After the Women’s March on Washington this past Saturday, many anti-Muslim people have been attacking one of the organizers of the march, Linda Sarsour, and accusing her of being a terrorist since she is Muslim and wears a hijab. An article from The Huffington Post by Christopher Mathias explains how one of the main leaders of Saturday’s march is being accused for supporting terrorism and are falsely connecting her to terrorist groups. The only comment that Sarsour has ever made about terrorist groups is when she posted a tweet about how ISIS should be defeated. Some are accusing that post to be fake and just a cover to her “true identity”. Many supporters are now using and spreading the hashtag: “#IMARCHWITHLINDA” to show their solidarity with her and that they support her. Additionally, former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders tweeted yesterday and thanked Sarsour for her efforts with the march.
The article about Linda Sarsour does not include anything about her own religious community, but it is assumed that her own community is in full support of her actions. People of other communities, however, are not. This brings up the issue of stereotypes attached to certain religious faiths, and how some people make assumptions about people’s intentions just because of their religion.