Earlier this month, the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) made history by successfully passing an expansive disinvestment bill through the student government.

The bill, which passed 35-17-7, calls for CWRU to “fully divest its assets in Israeli apartheid, the international military-industrial complex, and the international prison-industrial complex”. It goes on to describe the apartheid conditions Palestinians are subjected to, including the forced displacement and subsequent establishment of illegal settlements in the militarily occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, the blockade of the Gaza Strip that severely limits the movement of vital goods, and the unjust detention, torture, and killing of much of the population. It also points to recent reports from mainstream human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the United Nations, and Israel’s own B’tselem as support.

According to a source closely involved with the bill, who wishes to remain anonymous for security reasons, a major factor in its success was its sponsorship by a large coalition of campus clubs. These included environmentalist clubs, feminist clubs, identity-specific clubs such as the Black Student Union, and more. To build this coalition, SJP gave presentations to various clubs and then asked if they would sign on as a sponsor.

“Of course it’s important to focus primarily on what Palestinians have been saying for 74 years,” said the source. “Which is that they’ve been living under a segregationist apartheid state that’s ethnically cleansed them from most of their homeland, but the use of other voices is also very helpful in passing these bills because people tend to sweep the voices of Palestinians under the rug.”

The CWRU SJP has been trying to pass similar bills since at least 2018. In their first attempt, SJP failed to get the bill up for a vote. In 2021, the bill went up for a vote but failed to gain a majority. Opponents proposed their own bill and spent the time allotted for discussing SJP’s bill discussing their own, leading to confusion when it came time to vote.

Following their prior defeats, SJP made multiple changes to the original bill. One change included the addition of calling for disinvestment of companies involved in the international military and prison-industrial complexes as opposed to focusing solely on companies operating in illegally occupied Palestine. This helped to preemptively counter the common zionist talking point that Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) bills “unjustly single out Israel”. Another change included calling for the school to conduct an investigation into whether companies it works with are complicit in war crimes, private prisons, or Israeli apartheid prior to disinvestment.

The day after the vote, CWRU President Eric Kaler condemned the resolution by calling it naive, claiming that many of its clauses were irrelevant, claiming it “undoubtedly promotes anti-semitism”, and smearing the members of the student government that voted in favor of the bill as conducting “aggression towards the Jewish members of our community”. Kaler’s statement was swiftly condemned by the editorial board of CWRU’s student newspaper The Observer, which called the remarks “reckless and ill-considered”. The Cleveland chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which is the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, also condemned the president’s statement as being “dishonest, dangerous and defamatory”.

The fight for divestment at CWRU is far from over, given the administrations clear aversion to democracy.

As socialists, we must stand in solidarity with the students of CWRU, and of people everywhere, who speak out against colonial crimes. We must rigorously oppose all attacks on this solidarity, no matter if they come from powerful members of our communities or from within the socialist movement itself.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!

-Written by an anonymous Cleveland DSA member

The post Students for Justice in Palestine Win Big at Case Western appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America.

By Anthony Migliacci and Luca Dhagat

To many of the University of California’s nearly 300,000 students, strikes are distant news, simply actions reserved to the industrial workplaces of the Midwest. All that started to change last Monday, when nearly 50,000 academic workers across ten UC campuses began striking in response to the University’s numerous unfair labor practices. The strike was authorized with 98% approval by members of three United Auto Workers locals, which represent postdoctoral scholars, graduate student researchers, academic researchers, readers, tutors, graduate student instructors, trainees, and fellows. 

For most of the University’s large and diverse student body, this strike — the largest U.S. strike since 2019 and the largest education strike in U.S. history — is likely to be their first experience of a powerful labor action. It is also the first to personally impact many of these students, with its disruption of their day-to-day schedule of classes and other academic services. While it is undoubtedly exciting that academic workers are collectively waging a war against their abysmally low wages, lack of benefits, and toxic work environments, why is this strike so meaningful to undergraduates?

When Cal YDSA, the Young Democratic Socialists chapter at UC Berkeley of which we both are organizers, called a rally of undergraduates at the Campanile on Friday afternoon, numerous student organizations joined in and turned out their members. 

