I have frequently pointed out that the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) movement not only is deeply rooted in historical anti-Semitic movements and boycotts, but also shares common ideals and membership with anti-American movements.
Much as Iranian Islamists consider Israel the Little Satan and the United States the Great Satan, so too leftist and Islamist BDS supporters share a hatred of Israel and the United States.
Israel is hated not just because it is Jewish, but also because it is viewed as an outpost of American-led oppression of non-whites, colonialism and imperialism. Under the now-fashionable doctrine of intersectionality, Israel is held out as the unique connecting force among capitalist and American-imperialist evils, much as the Jew has been held out in history through anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
For radical leftists in the U.S. this intersectionality agenda manifests itself in a desire to replace capitalism with socialism or communism, and in the Middle East to promote an Islamist supremacist agenda which denies the Jews any rightful claim to self-determination in the historical homeland of the Jews. This creates very strange alliances, such as LGBT leftists aligning with Islamists who suppress LGBT persons in every country where Islamists rule.
The BDS movement, embodying this intersectionality through boycotts against Israeli academics, artists and businesses, exploits and stokes racial tension to turn racial issues, such at the Ferguson riots and Black Lives Matter, into anti-Israel movements. One of the most egregious examples of anti-Semitic intersectionality is the Deadly Exchange Campaign by the anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace, which falsely blames Israel and American Jewish organizations for U.S. police shootings of blacks.
Given the background of leftists exploiting and being exploited by the anti-Israel movement, it is no real surprise that at its annual meeting today, the anti-capitalist Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) endorsed the BDS campaign against Israel.
What is the DSA? By its own self-description it is an anti-capitalist movement:
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the largest socialist organization in the United States, and the principal U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International. DSA’s members are building progressive movements for social change while establishing an openly democratic socialist presence in American communities and politics….As we are unlikely to see an immediate end to capitalism tomorrow, DSA fights for reforms today that will weaken the power of corporations and increase the power of working people….
Jeff Stein at Vox.com explains how the movement has grown, 9 questions about the Democratic Socialists of America you were too embarrassed to ask:
This weekend, 697 delegates from 49 states are congregating in Chicago for the largest-ever convention of the Democratic Socialists of America.Socialism is having a moment. Bernie Sanders, a self-described “democratic socialist,” nearly snagged the Democratic Party nomination last year and is the country’s most popular active politician; socialist Jeremy Corbyn came close to controlling the British government; and young people identify with the ideology at record rates. There is a new and unbridled optimism about socialism’s potential.In the last year alone, DSA’s membership has ballooned from 8,000 to 25,000 dues-paying members. DSA boasts that it is now the biggest socialist organization in America since World War II.
But Stein points out that growth in numbers hides inherent weakness:
Tempering this bubbling excitement around DSA are polls showing that socialism remains as unpopular with the general public as ever, the ongoing weakening of the American labor movement, and, of course, Republicans’ lock on the federal government. DSA may have a robust and growing social media presence, but it’s still just a tiny blip in the larger universe of left-leaning advocacy groups. (The National Education Association, for instance, has 3 million dues-paying members.)
[Democratic Socialists of America Facebook Banner Image]
Like most socialist organizations, DSA believes in the abolition of capitalism in favor of an economy run either by “the workers” or the state — though the exact specifics of “abolishing capitalism” are fiercely debated by socialists.“The academic debates about socialism’s ‘meaning’ are huge and arcane and rife with disagreements, but what all definitions have in common is either the elimination of the market or its strict containment,” said Frances Fox Piven, a scholar of the left at the City University of New York and a former DSA board member.In practice, that means DSA believes in ending the private ownership of a wide range of industries whose products are viewed as “necessities,” which they say should not be left to those seeking to turn a profit. According to DSA’s current mission statement, the government should ensure all citizens receive adequate food, housing, health care, child care, and education. DSA also believes that the government should “democratize” private businesses — i.e., force owners to give workers control over them — to the greatest extent possible.
Anti-Israel BDS activists naturally are drawn to a group that has a grievance with the entire U.S. economic and political system.
At DSA’s annual conference today, the attendees overwhelmingly adopted the BDS call for an academic, cultural and economic boycott of Israel.
Here is the preamble part of the resolution, tweeted by an attendee:
Here is the action part of the resolution, tweeted out by an attendee. It is a full endorsement of BDS:
Here is a video of the hand vote:
The chant of “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free,” and “Free, Free, Palestine,” widely recognized calls for the destruction of all of Israel, accompanied the vote:
The open call to destroy Israel has the possibility of causing a rift in the Democratic Socialist movement, as these tweets demonstrate:
This rift is no accident. As we have seen with the rise of Linda Sarsour as a leader of the women’s movement seeking to banish Zionist women, and the banning of Zionists and Jewish symbols from the Chicago Dyke March, there is a conscious effort by the far left and Islamists to drive Israel supporters out of progressive movements.
This DSA vote represents a short-term symbolic victory for BDS, as it further embeds radical anti-Israel politics into the lefts. But with that victory, anti-Israel activists may further isolate themselves politically. Liberal Democrat politicians who otherwise seek the support of the far left and Islamist wings of the Democratic Party will have to consider whether they will damage their own electoral chances by aligning with Israel haters.
For while support for Israel may be waning among the attendees of the Democratic Socialists of America conference, support for Israel across the country remains near historical highs.
The choice is up to Democrats which way they want to go, with the American people or with the far leftists of the Democratic Socialists of America.
[Featured Image: Screenshot Twitter Video]
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY