Muslim American responds to Susan Sarandon's anti-Israel rant: Jews must be 'unapologetic' about who they are
Muslim American and 'Woke Army' author Asra Nomani on the freedoms she has in America and why Jews must be unapologetic about who they are in the face of antisemitism.
Actress Susan Sarandon was dumped by her talent agency after she said Jews are getting a "taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim" in the U.S., but one Muslim American is pushing back against the Hollywood liberal's claims, arguing there's something she should know about her family's experience in America.
"My message to her is I am a Muslim living in America, and I have more freedoms living in the United States of America than I would any Muslim country in the world. It was here in America that my mother and father arrived in the 1960s. My father got a Ph.D., my mother was able to work for a living," Asra Nomani, author of "Woke Army," told FOX News Wednesday.
"My mother was able to live with her hair free in the wind. My father became a professor at West Virginia University. He got a job offer to Libya, where he had to make a choice whether he would work for the Muslim dictator Moammar Gadhafi as an indentured servant, essentially, or live free in the United States of America, and this is where he chose."
SUSAN SARANDON DROPPED BY TALENT AGENCY AFTER ANTI-JEWISH COMMENTS
Susan Sarandon visits the Build Series to discuss "The Jesus Rolls" at Build Studio on February 26, 2020 in New York City. The 77-year-old actress recently caught criticism for her remarks at a pro-Palestinian protest. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Nomani said her parents are now in their 80s and 90s, living as "free Americans" in West Virginia.
"That is what she [Sarandon] should know about the Muslim experience in America," she added.
The 77-year-old "Thelma & Louise" star's inflammatory remarks came during a pro-Palestinian rally in New York City on Sunday, where she called for Americans to have conversations with Jewish Americans who feel afraid because of the nationwide rise in antisemitism.
"There are a lot of people that are afraid, that are afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country, so often subjected to violence," she said.
The remarks sparked intense backlash online, including from Nomani, who responded with a post about her family's experience in America on X.
"This is a ‘taste’ of life for a Muslim family in America. Please don’t minimize the experience of Jewish Americans by sanitizing the hell that it is for Muslims living in Muslim countries and vilifying America for the life — and freedoms — she offers Muslims like my family. Go, live like a Muslim woman in a Muslim country," she wrote.
"You will come back to America and kiss the land beneath your feet."
HUNDREDS OF PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS STORM UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING
Pro-Palestinian rallies have been common across the U.S. in the weeks since Israel and Hamas began fighting on Oct. 7. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Since Israel's war against Hamas terrorists began on Oct. 7, concerns over antisemitism in the U.S. have widely circulated as those critical of Israel have exercised their views with a slew of protests and defacement of Jewish businesses.
Nomani said Jews need to be "unapologetic" in their identities and urged all people to stand with the Jewish people "without any shame."
"At this point, we have to do something that I think I [articulates]… this sign that I found at a rally for Israel last week, ‘Free Palestinians from Hamas,'" she said.
"We have to eliminate extremism."
FOX News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
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