Elise Joshi, the Executive Director of youth organization Gen-Z for Change, told the crowd, “Our voices are loud, but so is the silence from leaders who claim to support us,” adding, “Gavin Newsom and state leaders, your silence speaks volumes.” 

Graduate student researcher Kenny Vetter tied the demands of the strike to the interests of the student body, pointing out that “Austerity is a symptom of a broken system that relies on the financialization of education. The only way we are going to change that broken system is with this right here, the power of the people.” 

Cal YDSA organizer Grace McGee, connecting the strike to the experience of undergraduates: “Our generation has not seen an economic system that works for us. We grew up wondering why our teachers were being pink-slipped, why mom and dad couldn’t find work, but we have the opportunity in this moment to build a world that works for ordinary people.”

Striking workers join the undergraduate rally at the Campanile Friday

The truth is that this strike may be a truly radicalizing experience for countless students and young workers. Striking UAW members, and those of us standing with them in solidarity, are showing UC students and others that a better future is worth fighting for and that we can all engage in struggles in our workplaces and on our campuses. They are bravely making evident the immense power of collective action to fight for the demands that unite us as working people, and to highlight the powerful interests that oppose those demands. And, given that the University churns out new laborers who will be joining the workforce in the future, their struggle can be a training ground as well as a major inspiration for a growing and increasingly militant labor movement. Simply put, this strike may very well build class consciousness for hundreds of thousands of young people.

The spirit of solidarity has consumed the UC Berkeley campus. Students are being informed by their professors that their classes have been canceled in order to honor the picket line, while some lecturers, represented by UC-AFT, are teaching their courses on the picket line. At a Monday rally, it was announced that UPS drivers represented by the Teamsters could refuse to deliver packages to the University. Students spending just a minute near the picket lines are likely to hear the many supportive honks coming from truck drivers, bus drivers, and members of the community. Construction workers halted their work in a refusal to undermine UAW’s efforts. Of course, Bernie raised his voice in support of the UAW workers. But even the Stanford marching band spelled out UAW with their bodies at the Big Game at Cal on Saturday.  

Faculty support has been growing, both on and off the picket line

This powerful solidarity is forcing students to think about unwavering working class solidarity and to understand that meaningful change can be won when working people stand together. This experience will inform their political perspectives and will inspire them to be militant labor organizers in their own workspaces after graduation.

Cal YDSA has been at the lead in building undergraduate solidarity and support for the strike. Many of our members are academic workers and part of UAW-2865, and YDSA members in and out of UAW have been visible and present at the picket lines. 

Some of the most active and militant union leaders are also proud socialists and YDSA members. For example, Tanzil Chowdhury, a graduate student and researcher at UC Berkeley, member of the union’s Bargaining Team, and one of the most recognizable faces on the picket line, carries a DSA card. During the strike’s first day rally on Monday, Tanzil gave a rousing closing speech about how the strike is our chance to give the reins of history back to the working class. In the midst of one of the largest rallies that Sproul Plaza has seen since the Free Speech Movement in 1964, he quoted Mario Savio’s famous “Machine” speech: “There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart that you can’t take part! You can’t even passively take part!”

Needless to say, this historic strike represents a unique moment to build the socialist movement’s organizing power. By organizing students to engage in strike solidarity, Berkeley YDSA has become the campus group students go to if they want to get involved with supporting the strike. In the weeks leading up to the strike, we published an Undergraduate Letter of Support students could sign on to. With nearly 20,000 signatures and growing daily, we’ve used this petition to reach students to ask them to come out to the picket lines. We’ve also been able to use it to promote YDSA’s own solidarity actions, like our art build, where we created posters and banners for the strike, and the Undergraduate Solidarity rally we organized in order to bolster the number of undergraduates showing up to the picket lines. We’ve also been active in publicizing strike information through social media and through flyers we’ve distributed on campus, like what it means to not cross a picket line. We’ve also created an email template that students can use to reach out to professors to ask them to stop holding classes, so that their students aren’t forced to cross a picket line.

