The insurance giant GEICO has cancelled an event set to feature activist Linda Sarsour, apologizing and saying it “does not condone hatred.”
Soon after a social media outcry against Sarsour’s planned appearance at a company event marking Middle Eastern and North African Heritage Month, GEICO issued a statement saying, “We apologize to our employees, customers, and others for our initial plan to invite Linda Sarsour to speak at our internal event celebrating Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Heritage Month. On Tuesday, we quickly cancelled the event.”
“GEICO does not condone hatred of any kind, and we do not stand for or with anyone who does,” the company said. “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.”
Circulating promotional material for the event on Wednesday afternoon, the watchdog organization StopAntisemitism declared, “We are horrified a respectable company like @GEICO would choose to feature antisemitic bigot @lsarsour to represent the MENA region.”
We are horrified a respectable company like @GEICO would choose to feature antisemitic bigot @lsarsour to represent the MENA region.
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) April 6, 2022
Sarsour had to step down from the Women's March due to her open Jew hatred!
What was Carl Tims thinking here?! pic.twitter.com/rNP7LremqH
The advocacy group StandWithUs also criticized GEICO, and tweeted a long list of her previous incendiary statements, including a call for feminist activists she disliked to face genital mutilation. The group also pointed to Sarsour’s connections with the racist and antisemitic group the Nation of Islam, her criticism of efforts to “humanize” Israelis, support for excluding “Zionists” from events and other malfeasances.