(This post is from November 8, 2023) For the last 11 weeks, our members have been on the ground talking to Houstonians all over the city about the importance of […]

The post Houston voters overwhelmingly pass Proposition A! appeared first on Houston DSA.

Students here in New York and across the country are staging protests and encampments on university campuses in solidarity with Palestinians under siege in Gaza for over 200 days. The student movements are united by a common call for their institutions to divest and boycott the state of Israel, companies, and institutions complicit in Israel’s occupation and ongoing genocide in Gaza. In response to this vast mobilization of students, the university administrations at Columbia, NYU, CUNY and elsewhere have handed out mass suspensions & even threats of expulsion to students involved in the encampments, in addition to unleashing NYPD to arrest students protesting peacefully on their campuses. Tonight, we will hear from the students themselves. We will hear from Britt, a student organizer at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at CUNY City College, about the ‘Five Demands’ of the students to the CUNY administration. We will also be joined in-studio by Erin, a student at NYU and a member of the National Coordinating Committee of YDSA, to hear the latest from the NYU encampment and what YDSA is doing to meet the national moment. 

 

*This episode was recorded at 7pm Tuesday night before the NYPD sweep and mass arrests of students at Columbia and CUNY. Go out and provide jail support for the arrested students & comrades opposing genocide at One Police Plaza  

 

Link to CUNY Gaza Solidarity Statement: https://twitter.com/cunygse/status/1785677626431934751/photo/1

In this episode, we sit with Dr. Tim Conder and Dr. Daniel Rhodes of the Black Mountain School of Theology and Community to discuss a marxist, community-centered mode of theological research, organizing, and education. Visit their website at https://blackmountainschool.org

The Democratic Socialists of America’s International Committee (DSA IC) affirms Iran’s right to self-defense in response to the illegal Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. DSA IC reiterates our firm opposition to providing any military or diplomatic assistance to the Zionist project, which is currently engaged in a genocidal campaign against the Palestinians and reckless attacks on neighboring states, posing a serious risk of escalating into a full-blown regional conflict. We oppose any U.S. participation in or support of Israeli strikes against Iran and denounce punitive measures such as sanctions and travel bans enacted by the Biden administration or Congress in response to Iran’s defensive strikes on Israel. 

Despite western attempts to paint Iran as the aggressor, DSA IC recognizes that Iran has long been targeted by the U.S. and its allies for its efforts to establish national self-determination and champion Palestinian liberation. Since the CIA-orchestrated overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953, the US and Israel have wrought war on the Iranian people by murdering millions in the Iran-Iraq war, carrying out regular assassinations of its leaders, scientists, and top-commanders on diplomatic missions, and depriving the Iranian people of necessary medical supplies through sanctions. This is part of the U.S.’s imperial policy: destruction and de-development against any country that exercises sovereignty or opposes U.S. hegemony. 

The Israeli Occupation Force’s (IOF) April 1st strike against the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, which killed at least 16 people including a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander, represents an extremely serious violation of international laws and norms governing diplomatic relations between states, including the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and 1963 Convention on Consular Relations. The Biden administration’s “iron-clad” support of the Zionist project has allowed Israel to operate with total impunity, resulting in gross violations of international humanitarian law and military provocations against regional allies of Palestinians which threaten to destabilize the whole of West Asia. 

Not only has the Biden administration refused to deescalate the current crisis with a denunciation of  the Israeli strikes on the Iranian consulate, but it also blocked the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) from doing so. Likewise, President Biden did not act on the purported Iranian offer to forgo a retaliatory strike on Israel in exchange for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. On April 13th, Iran launched a limited defensive strike against Israel, hitting several Israeli bases including the Netavim Air Base from which the attack on the Damascus consulate was launched. The strike was telegraphed in advance, allowing for ample preparation by Israel and the U.S. The strike’s success highlights the ability of Iran to defend itself against Zionist aggression and restore crucial deterrence against increasingly rogue Israeli actions. Additionally, the Iranian defensive strikes have helped to further undermine the mantle of invincibility which the Zionist project has constructed in order to allow its continual ethnic cleansing and genocide in their colonial occupation of Palestine. 

While it is reported that the Biden administration will not participate in Israeli strikes against Iran, continued statements of “iron-clad” support for Israel leave the door open for runaway escalation. With Israeli Occupation Forces crossing the Lebanese border in recent days, intensifying bombing of southern Lebanon, and their continued genocide in Gaza, Israel is dragging the U.S. into a larger death spiral. DSA IC reiterates our demands for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an end to all military aid to Israel and an end to sanctions against the people of Iran. The power to stop this genocide and end this rapidly escalating regional crisis remains in Biden’s hands. The Biden administration bears full responsibility for every death that follows. No war with Iran! Free Palestine!