Although these efforts are extremely important to building energy for strike solidarity among undergraduate students, our work is only getting started. The vast majority of undergrads on UC campuses, even among those who are supportive, are not involved with strike solidarity and don’t yet see the connection between the struggle of their academic workers and the fight to protect their own educational futures. Berkeley YDSA has been working to solve this problem by portraying the strike as part of a broader struggle against neoliberalism and austerity in our universities. By connecting the exploitation of academic workers to issues like the budget cuts and closures of three libraries on campus, especially at a time when tuition hikes continue and the UC spends millions on pampering chancellors and administrators, we’re showing students that the strike is a part of a broader fight against a system that only cares about profiting off them.

This strike is our chance to show the bosses many things. It’s our chance to show them that the threat of a resurgent labor movement and a militant working class is on their doorstep, that students know that a victory for working people is a victory for them as well. It’s our chance to show that our communities stand in solidarity with workers when they go on strike. 

It’s also our chance to show the bosses that every single day more people are realizing the need for systemic change to fix the problems in our workplaces, and that wherever they go, they’ll find active and militant socialist organizers leading the way with every fight for working class power.

Anthony Migliacci is the co-chair, and Luca Dhagat is a member of the organizing committee of Cal YDSA.

While 2022’s Election Day wasn’t a perfect one for our chapter, it was an excellent one. All of our members running for public office won their offices and all but one of our endorsed non-members did. Our endorsed candidates running at the State Senate level won, and all but one of our candidates at the State House level did. We congratulate all of our candidates, both in victory and defeat, for advancing progressive, class-conscious ideals in all three counties of the state–in urban, suburban, and rural parts of Delaware. We especially congratulate endorsed non-member Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown on becoming the House Majority Whip–the first person of color to ever occupy a House leadership role in the history of our state! We are building a mass movement that demands a Delaware that puts people over profits, and puts the interests of Delaware’s working class over its major corporations.

The loss:

Susan Clifford (RD-39, Seaford): 30-70%.

The wins:

Sen. Marie Pinkney (SD-13, Bear): Unopposed

Rep. Larry Lambert: (RD-7, Claymont): 71-29%
Rep. Rae Moore (RD-8, Middletown): 58-42%
Rep. DeShanna Neal* (RD-13, Elsmere): 61-39%
Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown (RD-17, Wilmington Manor): Unopposed
Rep. Sophie Phillips (RD-18, Christiana): 71-29%
Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton*: (RD-26, Bear): 70-30%
Rep. Eric Morrison* (RD-27, Glasgow): 53-47%
Rep. Kerri Evelyn Harris (RD-32, Dover): 58-42%

(* indicates a Delaware DSA chapter member)

DSA-recommended candidates Auditor-Elect Lydia York also won 54-46% and New Castle County Councilman Brandon Toole (CD-1, Bear) won unopposed.

These DSA-endorsed electoral wins represent a DOUBLING of our chapter members in Dover and a 33% increase in our non-member endorsees in office—clearly, the appetite for democratic socialism in Delaware is growing. This election cycle also marks the beginning of electoral relevance for our Southern Delaware DSA branch. One endorsed non-member in a district entirely located in Kent County was elected. Kent County is not sapphire-blue the way Northern Delaware is; while it voted for President Biden in 2020, it went for President Trump in 2016. This should put to rest the tiresome narrative that we are a fringe group only capable of winning in overwhelmingly Democratic communities. While in Delaware, at least, we might not be a competitive force in red or purple districts, or in our state’s one red county of Sussex (yet!), we have proven that with quality candidates, quality messaging, and a quality work ethic, we can go into Kent County, compete, and win.

