Women's March organizer and anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour questioned whether North Koreans want to come to the United States while attacking the Trump administration's travel ban on Sunday.
Sarsour's comments came after President Donald Trump issued new travel restrictions on citizens from North Korea, Venezuela, and Chad, expanding his controversial ban to cover eight countries.
Protesting a travel ban she calls "Muslim Ban 3.0," Sarsour dismissed the inclusion of North Korea because people from that country are not "lining up in the droves to come to the US." She did not appear to acknowledge that most North Koreans have little freedom to decide how to live their lives.
https://twitter.com/lsarsour/status/912135483085529088
Human rights organizations consider North Korea under leader Kim Jong Un's rule to be one of the most repressive states in the word, where much of the population is starving and up to 120,000 individuals languish in political prison camps. Some North Koreans become defectors who flee the country to escape such conditions, but the citizens are generally forbidden from leaving without special permission.
Sarsour's comments drew widespread criticism, with many social media users arguing she was being insensitive toward the people of North Korea. Some expressed disbelief that a self-described advocate for social justice could seem so ignorant of the experiences 0f North Korean people, who live under a totalitarian dictatorship.
Linda Sarsour has got to be some kind of false flag operation. https://t.co/Ab4IuZ11zI
— Robert Tracinski (@Tracinski) September 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/MattsIdeaShop/status/912148817125924865
https://twitter.com/LaloDagach/status/912313532246642688
She can’t be serious. https://t.co/qhQ9OcgntI
— David French (@DavidAFrench) September 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/LauraLoomer/status/912149830889287681
https://twitter.com/theneedledrop/status/912147554917343232
Others pointed to how Sarsour's tweet reflects a consistent pattern of her ignoring injustice in non-Western, non-democratic countries.
Sarsour has form. Also thinks Saudi Arabia treat women better than the US. This is your brain on identity politics. pic.twitter.com/5MbW3t27SU
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) September 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/polNewsInfinity/status/912176108761690112
Yeah, funny how those NKs don't seen to enjoy travel, movies & fine dining like the rest of us.
— Stiles Bitchley ✫✫ (@WeWhoDieSaluteU) September 25, 2017
Sarsour also took time on Sunday to support those NFL players who kneeled for the national anthem.
When you love a flag more than you love for your black brother to live with dignity and respect. Sad. #TakeAKnee #BoycottNFL
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) September 24, 2017
Sarsour helped organize the Women's March on Washington, which included many fierce denunciations of alleged injustice in the U.S., and she has even denounced CNN's Jake Tapper as "alt-right" for criticizing her. Sarsour has said that resisting Trump is a just "form of jihad."