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the logo of Peninsula DSA
Peninsula DSA posted in English at

Peninsula DSA Supports Single Inclusive Democratic State for Palestinians and Israelis

Peninsula DSA Supports Single Inclusive Democratic State for Palestinians and Israelis

SAN MATEO, July 16, 2024 - Following the leadership of our comrades in Chicago DSA, Peninsula (CA) DSA voted at our June 2024 General Membership Meeting to declare our support for a political vision of one democratic state in Palestine. We identify Zionism’s politicization of identity and Israel’s nature as a state exclusive to Jews as a root cause of the suffering and injustice which Israel has inflicted upon the people of Palestine, and we believe that true peace and liberation can only be achieved by the dismantling of the apartheid, settler-colonial state and the establishment of one democratic state in its stead.

The material reality is that a two-state solution is not feasible, and it has long been more of an aspirational myth rather than a serious policy proposal. In the words of Jewish Currents contributing editor Joshua Leifer, the idea is little more than a “political fiction” which gives liberal Zionists a way “to reconcile their seemingly contradictory commitments to both ethnonationalism and liberal democracy.” Since the 1970s, when Palestinian intellectuals first proposed a “mini-state” on 22% of historic Palestine, Israel has continuously redefined the conceptual Palestinian state to include ever-less territory and to hold ever-less sovereignty. By the 1980s, there were already 100,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank, prompting former Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Meron Benvenisti to warn that it was “five minutes to midnight” for the two-state solution. Now, there are over 650,000 settlers in the West Bank, and settlers, emboldened by Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, are committing even more violence and stealing more Palestinian land. The two-state solution—which has come to mean a fragmented Palestine under de facto Israeli control—cannot generate a movement powerful enough to bring liberation to Palestine; it only provides cover for ongoing ethnic cleansing.

For this reason we support a movement for a single, inclusive state between the river and the sea that is:

  • Democratic. All citizens would be equal in the eye of the state, including its laws, institutions and policies, regardless of identity. This includes the right of those who have been ethnically cleansed from Palestine to return and enjoy full citizenship.
  • Secular. Freedom of worship would be guaranteed, and one’s religion or identity would not be a factor in granting or denying rights to citizens or non-citizens.
  • Socially just. Stolen land, homes and property would be restituted to all victims of dispossession. Resources and social welfare would be allotted fairly to all citizens. The income, poverty and education gaps would be bridged.

Finally, we call on national DSA to likewise declare its support of one democratic state in Palestine: a “one-person, one-vote” state in which everyone is represented equally, regardless of ethnicity, religion, origin, etc. As socialists it is our responsibility to imagine what a just world would look like and share that vision with the world. Without democracy, self-determination is impossible, and without full equal rights under a secular state, there can be no democracy for the Palestinian people. Separate can never be equal.

Further reading:

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the logo of Washington Socialist - Metro DC DSA

the logo of Metro DC DSA
the logo of Metro DC DSA
Metro DC DSA posted in English at

Stomp Out Slumlords

Stomp Out Slumlords

Stomp Out Slumlords is a working group of Metro DC DSA that fights evictions and supports tenant organizing throughout the Washington metro area. We organize across the District of Columbia and in neighboring counties of Maryland and Virginia. Over our seven-year existence we have organized rent strikes and actions in dozens of buildings and won improved conditions, back rent, collectively bargained agreements, rent abatements, rent freezes, and in one case, tenant ownership of a 34-unit building. SOS is also a member of the Autonomous Tenants Union Network (ATUN).

To connect with SOS in Northern Virginia:

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the logo of Metro DC DSA
the logo of Metro DC DSA
Metro DC DSA posted in English at

Labor Working Group

Labor Working Group

The Labor Working Group organizes with workers across the District to fight bad bosses, build new unions, and turn out for solidarity actions. Are you upset with changes management is making at your job? Do you think you have had wages or paid sick leave stolen from you? Maybe you’ve spoken about organizing a union with your co-workers, and those conversations went great, but you don’t know what to do next. If any of that applies to you, the LWG strongly encourages you to email us at labor@mdcdsa.org. An LWG organizer will promptly respond. All communications are confidential. Membership in the LWG is open to everyone, especially workers who are members of unions or worker organizations, or who want to organize their workplace.

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the logo of Metro DC DSA
the logo of Metro DC DSA
Metro DC DSA posted in English at

Electoral Campaign

Electoral Campaign

The Electoral Priority Campaign is run by the Political Engagement Committee.

Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America has endorsed Shayla Adams-Stafford in the 2025 Prince George’s County Council District 5 special election!

