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April 9th, 2022 
Awake Goy The auto insurance company GEICO has disinvited Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour from speaking at an internal company event after backlash from pro-Israel voices and groups groups. Organizations and individuals accused Sarsour of antisemitism and attacked her for being a critic of Zionism.
Sarsour was scheduled to participate in a GEICO event celebrating Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Heritage Month, but her inclusion was immediately condemned by defenders of Israel. “Shocked a company like GEICO is reportedly partnering with Linda Sarsour, a person who peddles in antisemitic tropes while slandering and delegitimizing Israel, “tweeted Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. “If true, GEICO must act fast and reverse course.”
“Linda Sarsour’s extensive record of trafficking in incendiary, antisemitic comments about the Jewish people and Israel makes her utterly unfit to be the face of GEICO’S ‘diversity & inclusion’ campaign,” tweeted the American Jewish Committee. “We call on the company to reconsider her participation.”
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After dropping Sarsour from their event GEICO put out a statement aligning itself with the smears leveled against her. “We apologize to our employees, customers, and others for our initial plan to invite Linda Sarsour to speak at our internal event,” it reads. “On Tuesday, we quickly canceled the event. GEICO does not condone hatred of any kind, and we do not stand for or with anyone who does. We are not aligned with any form of exclusion. We will continue to celebrate MENA Heritage Month in a way that aligns with our values.”
Sarsour, who is the executive director of MPower Change, sent out a statement to the grassroots group’s email subscribers. “Just before Ramadan began, GEICO Insurance invited me to meet and talk with their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team,” it reads. “I was happy to discuss Arab-American heritage, especially during the holy month of Ramadan. Then, yesterday, in the middle of my fast for Ramadan two things happened that shocked me — and broke my heart. I got the news that GEICO — the world-famous insurance company worth tens of billions of dollars — had decided to abruptly cancel the event with me. Then, GEICO publicly justified their decision by smearing my work advocating for marginalized communities as ‘hatred’ across their social media accounts.”
“If one of the largest companies in the world can get away with smearing advocacy for U.S. Muslims, Arab Americans and Palestinian-Americans as ‘hatred,’ all in the midst of Ramadan, then we are in very, very big trouble,” the email continues. “There are many times in my life when I have made a strategic decision to stay silent when being publicly attacked. Not this time. Because I know that if someone who has been blessed with the resources I have doesn’t speak out and push back — it becomes that much harder for those who face the same bigotry without the same resources.”
GEICO’s reversal was criticized across social media. “Never forget that Fox, Bari Weiss, and the rest don’t have an issue at all with cancel culture – as long as the people being canceled (Fox literally uses this word in relation to Sarsour in its news story!) are people they don’t like or don’t agree with,” tweeted MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan.
“This is disgraceful..and defamatory,” wrote Yousef Munayyer. “Islamophobia in 15 minutes.”
“GEICO does not condone being Palestinian, will not tolerate anyone who is Palestinian and will not stand with anyone who does,” wrote Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah.
The author Mitchell Plitnick addressed Greenblatt’s tweet specifically: “This is a shameful smear campaign and another example of the deep anti-Palestinian bigotry of Jonathan Greenblatt and the ADL. Disgracefully, GEICO caved to this hateful campaign like a house of cards. Linda Sarsour has repeatedly and consistently stood against antisemitism.”
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