A wave of protesters stood outside the Ukrainian Labour Temple as a lightning rod for controversy took centre stage at a social justice event.
American political activist, Linda Sarsour was one of three key speakers at the “Sorry, Not Sorry: Unapologetically Working for Social Justice” event, a panel discussion organized by the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg and Canadian Muslim Women's Institute Friday.
Sarsour is widely known for being on the frontline of social movements, such as organizer of the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, D.C and her support for Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
However, her speech has brought opposition. She has been accused by some critics of being anti-Semitic and being sympathetic to terrorists.
“We’re not here to say someone else is wrong and we're right.” Sarsour said, in a press conference early Friday.
“You get to believe what you want to believe and I get to believe what I want to believe and we can figure out a way to co-exist."
Protesters stood across the Ukrainian Temple with Israeli flags and signs denouncing her presence at the event.
“This mainly divides the community, not unites the community.” Matthew Ostrove said, President of the Winnipeg Jewish Business Council.
“That’s the main message, we don’t want hate speech.”
Winnipeg Police Service and Winnipeg’s Bear Clan Patrol Inc. had a presence outside the temple. The Bear Clan said they were a neutral party and attended to ensure a peaceful protest.
Earlier in the week, Mayor Brian Bowman called for the Social Planning Council to rescind Sarsour’s invitation.
The Office of the Mayor doubled down Friday in a statement, saying in part; that he “made a respectful request of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg to remove Linda Sarsour” and “continues to stand by that request.”
The statement continued stating he believed many in Winnipeg felt “targeted” by Sarsour’s commentary.
Sarsour said she has not met with Mayor Bowman and wants no controversy.
