This week, a deal brokered by President Trump brought an end to Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
Not all observers welcomed the end of this war. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) released a statement titled “Until Palestinian Liberation” which “acknowledges and welcomes the relief that may be afforded to Palestinians under the agreement in humanitarian assistance and cessation of Israeli military operations” — no mention of the Israeli hostages, you’ll notice.
“However,” the statement goes on, “DSA harbors no illusions that Israel will honor any negotiated agreement that preserves Palestinian life or self-determination. Past ceasefires only slowed the carnage, and Israel continued military action with impunity” — no mention of Hamas breaking the ceasefire in place on October 6, 2023, by launching a genocidal pogrom, you’ll notice.
“The long sought after stability in the region is dependent on Israel and its allies finally being held accountable for their decades long list of war crimes and imperial aggression” — no mention of Israel’s neighbors acknowledging its right to exist in any form, you’ll notice.
Whatever this means, the statement concludes that “Until then, there can be no long lasting peace.”
Who are the Democratic Socialists of America? The Star Tribune pondered this question in July in an article titled “Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh is a democratic socialist. Here’s what that means.” Author Deena Winter noted that Sen. Fateh’s now revoked endorsement by the Minneapolis DFL:
…has been heralded as another example of the growing influence of democratic socialists in the Democratic Party.
The endorsement raised Fateh’s profile as national media drew comparisons with New York lawmaker and fellow democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, who won the mayoral primary in New York City.
There are now three democratic socialists on the Minneapolis City Council — as well as a fourth who was elected as a democratic socialist but no longer identifies as one. They’ve pushed for things like city-owned grocery stores, city sidewalk shoveling, rental eviction prevention, barring discrimination based on body weight, legalization of street vendors and new taxes on the wealthy.
This might be termed “sanewashing.” It reminds me of those Trojan horse memes, where something — like government owned grocery stores — which are bad policy but within the bounds of usual discussion are, in reality, merely cloaks for something totally nuts: “Come for the free groceries, stay for the destruction of Israel,” could be the DSA slogan.
“So what?” you may ask, after all, what power does the Minneapolis city council have to liquidate Israel? About as much as it has to influence the global climate, one might reply, which doesn’t stop it trying at great cost to the average Minneapolitan for no benefit whatsoever. And notice, also, how much of the language around “settler colonialism,” long deployed against Israel to delegitimze that state, has been increasingly deployed against the United States.
“In recent years in Minneapolis,” Winter reports, “the DSA has gone from a fringe group to a major insurgent wing of the party.” She reports that besides “the three members on Minneapolis City Council, two DSA members are on the St. Paul council, according to Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America. Fifteen DSA members have been elected statewide, the group said, including two on the Duluth City Council.” Indeed, Sen. Fateh is still touting his endorsement from the Twin Cities chapter of the DSA on his website.
Some years ago, the late Senator Dave Durenberger wrote an interesting book titled “When Republicans Were Progressive,” which tracked the Minnesota Republican Party’s ideological path from Nelson Rockefeller to Newt Gingrich. The move of the DFL in the other direction has, thus far, received less attention from the likes of the Minnesota Historical Society. Once upon a time, the great Minnesota Democrat Hubert Humphrey drove extremists like the DSA out of the DFL. Maybe the party needs its own Humphrey Project?