Chicago's SlutWalk, Like Dyke March, Is Banning 'Zionist Displays'
By Mae Rice in News on Jul 25, 2017 8:24PM
SlutWalk Chicago is following in Chicago Dyke March's controversial footsteps: the events organizers have not only declared their support for Dyke March, but announced that they too will ban "Zionist displays."
We still stand behind @DykeMarchChi's decision to remove the Zionist contingent from their event, & we won't allow Zionist displays at ours
— SlutWalk Chicago (@slutwalkchi) July 15, 2017
The tweet is part of a larger thread, in which the SlutWalk organizers draw a line between anti-Zionism, Nazism, and anti-Semitism.
In another tweet, they specify that Stars of David are welcome at the event. "[T]he Star of David is not banned, Zionist displays are. They're different!"
The organizers elaborate:
We support people showing their Jewish and LGBTQ+ pride. Please show yours if you feel so moved! Just leave the Zionism at home ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
— SlutWalk Chicago (@slutwalkchi) July 22, 2017
Over at Slate, Mark Joseph Stern terms this "overt anti-Semitism,". He writes of the rule against "Zionist displays":
What are Zionist displays? That’s for others to decide. A Star of David might be OK. But if it’s on a rainbow flag, it probably isn’t because “its connections to the oppression enacted by Israel is too strong for it to be neutral.”
Eater editor Helen Rosner took a similar stance, terming the policy "scary" in a thread that begins here:
This is scary. I'm extremely critical of Israel, married to a Palestinian, a feminist, a crazy lefty, and this is super scary. https://t.co/75Rgs4swm0
— Helen Rosner (@hels) July 22, 2017
The Chicago SlutWalk, a march against slut-shaming and rape culture, will be held at noon on August 12 at Lake Shore Park.