Still, the relentless attack ads, aimed not only at the candidates we support, but at candidates such as Dr. Frank Burns and Rep. Paul Baumbach who merely donate to our endorsees, should not be ignored, even though they were largely ineffective in a state that both leans left and prides itself on a congenial political climate. It is important that we continue to grow our chapter in membership and in organizing capacity so that candidates continue to view our endorsement as an asset and not as a liability. Mailers and texts attacking us seem to be more effective than robocalls, as several of our candidates who were targeted with these—Reps. Moore, Neal, and Morrison—while all victorious, underperformed Biden’s 2020 performances in their districts at a statistically significant level. Meanwhile, Rep. Lambert, who was merely attacked by robocalls tying him to us, actually slightly overperformed the President’s 2020 results in his district. Granted, other factors are at play here too—racism, sexism, transphobia, and homophobia directed at our candidates, betrayal by some state-level Democrats overtly or covertly supporting our GOP opponents, and of course, Biden’s natural boost up and down the state of being Delaware’s “favorite son”. In the case of Rep. Morrison, who had the biggest underperformance of any candidate we backed, the Delaware GOP ran an experienced political candidate, giving him a (paper thin) moderate veneer, and poured massive amounts of money and manpower into the race. Given all of these vulnerabilities, they’ve probably hit their high-but-not-high-enough ceiling against him, at least for the coming decade in which his district will remain the same.

There is some internal work to be done to shore up our positions—both we and other Delaware progressive organizations have run into frustration when trying to get a mostly Northern New Castle County membership base down to canvas and volunteer even in Southern New Castle County, let alone downstate. While we made up for this by redirecting more fundraising money to our candidates in these communities, nothing compares to on-the-ground support and we can realistically probably never out-fundraise the corporate elite of Delaware. Now that we have multiple electoral successes in the region, southern NCCo in particular is a critical area for us in which to build our base and destigmatize the word “socialism” from meaning “the Soviet Union” to meaning “a society in which the interests of working people are favored over the interests of the elites.” The part of New Castle County below the canal is more underrepresented in our membership than redder Kent County is. While we should not compromise our platform—doing so in the face of electoral SUCCESS looks comically weak, there are possibly some points that could be clarified, especially on criminal justice. It is one of the few issues on which Delaware is right-of-center on, and it is by far and away the issue on which the attack ads against us hammered the hardest—the Republicans can’t hit us on our healthcare policies or environmental policies very much, simply because they are overwhelmingly popular among Delawareans. It is critical that we make it abundantly clear that while our goal is to fight against the carceral state and not just to get nicer cops and prison guards, we do not plan to eliminate police departments and empty all of the prisons the moment we gain power. We actually have a plan for public safety that transfers functions from the police and resolves socio-economic conditions conducive to crime.

Overall, this was a highly successful electoral campaign for the Delaware DSA chapter in 2022! We owe our profound thanks to all of our members, all of our supported candidates, everyone who volunteered and worked for the candidates, and other progressive organizations and labor unions that threw down in money and time for many and in some cases all of our candidates. Thank you all so much!

For immediate release – November 18, 2022

AKRON, OHIO — Akron DSA demands Akron City Council halt development at White Pond Business Park immediately. We join with our fellow Akronites to say that public land should be for public use, not the profits of private investment. This wetland area is home to vulnerable species of wildlife — likely including a few endangered species, though more time is needed to confirm. In Ohio, 90% of wetlands have already been destroyed, and as climate change intensifies, we can’t afford to destroy natural habitats, including a peat bog, which is something that is excellent at storing carbon and for mitigating air, water, soil, and noise pollution.

DSA is an ecosocialist, ecojustice organization, meaning we fully support maintaining and preserving undeveloped areas at all costs, meaningful action towards mitigating climate change, and creating ways for people to live in harmony with the natural spaces we love and depend upon for survival. Capital’s need for constant growth and expansion is incompatible with life on earth and it is our responsibility as socialists to stand against the reckless demands of Capitalism.

Additionally, this proposal suggests unethical behavior. Mayor Horrigan accepted campaign donations in 2021 from the developers and individuals affiliated with the developers – Triton Property Ventures, LLC and now White Pond Reserve, LLC – a company that the public has no evidence of experience with new developments. Triton owns multiple properties across the area, and with this city focusing on critically needed housing improvements, we don’t need another unaccountable landlord with properties tied up in LLCs.

We are inviting the public to join us for a hike hosted by Save White Pond at 1 pm on Sunday, November 20, 2022 at the area slated for development. 

