Big Bang Theory Star Strikes Back at Muslim Feminist Who Says Feminism and Zionism are Incompatible

Responding to a series of articles about a Palestinian-America political activist named Linda Sarsour, who claimed that feminism and Zionism are incompatible with each other. Bialik took to social media point out the contradictions and question exactly where the left stands on women in Israel.

A recent series of articles about Palestinian-American political activist Linda Sarsour startled many in feminist and Jewish circles, me being one of them. In these articles, Sarsour states that feminism and Zionism are incompatible. [For Mayim’s most recent comment on this subject, see below for embedded Facebook post or click here.]

Sarsour said, “There is no country in this world that is immune to violating human rights. You can’t be a feminist in the United States and stand up for the rights of the American woman and then say that you don’t want to stand up for the rights of Palestinian women in Palestine.” (Check out this interview with Sarsour in The Nation.)

I don’t know that I am even the authority to speak to this on an international level, but here’s what I have on a personal level. Feelings.

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Exclusionary Status

Are there things that happen in Israel and the Palestinian territories which cause pain and suffering to women? Absolutely. And being a Zionist doesn’t mean a definitional indifference to this suffering, especially of Palestinian women and children. The question is this: Many countries – many Muslim countries, in fact – perpetrate atrocities against women which include: female genital mutilation, forced marriages, child brides, systematic abuse of women by the justice system, revenge rape and honor killing. Why is Israel held to a standard none of these other countries – whose offenses are, arguably more extreme – are held to? And why is belief in the State of Israel something that should exclude women – or men, for that matter – from identifying as feminists?

Bigotry

Accusing Zionism of being incompatible with feminism is exceptionally short-sighted. It smarts of a broad-stroke bias against the entire Jewish people for the violations that occur in a state that was founded on the principles of Zionism. That’s not good. Bad things happen when we paint with such a broad brush. It’s bigotry.

The thing that really gives Bialik’s words power is the fact that she is a liberal. She ends her response by saying that the left needs to reexamine the “microscope they use to look at Israel.” Very true words. But what does this mean? Is there a fracture being created in the liberal political arena? It could very well be. Are we about to see a revolution in the media? Let’s hope so.

Source: groknation.com