On Thursday, September 23rd, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve $1 billion dollars of funding for the Israeli Iron Dome. This advanced air defense system allows the Israeli government to terrorize Palestinian civilians with almost no military repercussions. Just last summer, the Zionist regime slaughtered at least 256 Palestinians—including 66 children—turning skyscrapers to rubble and displacing tens of thousands.
In a disgusting act of political cowardice, the DSA-endorsed Representative Jamaal Bowman voted in favor of this imperialist slush fund, while Representative Ocasio-Cortez chose to abstain at the last minute. We utterly reject the excuse that these decisions can be justified on any “pragmatic” political grounds. As socialist internationalists, it is our duty to stand against all forms of imperialism and colonialism, no matter what chapter or congressional district we come from. It is our duty to stand with the people of Palestine in their righteous struggle for freedom. If a socialist elected official is unwilling to faithfully represent socialist internationalist politics, then they are unfit to be DSA members and unfit for endorsement by the socialist movement.
Representative Bowman is not a minor DSA ally. He is a high-profile spokesperson for DSA who has collaborated with us on multiple national campaigns, such as the effort to pass his Green New Deal for Public Schools bill. His actions have obscured our firm opposition to Zionist oppression, as embodied by our BDS working group, the pro-BDS resolution adopted at the 2017 DSA convention, and the commitment to BDS included in our national political platform. We must not allow him to represent DSA as an endorsed politician while he continues to support Israeli militarism. It will water down our politics and corrupt our commitment to socialist internationalism.
The time has come for our movement to raise its standards. We, the signers, call on the National Political Committee to build on its recent statement by delivering a formal warning to Representative Bowman. Bowman and all other DSA-endorsed elected officials should be warned that future refusal to vote against imperial war budgets will be met with immediate revocation of their endorsements. It will also be met with their expulsion from DSA in accordance with Article I, Section 3 of DSA’s Constitution.
Please sign your support here.