Parking for event: 274 White Pond Drive

Event information: https://actionnetwork.org/events/save-white-pond-hike-for-solidarity/

Akron Democratic Socialists of America

Email: dsaakron@gmail.com

Where were you when you found out that the U.S. Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade? Chances are you remember that moment this past June vividly because for many of us the action was previously thought unimaginable. Even for those who had been paying close attention and saw it coming, the news that the loss of federal protection over reproductive freedom had been confirmed was hard to digest. And in Georgia, the overturning of Roe opened the door for a 6-week abortion ban — which passed in 2019 but was previously blocked by a district court for being unconstitutional — to officially take effect across the state. 

Though devastation was felt by so many around the country after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, the truth is, in Georgia — the state with the highest maternal mortality rate in the country — reproductive rights have been under attack for years. Since 2005, Georgia politicians have passed 13 medically unnecessary and politically motivated abortion restrictions, like required waiting periods and insurance coverage regulations. On top of these restrictions, there are only 15 clinics that provide abortions in Georgia. Ninety-five percent of Georgia’s counties do not have an abortion clinic and 55% of Georgia women live in those counties, which means most Georgians must travel a significant distance to abortion providers. This travel can have a serious financial impact on those seeking abortion care, and not just because of transportation costs. Research shows that 60% of people who have an abortion are already parents to one or more child, so childcare costs must also be factored in for those who are forced to travel to obtain an abortion. 

Georgians who wish to end their pregnancies also have to contend with anti-abortion fake clinics (also known as anti-abortion centers, AACs, pregnancy resource centers, crisis pregnancy centers, or CPCs), which aim to discourage people from obtaining abortions by posing as real clinics and providing medically inaccurate information. According to the Reproaction Education Fund: Anti-Abortion Fake Clinic Database, there are 99 anti-abortion fake clinics in the state. That means Georgia has over six times more fake clinics spreading false information and shame than real clinics offering safe abortions. Worse still, there is a history of state funds being funneled into these fake abortion clinics. Some anti-abortion fake clinics have financial relationships with state agencies, referred to as “Alternatives to Abortion” or “A2A” programs. According to Mapping Deception: A Closer Look at How States’ Anti-Abortion Center Programs Operate, a report by Equity Forward, Georgia has an A2A program that uses state funding to support fake clinics. Meanwhile, Medicaid does not cover abortions in Georgia. And, just so you’re clear on where hypocritical right-wing candidates in the upcoming Nov 8 election stand on anti-abortion clinics, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that last year, Herschel Walker was paid $20,000 to speak at a fake clinic in Hurst, Texas and $27,000 to speak at one in Augusta, both of which are AACs. 

Even with all of the pre-existing abortion restrictions forced on working Georgians, the overturning of Roe v. Wade makes matters even more dire. The Supreme Court decision highlighted a frustration that has been bubbling under the surface for so many citizens regarding an array of issues. High-profile politicians who were already in office inundated our email inboxes with alarming subject lines and messages with no real plan of action beyond “Keep voting Blue.” But how could we believe that continuing to do what we already have been would make any difference? Abortion is overwhelmingly popular across the country and 70% of Georgia voters support abortion access. So, of course, it’s the undemocratic nature of the courts, senate, and gerrymandering that is to blame for this situation, and not those of us who have been voting, election after election. How can we, as working Georgians, change anything? 

As Socialists, we are ultimately fighting for universal, free health care and free abortion at the point of service. However, there are some steps we can begin to take legislatively to reclaim and even improve abortion rights in Georgia. Right now, there are local pieces of legislation being proposed to curb the impact of the 6-week ban in Georgia, including county-level decriminalization resolutions and donations to regional abortion funds. Now, with the Georgia legislative session on the horizon, reproductive justice advocates are calling for a statewide Reproductive Freedom Act. 

What is the Reproductive Freedom Act (RFA)?

With the right to access abortion care under threat at both the state and national levels, it is past time for our elected representatives to enshrine the right to abortion access and reproductive health care in our state law. That’s where the Reproductive Freedom Act comes in. 

