[Peace] Very encouraging news: The Democratic Socialists of America voted for BDS

Thu Aug 31 15:24:58 UTC 2017

great news! Thanks Karen

On Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 8:31 AM, Karen Aram via Peace <
peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:

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> GRAYZONE PROJECT <http://www.alternet.org/grayzoneproject/>
> Why the Democratic Socialists of America Vote for BDS Is a Turning Point
> in American Left Politics
> America’s largest socialist organization votes to stand in solidarity with
> Palestine.
> *By* *Rob Bryan <http://www.alternet.org/authors/rob-bryan>* / AlterNet
> <http://alternet.org/>
> *August 9, 2017, 10:37 AM GMT*
>
>    -
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> <http://www.alternet.org/print/grayzone-project/turning-point-dsa-votes-bds>
> 19 COMMENTS
> <http://www.alternet.org/comments/grayzone-project/turning-point-dsa-votes-bds#disqus_thread>
>
> DSA members vote almost unanimously to support BDS at their 2017
> convention in Chicago (photo by Annie Shields via Twitter)
>
> For a few veteran members of the Democratic Socialists of America like
> Eric Lee, this year’s annual convention in Chicago was a rude awakening.
> The DSA’s ranks suddenly swelled with thousands of new members, mostly
> younger activists mobilized by the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie
> Sanders and inspired by the success of socialist Labour Party leader Jeremy
> Corbyn in the U.K. Lee shared their excitement about Sanders, and about the
> prospects of socialism gaining traction among middle-class voters worn down
> by decades of neoliberal austerity. What he could not stomach, however, was
> the new DSA generation’s enthusiastic support for the boycott, divestment
> and sanctions (BDS) movement.
>
> Forged out of a consensus of Palestinian civil society organizations, BDS
> is a movement sweeping grassroots activism in the West that calls for the
> right of return of Palestinian refugees, equal rights for Palestinian
> citizens of Israel and an end to the occupation. On August 5, DSA members
> voted almost unanimously in support of a resolution to back BDS.
>
> Immediately after the measure passed, spontaneous cheering erupted along
> with chants of “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine
> will be free” as someone waved a giant Palestinian flag.
> <https://twitter.com/ldrinkh20/status/893857897511350272>
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> The vote to endorse BDS passes! #dsacon17
> <https://twitter.com/hashtag/dsacon17?src=hash>
> 8:35 AM - Aug 5, 2017
> <https://twitter.com/ldrinkh20/status/893857897511350272>
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>
> The vote sent Lee into a rage, and ultimately out of an organization he
> had been affiliated with for decades. “I cannot in good conscience be a
> member of an organization which promotes a boycott of the Jewish state,” he
> wrote in a post on his personal blog
> <http://www.ericlee.info/blog/?p=1286>. “I consider the BDS campaign to
> be antisemitic and racist. I oppose it as a socialist and as a Jew. I am
> appalled that DSA would take such a position.” (In a previous blog entry
> <http://www.ericlee.info/blog/?p=179>, Lee boasted of his service in the
> Israeli military and defended its occupation of the Palestinian West Bank.)
>
> Though the old DSA had its share of anti-Zionists, it has typically
> avoided contentious votes that might have rankled the sensibilities of left
> Zionists like Lee. But at the DSA’s convention this year, its members voted
> to end
> <http://www.leftvoice.org/DSA-Votes-for-BDS-Reparations-and-Out-of-the-Socialist-International> the
> party’s 35-year relationship with the Socialist International, a
> constellation of center-left parties that include the corruption laden
> Mexican PRI, the increasingly neoliberal Socialist Party of France and
> Germany’s SPD—all parties that supported the special relationship with
> Israel in one form or another. The vote set the stage for approving the
> resolution in support of BDS.
>
> Formed in 1982, DSA grew out of the Democratic Socialist Organizing
> Committee and the New American Movement. Membership has more than tripled
> in the last two years to over 25,000, owing largely to the momentous energy
> behind Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, anger with Trump and
> widespread disillusionment with the Democratic Party. The new members have
> brought fresh life and vital new perspectives to the group, allowing it to
> shake off whatever vestiges of Zionism remained among members, particularly
> that handful who still believed in the ethnically exclusive “socialism” of
> the kibbutzim. For the new generation of DSA members, supporting the
> Palestinian civil society boycott of Israel made more sense than seeking
> common ground with liberal-left Israeli parties like Meretz or Labor whose
> leadership had thrown their weight behind Israel’s past three wars on the
> Gaza Strip.
>
> The question of how to respond to Israel has long been an issue that
> divided DSA members. The breakdown among the ranks went something like
> this: certain members (usually older), tried to reconcile socialism with
