too. Her ties with activists from around the country helped her galvanize different groups during the disorienting period following the election".

Sarsour, Bob Bland, and Tamika Mallory stepped down from the Women's March organization in September 2019 following a controversy over the organization's handling of accusations of antisemitism.

Sarsour was born in Brooklyn, New York, the eldest of seven children of Palestinian immigrants.

Her father owned a small market in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, called Linda's. She was raised in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and attended John Jay High School in Park Slope.

After high school, she took courses at Kingsborough Community College and Brooklyn College with the goal of becoming an English teacher.

Sarsour's early activism included advocating for the civil rights of American Muslims following the September 11 attacks.

Shortly before 9/11, Basemah Atweh, a relative and founder of the Arab American Association of New York, asked Sarsour to volunteer for the organization.

Atweh, who held a prominent political role uncommon for a Muslim woman, became Sarsour's mentor.