Ahead of the 2023 legislative session, reproductive justice advocates are preparing to introduce a Reproductive Freedom Act to the state legislature, with the goal of protecting and expanding access to abortion care across Georgia. With 27 sections, the RFA being proposed would be  comprehensive in its support and defense of any person seeking or providing timely, safe, legal, and affordable abortion care. The bill would also fight to remove shame, stigma, and punishment around abortion care, by repealing many current laws and restrictions passed previously by right-wing legislators.

If passed, what would the RFA do?

Based on the current proposal, each section of the RFA pinpoints a specific piece of the puzzle that is achieving reproductive justice for all Georgians. Here is, at a glance, everything the Reproductive Freedom Act would do:

• Ensure that all Georgians have the right to choose or refuse contraception and sterilization, and that those who have the capacity to become pregnant can choose whether to carry a pregnancy to term, give birth, or have an abortion.
• Ensure that no Georgian who ends their own pregnancy will be subjected to investigation and prosecution.
• Repeal a set of laws that criminalize some or all abortion care.
• Repeal the 2019 law that establishes each fetus as a “person,” which gives a fetus rights separate from the pregnant person.
• Repeal law requiring any young person who needs an abortion to notify their parents.
• Repeal a law that requires physicians who care for pregnant patients later in pregnancy to provide a specific type of resuscitative care regardless of the circumstances.
• Repeal medically unnecessary TRAP (targeted restrictions on abortion provision) laws that make abortion more difficult to provide and obtain, under threat of criminal penalties.
• Repeal a criminal law prohibiting qualified physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and trained certified nurse midwives from providing abortion care, and a second law prohibiting physician assistants specifically from providing medication abortion.  
• Repeal state-mandated counseling and delay law, which requires abortion patients to receive medically unnecessary and inaccurate information and then wait 24 hours before being allowed to obtain an abortion.  
• Repeal laws that prohibit insurers from offering coverage for abortion care in state benefit health plans, and require Medicaid to offer coverage for abortion.

Why is it important to pass the RFA?

Georgia’s current abortion bans and restrictions are based on anti-abortion ideology, not medical science, and are opposed by the AMA and other leading medical authorities. The current laws ignore the fundamental fact that abortion is health care and therefore should be regulated as such. Just like with any other medical procedure, decisions about abortion — as well as contraception, sterilization, and fertility issues — should be made by a patient and their doctor. 

Giving a fetus rights separate from the pregnant person is one specific way that anti-abortion lawmakers are taking the ability to make these important decisions out of the hands of patients and providers, and it has serious consequences. For example, it could impact anyone using in-vitro fertilization, people accessing medical care that poses a risk to a fetus (such as chemotherapy), the use of birth control pills or IUDs (despite science stating otherwise), and could open pregnant people and doctors up to criminal investigation for actions during pregnancy. 

Even the threat of criminalization can discourage someone from accessing critical health care during the prenatal, birthing, or postpartum period, which can have damaging effects on their physical and mental well-being and a negative impact on their lives and futures. This piece is especially hairy for young people, who are still in the early stages of building their lives. Just because a person is under 18 doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be allowed to make important decisions about what is best for their health and future. In an ideal situation, a young person can seek the advice of a parent, but of course, not everyone lives in ideal circumstances. Studies have also shown that anti-abortion fake clinics target young people. So, it is critical that the barriers be removed in order to allow every person, regardless of age or reason, to access health care and information.

How to Support the RFA

Don’t allow that hopelessness you felt when Roe was overturned to take hold. There is still a path forward for reproductive freedom in the state of Georgia, but it requires a fight. While the right wing is doing everything it can to suppress our rights and our bodily autonomy, it’s essential that working people fight back on all fronts possible, including the electoral and legislative fronts. Again, as Socialists, our end goal is free health care, including free abortion, for all people. On the way there, we need to advocate for our local representatives to use all their power to protect our right to abortion and commit to voting yes and pushing the RFA through. 

To help us do that, sign and share the existing petition to pass the RFA in Georgia. Email your representatives and let them know you support the RFA. Attend canvassing events with DSA and follow along for updates on other pieces of local legislation to protect abortion. Together, we can win!

The post Georgia Needs a Reproductive Freedom Act appeared first on Red Clay Comrade.