Jew World Order

A growing number of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) chapters are calling on the national organization to take action against Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY). DSA endorsed Bowman (who is a member of the organization) in his primary run against longtime congressman Eliot Engel, but many members feel that Bowman has violated the group’s political platform with respect to Palestine.

Eliot Engel was a House member for over 30 years, where he solidified himself as one the Democrats’ staunchest supporters of Israel. During the campaign Bowman highlighted his differences with Engel on the subject of foreign policy and this included Palestine.

“As Netanyahu calls for expanding settlements and annexing the West Bank, we should seriously consider placing conditions on the billions of dollars of military aid our government provides him in order to make sure that the rights and dignity of both the Israeli and Palestinian people are respected,” he said in an interview at the time. “I just don’t understand why American taxpayers are subsidizing the detention of Palestinian children while Democrats are criticizing child detention at the Mexican border. The principles of the Leahy Law should be upheld.”

As a House member Bowman has lived up to that rhetoric. There are only a few House bills aimed at improving the lives of Palestinians, but he’s signed onto them. For instance, he’s a cosponsor of Rep. Betty McCollum’s historic legislation aimed at ending Israel’s detention of Palestinian children.

However, in recent weeks Bowman has angered supporters of Palestine for a number of reasons. First he voted to give Israel another billion in iron dome funding. Bowman tried to explain his decision in an interview on MSNBC:

It’s important for me to make sure I represent everyone within my district–not just some people within my district. This was an issue was very important to many people in my district. Secondly, voting in favor of the Iron Dome defense system is not going stop me from speaking out about Palestinian rights, and for Palestinian rights, and for Palestinian humanity. There’s inhumane treatment happening towards the Palestinians. That is a fact and that is something that we have to deal with in order to ensure the self-determination of Palestinians, and the safety and security of the people of Israel going forward.

Last week Bowman was part of J Street’s delegation to Israel, which also included Reps. Rosa DeLauro, Mark Pocan, Barbara Lee, Melania Stansbury, and Mondaire Jones. Bowman posted a photo of himself standing with children in the West Bank and called for an end to the occupation. However, Bowman also met with the Knesset, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

“This evening at the Knesset, I met with a delegation of Democratic members of Congress,” tweeted Lapid. “I thanked them for supporting the replenishment of the Iron Dome missile defense system, and we discussed the importance of continuing to strengthen the US-Israel relationship.”

The DSA formally endorsed the BDS movement back in 2017 and at its 2021 convention support for Palestine was included in its first political platform. Here are the relevant sections:

• Stand in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against apartheid, colonialism, and military occupation, and for equality, human rights, and self-determination, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
• Discontinue US support of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people, including an end to all military aid and resisting the ‘normalization’ of relations between the Israeli government and other governments.
• Support self-determination for the Palestinian people and a political solution to the current crisis premised on the guarantee of basic human rights, including an end to the military occupation, an end to discrimination against Palestinians within Israel, and the right of return of refugees, as outlined in the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.

“Bowman’s actions are not abstract. By directly supporting Israeli apartheid and endorsing Zionism, Bowman condones the continued Israeli settlement of Palestinian land, as well as the forced displacement, genocide, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people,” said the Las Vegas chapter in a statement. “This is happening in real time —as we see in Sheikh Jarrah and in the open-air prison of the Gaza Strip, for example. This stands in direct opposition to the portion of the national platform that calls for solidarity with Palestinians and ‘for equality, human rights, and self-determination, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.’”

Members can be expelled from the organization if they are found to be in “substantial disagreement with the principles or policies” of DSA. The statement from Las Vegas, and other chapters, specifically calls for expulsion. A statement from Portland DSA recommends a couple options for the national organization:

1. Determine a disciplinary action, such as a commitment not to re-endorse Representative Bowman for reelection, a censure, or expulsion from the organization.
2. Develop a policy for DSA-endorsed elected officials that outlines escalating measures for repeated instances of actions in contradiction with the national platform. The policy should leave the NPC the flexibility to determine measures commensurate with the transgressions committed by the elected official and should include expulsion as a final measure.

DSA’s National BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group specifically denounced J Street, along with Bowman’s actions.

“Unlike right-wing Zionists, who openly and explicitly state their desire to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from the land, liberal Zionist groups like J Street give lip service to universalistic values of ‘peace’ and ‘democracy’ while still ultimately seeking to maintain a Jewish ethnostate in historic Palestine,” reads their statement. “In line with their overarching goals, J Street consistently ignores and undermines Palestinian voices and demands. For example, J Street dismisses the self-determination of the Palestinian people by insisting on only supporting a two-state solution to ensure that Israel remains a “democratic homeland for the Jewish people.” J Street also explicitly opposes BDS, which more than 80% of Palestinians support.”

“Inequality between a planned Jewish majority and the indigenous Palestinian population, who were made a minority in ’48 Palestine (aka present-day Israel) after al Nakba, is and always has been structurally fundamental to Israel,” it continues. “Thus, right-wing and liberal Zionists have in common the perception of the indigenous Palestinian population as a demographic obstacle, and by remaining unaccountable to the racist reality of the Zionist project, liberal Zionists — and the propaganda trips their organizations sponsor — normalize and perpetuate ethnic cleansing and Israeli apartheid.”

The DSA has effectively asserted itself in electoral politics in recent years, and has gained considerable traction in New York City. The group’s success, and its embrace of BDS, have made it a target for local pro-Israel lawmakers and organizations. After DSA circulated a questionnaire asking New York City Council candidates whether they planned to participate in Israel junkets, a number of assembly members signed a statement denouncing the group as antisemitic.

This week DSA’s National Political Committee put out a statement about the situation:

The National Political Committee is aware of the trip that DSA member and Congressman Jamaal Bowman took to Israel this week, and has received letters from various DSA chapters and members about the situation.

DSA unapologetically stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their ongoing struggle for liberation. Our platform proudly states continued support for and involvement with the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and efforts to eliminate U.S. military aid to Israel, while resisting the “normalization” of relationships between the Israeli government and other governments.

The NPC is treating this as its highest priority right now; to work with the DSA BDS & Palestine Solidarity Working Group and the Congressman’s local chapters to address this directly with Representative Bowman. We will be meeting with him in the next few days. We will update the members as soon as possible following that meeting.

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