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20 Aug, 2020 00:38

Red line? Biden rejects DNC guest Linda Sarsour’s endorsement over her ‘anti-Semitism’ & BDS support

Red line? Biden rejects DNC guest Linda Sarsour’s endorsement over her ‘anti-Semitism’ & BDS support

Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden hasn't encountered many far-left policies he won't embrace – from free healthcare for illegal aliens to free college – but he found one leftist supporter he won't abide: Linda Sarsour.

Sarsour, a Muslim activist and co-founder of the Women's March, endorsed Biden last week and spoke on Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention's “Muslim Delegates and Allies Assembly.” Biden responded by denouncing her.

“Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel and a vehement opponent of anti-Semitism his entire life, and he obviously condemns [Sarsour's] views and opposes BDS, as does the Democratic platform,” campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said. “She has no role in the Biden campaign whatsoever.”

BDS is the international movement to boycott Israeli businesses and institutions, divest Israeli assets and pressure governments to sanction Israel and businesses linked to Israeli settlements. Sarsour supports BDS, called for “jihad” against President Donald Trump in 2017, and praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has likened Jewish people to termites. She and two other Women's March co-chairs stepped down from the organization last year amid allegations of anti-Semitism.

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Sarsour previously campaigned for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who was Biden's leading rival for the Democrat nomination for president. In endorsing Biden, she tweeted: “It's no secret that I have disagreements with both VP Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris, but I know what I need to do: elect the Biden-Harris ticket and prepare to hold them accountable in the White House.”

That decision was met with disgust by other pro-Palestinian activists. “How did holding Obama and Biden accountable work out when they gave Israel missiles to slaughter 550 children in Gaza?” journalist Dan Cohen asked on Twitter. “This is a farce. Please stop.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said on Wednesday that “smearing” Sarsour and other American Muslims as anti-Semitic for supporting Palestinian human rights is “predictable, despicable and unacceptable.”

Meanwhile, MoveOn, the political action group backed by progressive liberal billionaire George Soros, called Sarsour “a leader in the fight for justice for all of us.” The group added: “Biden can support Israel without implying that critique of Israeli government policy is anti-Semitic or condemning advocates for Palestinian rights.” It advised Biden to build “a big tent” that welcomes Muslim Americans and progressives “even where policy disagreements exist.”

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