> Zionism by condemning the Israeli right while ignoring the many human
> rights abuses carried out by so-called leftists in the name of engineering
> a demographic majority for Jews in Palestine. Other members (usually
> younger), supported BDS unequivocally, recognizing it as the latest
> manifestation of a time-tested means of nonviolent protest and the most
> powerful force to combat Israeli apartheid in the 21st century. These
> contradictory stances led to some interorganizational disputes, but without
> a vote on the official stance, determining how many people believed what,
> and what they thought DSA should do about it, remained a challenge.
>
> *Support from France’s Mélenchon and a direct challenge to Democrats*
>
> Chip Gibbons joined DSA earlier this year after being involved in BDS
> activism since 2007. An architect of the BDS resolution, he sees Palestine
> solidarity as an essential component of the socialist tradition of
> internationalism.
>
> Gibbons told me that a representative of La France Insoumise, the party of
> French leftist presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, commended the
> delegates after they passed the measure.
>
> The text’s other main author, Delé Balogun from DSA’s North Chicago
> chapter, saw Israel’s occupation up close when he joined the African
> Heritage Delegation to Palestine, a special trip to Israel-Palestine aimed
> at fostering Black solidarity for the Palestinian struggle. At this past
> weekend’s convention, Balogun was elected to the 16-person National
> Political Committee, DSA’s primary governing body.
> Report Advertisement
> <http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/turning-point-dsa-votes-bds#report-ad>
>
> DSA’s resolution arrives at a crucial moment for the BDS movement.
> Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland recently introduced a bill
> <https://theintercept.com/2017/07/19/u-s-lawmakers-seek-to-criminally-outlaw-support-for-boycott-campaign-against-israel/>called
> the Israel Anti-Boycott Act that would make boycotting Israel a felony
> punishable by up to a $1 million fine or 20 years in prison. After a major
> public backlash, Cardin amended the bill so it would not apply to
> individuals and would not apply criminal penalties to violators, but the
> language remains disturbingly vague.
>
> The DSA resolution took direct aim at Cardin, declaring that “DSA strongly
> opposes the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which would make it a felony to
> advocate or support boycotts targeting Israel, as well as all similar
> legislation at the state and local levels.” With this statement, DSA has
> recorded its formal objection to the reactionary brand of hate speech laws
> that have already led to the arrests
> <https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/woman-arrested-france-t-shirt-critical-israel> and
> convictions of BDS activists in France.
>
> *Rising anti-imperialism in DSA’s**ranks*
>
> Though DSA has come under fire from some quarters for its perceived
> indifference to imperialism, the organization’s critics may surprised to
> learn that over 90% of the delegates voted for the BDS resolution on
> Saturday morning. The 700 delegates’ votes, representing 42 local and
> statewide chapters, were so close to unanimous than an official tally
> wasn’t necessary.
>
> “Those who struggle against oppression and for equality will always have
> our support,” said DSA Deputy National Director David Duhalde in an
> official statement. “Just as we answered the call to boycott South Africa
> during apartheid, we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
> Rawan Tayoon, a Palestinian activist with DSA’s youth wing (known as Young
> Democratic Socialists, or YDS), added, “Democratic socialists aren’t afraid
> to challenge the status quo and demand what’s right. We stand against
> imperialism, we stand against racism, and so we must stand against Israeli
> apartheid and occupation.”
>
> An informal group within DSA calling itself Democratic Socialists for
> Justice in Palestine workshopped and revised the text multiple times in
> order to maximize the impact of the statement and ensure that it
> represented the spirit of democratic socialism. Olivia Katbi Smith, a
> Portland delegate and member of the group, felt a sense of urgency in
> drafting the document: “As an Arab woman and a democratic socialist, it was
> incredibly important to me that the BDS resolution passed, especially in
> the face of the disgusting anti-BDS legislation that's currently being
> pushed nationally.” She saw the vote as a chance for DSA members to
> participate in campaigns with concrete goals and demonstrated successes—an
> opportunity to go beyond moral symbolism and performative politics.
>
> “Frankly this organization should have endorsed BDS a decade ago,” says
> Smith, reflecting the mood of many longtime DSA members. “As socialists we
> have a responsibility to side with the oppressed and commit to their
> unconditional liberation, and it's about time that DSA takes a public stand
> in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters.”
>
> Rob Bryan is a journalist who has written for Jacobin and Mondoweiss among
> other publications. Follow him on Twitter at @rbryan86
>
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