The Democratic Socialists of America pulled its endorsement of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York this week, accusing the progressive congresswoman of being insufficiently supportive of the Palestinian cause and efforts to end the war in Gazaā€¦

Her approach has increasingly strained her relationship with some of the leftā€™s most strident critics of Israel. When she rallied last month in the Bronx with Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Jamaal Bowman, dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators angry over her endorsement of Mr. Biden chanted ā€œYouā€™re a fraud, A.O.C.ā€

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Theyā€™re not all ā€œtankies:ā€

      In 1956, a ā€œTankieā€ was someone who endorsed the Stalinā€™s tanks driving through Hungary to suppress a counter-revolution.

      In 1989, a ā€œTankieā€ was someone who endorsed the Deng Xiaopingā€™s tanks driving through Tienanmen Square to suppress a student riot.

      In 2024, a ā€œTankieā€ is someone who thinks Netanyahuā€™s tanks driving through Gaza to suppress the Al Aqsa Flood has gone too far.

      • TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        The DSA arenā€™t all tankies, the socialist majority caucus within the DSA, a majority caucus, is very lenient on their position concerning Israel:

        Conditioning aid to Israel

        The NPC had a brief political discussion about the progress of the ā€œNo Money for Massacresā€ campaign. RenĆ©e framed the conversation by walking through potential scenarios of an Israel military aid package, including the possibility of amendments that set conditions for the aid. One example is a recent Senate proposal that would require foreign aid recipients to comply with international law.

        In the middle of this discussion, Marxist Unity Group members put forward a motion that would have, among other things. established DSAā€™s position as not supportive of harm reduction measures such as conditioning Israeli aid. This motion failed by a large margin with several abstentions, and itā€™s not difficult to see why: The motion was out of touch with our current political moment.

        Currently, a supermajority of Congress has not publicly supported a ceasefire and remains supportive of military aid to Israel. Barring a massive shift in public and congressional opinionā€”which DSA is working diligently to achieveā€”an Israel aid package likely has the necessary votes for passage.

        If aid is going to pass anyway, the very least DSA and our endorsed congressmembers can do is use the vote to propagandize. For example, when the House voted on a Republican Israel aid package last month, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced an amendment to bar the use of white phosphorus against civilians.

        AOC was almost certainly aware that there was no chance her amendment would pass; indeed, it wasnā€™t even brought to a vote. Thatā€™s because it wasnā€™t intended to pass. Rather it was a strategic move to highlight the war crimes Israel is committing against the Palestinian people. And if the amendment had been brought to a vote, it would have put pro-Israel Democrats on the defensive and forced them to vote down a clear rejection of war crimes.

        MUGā€™s motion missed the point of why amendments like this are filed in the first place. The motion would have required DSA not to support amendments like AOCā€™s, blurring the message we are trying to send about Israelā€™s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

        Thatā€™s why weā€™re pleased that the NPC recently voted to endorse Sen. Sandersā€™ 502BĀ© resolution, which would require the U.S. State Department to issue a report on Israelā€™s human rights practices within thirty days and cut off all security assistance if they fail to do so. Legislation like this can expose both partiesā€™ blatant disregard for human rights and put pro-Israel congressmembers on the defensive.

        Iā€™m posting this significant portion because many donā€™t have time to read the whole position. I would encourage you to expand your opinion of what the DSA represents and its capabilities.

        If you disagree with them, fine, but donā€™t misrepresent their positions.