{"id":5946,"date":"2022-03-26T12:36:44","date_gmt":"2022-03-26T16:36:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tempestmag.org\/v01_2020\/staging\/?p=5946"},"modified":"2022-04-03T00:13:04","modified_gmt":"2022-04-03T04:13:04","slug":"democracy-isnt-optional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/2022\/03\/democracy-isnt-optional\/","title":{"rendered":"DSA’s Palestine problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>he decision by DSA leadership (NPC) to de-charter the BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group (BDS WG) and to suspend its leadership is outrageous and must be opposed. For those who need a blow-by-blow, Andy Sernatinger has reported in detail<\/a> about the events of the last month. The current crisis reflects ongoing disagreements over how the organization should respond to DSA member, Congressman Jamaal Bowman\u2019s support for Israel and opposition to BDS, in light of DSA\u2019s formal positions<\/a> on Palestine.<\/p>\n

Having failed to create healthy democratic spaces to debate and decide on the issues, the NPC\u2019s recent actions effectively amount to an attempt to split the organization, destroy its big-tent character, and undermine the democratic rights of those members challenging the current direction of DSA. Even though the decision has been rescinded\u2014in part\u2014by the NPC, the cat is out of the bag. To this end, the Tempest Collective follows the BDS WG<\/a> in declaring no confidence in the NPC, along with other DSA members and chapters<\/a> dissenting from the decision. The organization should condemn the initial decision to de-charter the BDS WG, restore the leadership of the WG to good standing, and reaffirm the essential character of Palestinian solidarity work in DSA. To do so means also recommitting to building a more democratic socialist organization capable of addressing the irrefutable crisis facing the group.<\/p>\n

Ironically, the NPC has attempted to use the veneer of \u201cdefending democracy in the organization\u201d to cover-up its actions. They claim that the BDS WG refused to comply with social media standards, but it is the majority of the leadership\u00a0 who chose to use bureaucratic measures as a cudgel against dissent.<\/p>\n

It is no coincidence that these actions come at a time of acute geopolitical tension when the Democratic Party is loudly reasserting its long-held commitment to American militarism and imperialism. Over the past month DSA has come under attack from various liberal outlets for diverging from the Democratic Party line and criticizing NATO. For DSA\u2019s right wing to meet its goals of partnering with the Democratic Party<\/a> (with not so much as a peep about a break anymore), they must prove themselves reliable partners and willing apologists for imperialism and Zionism when necessary. Consequently, instead of disciplining an elected official who uses his congressional powers to support Israel’s colonial project, they decided to suppress internal dissent by disbanding the BDS WG.<\/p>\n

Note the difference in how Bowman was treated by the NPC\u2014an elected representative associated with DSA nationally, who fails\u00a0 to consistently uphold the organization\u2019s positions on BDS, and who recently doubled-down<\/a> on his commitment to military support of Israel\u2014compared to the treatment of the BDS WG for disagreeing with Bowman. This betrays a double standard: if you are an elected official, DSA will bend over backwards to make sure that no accountability is enforced; if you are a regular member, particularly one fighting for liberatory international politics, you\u2019re on the chopping block. Again, this is wholly unacceptable.<\/p>\n