Geico has backtracked under pressure:
And with good reason.
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.
notnolib says
I’m looking forward to hearing what the terrorists at the terror organization CAIR has to say about it. Those terrorists will probably call for a boycott or possibly just try to assassinate Warren Buffett.
In any case, it’s doubtful that the CAIRorists at CAIR will let this go.
PRCS says
Why, they’re really upset about this of course.
“In a statement, a coalition of Jewish, Muslim and Arab-American groups call for insurance company to withdraw offensive and defamatory statement”
https://www.cair.com/press_releases/60-civil-human-rights-groups-condemn-geico-for-canceling-arab-american-heritage-month-event-attacking-activist-linda-sarsour/
Note, too, as with this situation, the usual inclusion of their “intersectionality” pals.
gravenimage says
Jews should notice how murderously antisemitic Sarsour is.
mgoldberg says
”We do not condone hatred of any kind’- Geico.
Uh huh… this is what all the proponents of diversity say when the haters of the vicious variety are ‘exposed’. And it will be buried under a cover of ‘jewish groups protest her speaking’, as if… as if it’s a bigotry against a sjw by jews. That will be the debate on the msm, and by cair, if there’s even a ‘debate’.
The meme about ‘we don’t condone hatred of any kind’ is kind of self deception disorder that grows hatred and encourages the fertility, the nurturing of hatreds and haters of the politically correct variety.
Walter Sieruk says
The Executives CEICO should apologize for even allowing , in the first place ,that hate monger Linda Sarsour , who is so very horrible that she even encourages young Muslims to become jihad suicide/homicide bombers, be a speaker at any event they back.
Sarsour hate the Jewish people and likewise the Jewish State of Israel.
Notice, Saraour never ,ever, engages in a jihad suicide attack herself but only recruits other people to go out commit murderous bombings.
In addition Saraour is a strong reminder that at a lecture the former US President, William Howard Taft, , had wisely declared “Antisemitism is a noxious weed that should be cut out. It has no place in America..”
gregbeetham says
Some Muslim genius should organize a suicide bombers convention in Palestine and invite Sarsewer and then ask them to demonstrate that their bombs actually work (via phone in of course).
Ugly Sid says
The Good Hands People….
Image fades to mujahadeen pulling pin on grenade.
gravenimage says
“Good hands” is Allstate.
BexarKat says
I thought the next thing GEICO would do is honor Mumia Abu-Jamal as it’s spokesman for recognition of National Police Week.
gravenimage says
Geico Backtracks After Featuring Antisemitic Speaker Linda Sarsour
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.
……………
Just appalling. Glad they got called on it, though.
Infidel says
That gecko was enough of an indication to me that this ain’t a serious company. I used to have 20th – and later 21st Century, which was great, and switched to one of the other companies when they got bought. But never considered Geico, and never would!