Women’s March faces concerns over anti-Semitism
As allegations of anti-Semitism roil its national partner, the Pittsburgh version of the Women’s March on Washington will proceed with its third annual march Downtown on Saturday — alienating some Jewish Pittsburghers who say local organizers haven’t gone far enough in disavowing the march’s national leadership.
The march, which started as a reaction to President Donald Trump’s election and is intended to push back against issues of sexism, racism and hate, will go on as planned at noon in Pittsburgh, while a much larger crowd will gather in Washington, D.C.
But, like other local spin-off marches across the country, Pittsburgh’s has been thrust into a conversation over whether the event should go forward as planned after reporting revealed that the march’s national co-
founder, Tamika Mallory, attended an event at which Nation of Islam leader and black nationalist Louis Farrakhan made incendiary remarks about Jews.
The scrutiny of this march, though, also carries the added weight of what happened in Squirrel Hill less than three months ago, when a gunman massacred 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue.
Tracy Baton, director of the Pittsburgh Women’s March, said the local event hasn’t been directed in any way by the national organization, and that she put it together “in radical unity without an expectation of perfection.”
“We have really focused here in Pittsburgh on acting locally and working locally,” Ms. Baton said. “That said, we support any transformation toward fighting all forms of hate including antiSemitism. We support any actions in that direction that people feel are necessary, and we hope we can walk with and support our Jewish sisters and all our sisters.”
But some in the Jewish community question whether that’s enough. Josh Sayles, director of the Community Relations Council at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, said Pittsburgh organizers haven’t done enough to separate the march from the national movement, which, he said, is “rampant with antiSemitism at the top.”
That’s why the organization is not encouraging participation in the march, he said. He added that the council never encourages participation in events that conflict with Shabbat or other Jewish holidays.
“We, as a Jewish community, identify with and support many, many, many of the positive messages that come from the Women’s March, and the women’s movement is an incredibly important movement,” Mr. Sayles said. “Unfortunately, time and time again, there have been significant forms of anti-Semitism and messages of anti-Semitism expressed by top leadership in the national movement.”
Other Jewish Pittsburghers expressed their concerns in an article in the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle this week. Cantor Michele Gray-Schaffer of Congregational B’nai Abraham in Butler said that although she’ll probably march again this year, the allegations are “putting a very big damper on my wanting to participate.”
Another Jewish Pittsburgher, Ilia Murtazashvili, a University of Pittsburgh associate professor and Beth Shalom congregant, blasted the organizers for not canceling the march “in solidarity with Jews.”
In response to the criticism, Ms. Baton, pointed to a statement march organizers made in coordination with the progressive Jewish organization Bend the Arc: Pittsburgh, in which the two groups condemned antiSemitism and asserted they would “continue to build bridges to a future built on democratic policies that support and recognize the worth and dignity of all.”
“We are well aware that statements from national Women’s March leaders have raised concerns about anti-Semitism,” the statement read. “But rather than allow this pain to tear apart a powerful movement for justice, we call instead for dialogue, for growth, for difficult and productive conversations,” the statement read, adding that national leaders from Jewish groups have been working with leaders of the Women’s March on Washington.
A member of the Bend the Arc: Pittsburgh steering committee declined to comment further.
Ms. Baton said the local march receives no funding from the national group, but “only sisterhood,” she said. The relationship makes it possible for women in cities around the country to connect with one another, she said.
She said that there is too much conflicting information about the national leadership’s views to warrant changing the march, and said she hasn’t received many questions from the community.
This will be the third Pittsburgh march, centered on expressing First Amendment rights at the time of a “fundamental paradigm shift in American politics” and advocating that voters carry that power to the polls, Ms. Baton said.
The slogan for the Pittsburgh event, “Building Bridges Stronger Than Hate,” was chosen after the Tree of Life shooting as a show of support for “our Jewish sisters,” and a call for women to build bridges in the face of division, Ms. Baton said. It was a departure from the national group’s 2019 slogan: “Women’s Wave.”
“People are not as connected as they need to be,” Ms. Baton said. “The way we can teach ourselves to stand together against hate is to have those bridges between us. And then we can’t be divided.”