The post DSA IC Affirms Iran’s Right to Self-Defense appeared first on DSA International Committee.

In this episode we meet Jonathan Soto, the DSA endorsed candidate running for New York State Assembly in the North East Bronx. Jonathan is a public school parent, an inter-faith organizer and a democratic socialist, campaigning to unseat longtime incumbent Michael Benedetto in Assembly District 82. 

On Tuesday, April 9th, the Board of El Paso County Commissioners unanimously voted to join Douglas County as co-plaintiffs in their lawsuit against the State of Colorado to repeal laws preventing state and local law enforcement from cooperating in federal immigration policing. This lawsuit is intended to strip immigrants of important protections that allow them to live lives of safety and dignity. 

The Colorado Springs Democratic Socialists of America strongly condemns this effort by the county to waste public resources in their ongoing attempts to scapegoat immigrants and create a local panic over non-existent crime. Such political posturing creates a dangerous local climate for immigrants as well as asylum seekers and distracts the public from the true sources of our economic distress: exploitative labor practices, unlivable wages, unaffordable housing and healthcare, and artificial inflation driven by corporate greed and political corruption. 

The El Paso County Board of Commissioners are also working closely with local law enforcement to further expand the police state through these efforts. If successful, this lawsuit will continue to siphon important public resources away from services and supports that enhance the quality of life for residents and into oppressive systems that punish poverty and breed injustice and inequality. As an abolitionist organization, DSA is committed to fighting all efforts to expand or reinforce the criminal injustice system and to uplifting life affirming institutions that center equity, human rights, and the dignity and worth of each person, regardless of where they come from. 

Colorado Springs DSA reaffirms our commitment to fighting state oppression in all its forms, and we stand in solidarity with immigrants and asylum seekers who come to this country fleeing the poverty and violence created by the United States’ history of economic, political, and military interference around the world. We believe that all people deserve lives of freedom, means, and leisure, and we continue to work towards a global movement built upon the principles of international working class solidarity. We welcome our migrant siblings and know that, when we work together, a better world is possible. 

The Colorado Springs Democratic Socialists of America strongly condemns the brutal attack on the National Garment Workers Federation by capitalist goons as the workers demanded Eid bonuses for workers  producing clothing for international brands. The goons attacked and injured leadership and many women who were out demanding fair compensation for the Eid holiday.

These workers create $30 billion in wealth for the country and yet struggle to live on 417 Taka per day (less than $4 a day, $113 a month). Garment workers protested for months demanding 22,000 Taka ($208) minimum wage, highlighting the wealth they create for the country, and yet the government refused to listen and settled on the lower minimum wage. Each year as workers celebrate the Eid holiday, garments workers rely on Eid bonuses to help with the costs of celebrations. This year as garment workers struggle to survive despite massive profits within the industry, the NGWF marched to demand that workers get their Eid bonuses. While they marched, they were brutally attacked. Despite this they have continued to demand they get their deserved Eid bonus and have marched in condemnation of the attacks. 

We send our support and solidarity and demand that workers get their Eid bonus and that the attackers are held accountable for their actions. We at the Democratic Socialists of America know that only a united global working class can take on the power of the global capitalists and we stand with workers whenever they struggle for higher wages, rights and dignity. 

Solidarity,

Colorado Springs DSA

If you’re interested in democratizing the economy then you’re going to need to build a social base capable of such a dramatic transformation of our way of life. The only way to shift the balance of power toward the working class is to build the labor movement. Organized labor remains weak in the United States with about 10 percent of all workers organized into unions. This number has dropped nearly 25 percent since the peak of the AFL-CIO during the 1950s following the incredible surge in organization in the mass production industries during the New Deal and World War II. What is to be done to demonstrate our strength in organized numbers? Today we continue our series with labor organizers here in New York City fighting to build unions in the service sector. We’ve already spoken with workers at Starbucks, Trader Joes, Barboncino’s, and Nitehawk. Now we’re joined by organizers from Partners Coffee Union who are attempting to form a collective organization that can improve their material interests.

Towards a Socialist Opposition in Florida

We are pleasantly surprised by the Florida Supreme Court’s decision to approve the abortion rights ballot initiative. This is our chance to strike a small but powerful blow against the police state oppression of pregnant Floridians. We can enshrine our right to abortion in the Florida Constitution.

Pinellas and Tampa DSA will join DSA’s statewide campaign for the initiative and do all that we can to contribute. You’ll see us canvassing, fundraising, and rallying together, fighting for reproductive freedom.

No matter what happens, we will affirm the inherent right of pregnant people to defy these atrocious abortion bans. We will continue to criticize the initiative where it does not go far enough, and connect working class people with the resources they need to live free.
We will survive this fascist cruelty with our dignity intact. Together in solidarity, we will build a socialist opposition in Florida!

Join DSA today!

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