My youngest daughter told me that she planned to take part in a “women’s rights march” in Los Angeles while we were having dinner at a restaurant several weeks back. I asked if it was primarily a march against Trump’s Presidency and she noted that element existed but it was really supposed to be about unifying women and their concerns. Her comments got my curiosity piqued.
The Women’s March attracted hundreds of thousands of protesters and was solidified by an underlying theme of distaste for the Trump Presidency but seemed to splinter into thousands of personal causes from there. Breanne Butler, the march’s global coordinator, stated “It’s a march on Washington…Hear our voices, we’ve been silenced. You need to take us into consideration. . . . We are America.”, thereby summing up sentiments that sounded remarkably similar to those voiced by most Trump voters.
But there also appeared to be a more hidden agenda lurking in the shadows.
Linda Sarsour, the march’s national co-chair – and executive director of the Arab American Association of New York – wrote in an op-ed titled #WhyIMarch; “The day after the 2016 elections, I was like many people in the United States—devastated. That feeling didn’t last long, as I quickly became outraged…I joined as a national co-chair of the Women’s March on Washington to center my Muslim community, who has suffered in silence in a post-9/11 America.” Ms. Sarsour has been reported to have ties to Hamas and has repeatedly sent tweets making clear her support of Sharia Law. “If you are still paying interest than Sharia Law hasn’t taken over America” and “You’ll know when you’re living under Sharia Law if suddenly all your loans & credit cards become interest free. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?” and “Sharia Law is reasonable and once u read into the details it makes a lot of sense. People just know the basics.” are a few examples.
I admit I’m at a loss for words in having a proponent of Sharia Law being advertised as a National Co-Chair for the Women’s March. Sharia Law explicitly relegates women to a status inferior to men. Sharia Law also promotes Islamic Supremacism which calls for the conquering and domination of all competing cultures and faiths.
George Soros – unsurprisingly – had a large financial involvement in the Women’s March. Former Wall Street Journal reporter Asra Q. Nomani writes in Women in the World, a website hosted by the New York Times, that George “Soros has funded, or has close relationships with, at least 56 of the march’s partners”. Ms Nomani’s piece contains a few comments of note as well as a link to her spreadsheet detailing Soros’ involvement. Moveon.org is listed on the Womens March website as one of a few “Movement Friends”. Moveon.org is a left-wing progressive organization affiliated with George Soros’ Open Society Foundation. George Soros donated at least $25 million to the Clinton Campaign and reportedly lost more than $1 billion in the “Trump stock market rally” as Soros had positioned his fund in a bearish stance post-election.
The other organizations listed as “Movement Friends” of the Women’s March are: the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Federation of Teachers, the Human Rights Campaign (LGBTQ rights), Peace is Loud and 1199SEIU – all highly active liberal organizations – none of which are directly involved in women’s rights.
By their own admission, the national Women’s March organizers stated they “made a deliberate decision to highlight the plight of minority and undocumented immigrants and provoke uncomfortable discussions about race”. There are many such references on their facebook and twitter pages; “Undocumented Americans are #HeretoStay. No human is illegal. We stand with the 11 million undocumented Americans.” being one of many.
The Women’s March website denotes a mission that seems to only marginally concern itself with women’s rights:
“OUR MISSION
The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us – immigrants of all statuses, Muslims and those of diverse religious faiths, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, survivors of sexual assault – and our communities are hurting and scared. We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear.
In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore. The Women’s March on Washington will send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights. We stand together, recognizing that defending the most marginalized among us is defending all of us.
We support the advocacy and resistance movements that reflect our multiple and intersecting identities. We call on all defenders of human rights to join us. This march is the first step towards unifying our communities, grounded in new relationships, to create change from the grassroots level up. We will not rest until women have parity and equity at all levels of leadership in society. We work peacefully while recognizing there is no true peace without justice and equity for all.”
Yes – the mission statement does mention the words “women’s rights” but it certainly does not strike me as the primary focus. If you mentally strike the word “women” from the few places it’s used in the Women’s March mission statement, you could easily be forgiven for thinking this was the ideology of a narrower ultra-progressive liberal cause.
Here is a quote from a letter written by Moveon.org staff to its members back in November:
The new president-elect and many of his most prominent supporters have targeted, demeaned, and threatened millions of us—and millions of our friends, family, and loved ones. We are entering an era of profound and unprecedented challenge, a time of danger for our communities and our country. In this moment, we have to take care of ourselves, our families, and our friends—especially those of us who are on the front lines facing hate, including Latinos, women, immigrants, refugees, Black people, Muslims, LGBT Americans, and so many others. And we need to make it clear that we will continue to stand together.”
The quote from Moveon.org has all the spirit of the Women’s March Mission Statement in a tighter format.
Where the Women’s March organizers go from here is not entirely clear but they certainly hope to keep their movement active. The Women’s March Facebook page, Twitter account and website just updated with the “10 Actions/100 Days Campaign“. “Every 10 days we will take action on an issue we all care about, starting today”. In the first action, participants are invited to “Write a postcard to your Senators about what matters most to you – and how you’re going to continue to fight for it in the days, weeks, and months ahead”. Downloadable cards emblazoned with the “Hear Our Voice” tagline are offered. For those needing “inspiration” in what to be concerned with, a link is provided to the Women’s March Unity Principles:
The Heading above the Unity Principles contains the preamble:
“We believe that Women’s Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Women’s Rights. We must create a society in which women – including Black women, Native women, poor women, immigrant women, disabled women, Muslim women, lesbian queer and trans women – are free and able to care for and nurture their families, however they are formed, in safe and healthy environments free from structural impediments.”
The Unity Principles themselves are comprised of the following (in order listed):
Ending Violence, Reproductive Rights, LGBTQIA Rights, Worker’s Rights, Civil Rights, Disability Rights, Immigrant Rights and Environmental Justice.
Again, the agenda touches on women’s rights but appears far broader – yet more specific – in scope and focus.
While the marketable and smartly named Women’s March certainly drew many thousands of supporters who came and marched for their personal concerns regarding the rights and status of women, it seems the organizers – who must be credited with having created an instantly massive movement – have other, perhaps more primary, concerns on their agenda.
Or George Soros’ agenda…
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