GEICO, that company with the annoying CG spokescritter, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, decided that the best way to celebrate diversity and inclusion for Middle Eastern and North African Heritage Month was by featuring a bigot who adores Farrakhan and has supported violence against a historical minority group in the region.
As our Discover the Networks profile of Linda Sarsour notes, she “tweeted support for the incarcerated Palestinian Islamic Jihad member Muhammad Allan, a known recruiter of suicide bombers” and “attended a farewell party for Rasmea Odeh, the former Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist who famously masterminded a 1969 bombing that killed two Jews is a Jerusalem food market.”
“During an American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) conference on November 28, 2019, Sarsour stated that Israel “is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else.”
So a perfect choice for GEICO to celebrate diversity and inclusion.
The backlash swiftly arrived from everyone, even the ADL, and a company community on Reddit has a comment that suggests the event, which was meant for employees, was canceled.
“Please check your email when you sign in tomorrow. Emails sent that this event was cancelled. Didn’t give reason why. I guess too many complaints and they looked into it. I for one didn’t realize when I signed up for it. I thought it was a learning experience.”
With people threatening to cancel their insurance policies, it’s not surprising. But this is also an example of how diversity and inclusion are routinely used to bring some of the worst bigots around into companies.
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