Five members of the U.S. House of Representatives have launched a Black-Jewish Caucus this week in the hopes of bringing the two groups together to back hate crimes legislation, and fight white supremacist ideology and action.
But American pro-Palestinian Authority Muslim activist Linda Sarsour, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from El-Bireh, is anything but happy about it. In fact, she’s pretty upset. Sarsour launched a virtual “Twitter storm” over it: a sample is below.
If ever there were proof that this new caucus is good and necessary, it’s that Linda Sarsour is terrified of it. Blacks and Jews in America share a long and proud history of standing with one another and fighting for each other’s rights. It’s time to return to our roots. pic.twitter.com/I0t8FDYNl0
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer)
Two Jewish and three Black lawmakers are involved in the bipartisan effort, started after a meeting convened in January by the American Jewish Committee.
Speaking this week at the AJC Annual Global Forum, U.S. Representative Brenda Lawrence (D-MI) commented that the African-American and Jewish communities have a history of standing together for the promotion of social justice and civil rights.
“To encourage and nurture this unique partnership, I have formed the Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations with the hopes of strengthening the trust and advancing our issues in a collective manner,” she said.
“There’s so much more to unite Americans than to divide us,” added Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY). “It’s important to debate our differences, confront hate and work through disagreement when possible, but there’s no reason why we can’t come out the other end of any trying time stronger and more united as a nation.”
Congress members Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), John Lewis (D-GA), Lee Zeldin (R-NY) and Will Hurd (R-TX) have joined Lawrence in the effort, with Sarsour repeatedly slamming Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Zeldin about their political affiliations and their campaign efforts. Unsurprisingly, both are Jewish.