 

She’s a former teacher and union shop steward and currently a member of the Prince George’s school board. While on the school board Shayla has fought for project labor agreements and to replace the cops in our schools with mental health support and tutoring. School board member Adams-Stafford is running for the tiebreaking vote on a County Council divided between developer-backed conservative Democrats and a progressive bloc.

Sign up now at this link to support our electoral efforts and build power for working class communities in the DMV! You don’t have to be a member of DSA to join our canvasses and other activities, we’re open to anyone who wants to help.

Recently we also campaigned for the Maryland Reproductive Freedom constitutional amendment, Janeese Lewis George’s Ward 4 DC Council campaign, Uncommitted Maryland, and a rent stabilization bill in PG County, totaling 45,000 doors knocked in 2024.

Our campaigns face strong opposition from conservatives, lobbying groups, and moneyed interests. But with your help, socialist campaigns with a people-powered movement behind them can win. Our chapter members have knocked on more than 210,000 doors and made more than 61,000 phone calls to voters since 2017. We’ve helped elect candidates and pass laws with progressive and labor coalitions in Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. Our endorsed candidates have gone on to fight for legislation to build social housing, increase taxes on the rich, cap insulin prices, repeal anti-union “right to work” laws, create social wealth funds, ban revolving-door lobbying, close corporate tax loopholes, create a universal basic income, expose confidential police records, end for-profit migrant detention across the state, and much more.

Our *highest* priority is canvassing, because in person door-knocking conversations are proven to persuade people and ensure they vote or contact their representatives. But there are ways for everyone to contribute, including phone banking, research, communications, and administrative support. Sign up here to let us know what you’re interested in! We’ll contact you about current/upcoming campaigns, and keep you updated on MDC DSA’s activities. 

Please email pec@mdcdsa.org with any questions, visit our slack channel, or view our Linktree to get involved.

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the logo of Metro DC DSA
Metro DC DSA posted in English at

Abolition Campaign

Abolition Campaign

MDC DSA’s Abolition Working Group is organizing in coalition with Black-led and racial justice organizations to move toward prison abolition in DC, Montgomery County, and Northern Virginia. Short-term tasks include defunding the police departments to fund social services such as free public transit and social housing, redistributing funds to restore underfunded agencies such as public libraries and parks and recreation, replacing police in schools with supportive non-police staff, and freeing our neighbors from occupation and incarceration as a path towards abolition — a world without cops and prisons. As part of our vision for racial and economic justice, we demand that the funding removed from police and prisons be reinvested in real public safety: housing, schools, jobs, healthcare, and mental health services, community-based support programs, violence interruption, and other public goods and services.

To get involved, fill out this form!

To get involved in Montgomery County, fill out this form!

To get involved in NoVA, fill out this form.

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the logo of Cleveland DSA
Cleveland DSA posted in English at

Reporting Back: Fighting for Trans Rights – A Public Pressure Campaign

Cleveland DSA members stage a small demonstration at the County Board of Health, where we distributed literature to BOH workers.



DSA Cleveland’s Public Pressure Non-Campaign Activity for Trans Rights was passed unanimously at the February 2024 general meeting. The “non campaign activity” was NOT a priority project of Cleveland DSA, therefore it did not have an elected leadership body and other privileges of being a priority. From February-April 2024 DSA sent members to make public comment at meetings where the restrictions on trans health care were being considered, including the Ohio Health Advisory Board, Ohio Department of Health and Department of Mental Health. DSA members also attended a public meeting of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health to bring up our concerns about anti-trans legislation. We made 345 phone calls and sent countless emails and public comment submissions. We engaged 58 DSA members and community members in this work. We also worked directly with Abortion Fund of Ohio on an education event. At the end of the authorization period for this activity, it was ultimately the lower Ohio courts that opted to block and stall the implementation of HB 68, and interest in mass action over the issue died down.

Cleveland DSA hosting a gender-affirming clothing swap at Rhizome House on March 16th 2024, where we also shared literature and presented on the threats to trans healthcare in Ohio.

We wanted to host a large scale demonstration occupying the Cuyahoga County Department of Health, this also did not happen. We hosted a smaller demonstration in the Cuyahoga County Board of Health parking lot where we distributed literature to the workers there. The culmination of the work on this project is a plan for a Trans Liberation Priority Project. While the authors of this proposal believe it holds untapped potential, they did not recommend it for approval due to a lack of developed leaders ready to take on the four elected roles; legislative researcher, project administrator, comms coordinator and membership coordinator. DSA new members and observers should note that although we do not have ongoing work in every issue-area we have experience and projects prepared for prioritization when chapter capacity and external circumstances align, we are ready and we need your help.

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