A woman who worked for Islamic activist Linda Sarsour is accusing Sarsour of enabling sexual assault and sexual harassment against her as well as attacking her for speaking up about the abuse.
The alleged victim, Asmi Fathelbab, claims that she notified Sarsour, who was the executive director of the Arab American Association, of the allegations which included “groping and unwanted touching,” according to The Daily Caller, which spoke with two additional sources “directly familiar with the matter.”
Fathelbab claims that Sarsour, who was one of the leaders of the Women’s March, not only brushed off the allegations, but that she attacked her over them, called her a liar, body-shamed her, and threatened to fire her.
“While this would go on, the acting director, Linda Sarsour, would tell me each time that I was over reacting, even threatened to fire me once when she heard me screaming from the second floor because this man came out of nowhere and touched me,” Fathelbab said in her recounting of the alleged events. “According to Sarsour, something like that did not happen to someone that looked like ‘me’ and no one would ever believe me if I ever told them what happened. How dare I interrupt her TV news interview in the other room with my lies.”
Fathelbab says the events began in 2009 when a man named Majed Seif — who lived in the same building where she worked at the Arab American Association — supposedly began stalking her.
“I was stalked to and from work and inside the building,” Fathelbab told The DC. “I complained to a supervisor that there was a strange man stalking me and was informed that he did not actually work there but lived upstairs above the office.”
Fathelbab, 37, claims that Seif would sneak up on her and pin her against the wall while he had an erection.
“He would sneak up on me during times when no one was around and, depending on what floor I was on, you could hear me scream at the top of my lungs,” Fathelbab said. “He would pin me against the wall and rub his crotch on me.”
Fathelbab claims that the police were called on her for making “false statement[s].”
“On top of that, later that afternoon I had a visit from a community liaison Detective from the NYPD,” Fathelbab said. “He came to my office locked the door and proceed[ed] to tell me he was there to arrest me for making a false statement regarding being stalked, sexually harassed and sexually assaulted. I had to talk him out from arresting me that night and explain that I was the victim.”
Fathelbab said that Sarsour threatened legal and professional consequences if she ever went public with the alleged events.
“She told me he had the right to sue me for false claims,” Fathelbab continued. “Linda Sarsour [informed] me that she would make sure I would never work in New York City ever again for as long as she lived. She’s kept her word. She had me fired from other jobs when she found out where I worked. She has kept me from obtaining any sort of steady employment for almost a decade.”
Multiple sources confirmed to The Daily Caller Fathelbab’s version of the alleged events, including a political operative who worked for over a decade with the Arab American Association, who said that Sarsour fat-shamed Fathelbab.
“They made it about her weight, saying she was not attractive enough to be harassed and then swept it under the rug,” the source said. “It was Linda Sarsour, Ahmad Jaber and Habib Joudeh who took care of it.”
Sarsour did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Daily Caller and The Daily Wire about the allegations.