Local socialists issue ‘follow-up’ on their pro-Hamas public statement
The local Twin Cities chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (TCDSA) issued a follow-up today to their incendiary statement backing Hamas issued on Monday.
The original statement is still up on their website. Not one word of it has been changed. It continues to call for Israel to be wiped off the map, “From the River to the Sea.”
Also still up on the TC DSA website is a 2022 statement supporting the anti-Israel BDS movement and a 2019 statement supporting Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (DFL-MN05) antisemitism.
The subject seems to be a blind spot for the organization. In 2022, the TC DSA political fund reports spending a little over $12,000. Almost all of that amount was spent in an unsuccessful effort to unseat sitting DFL state Sen. Sandy Pappas of St. Paul in the party primary. Pappas is Jewish.
Most of the money to oppose Pappas ($10,000) was provided by a New York-based labor union. The DSA candidate in that race is an official in the local chapter of that union.
In 2021, DSA endorsed a candidate in Minneapolis to run against incumbent DFL mayor Jacob Frey, who is also Jewish. Frey was reelected with the DSA candidate finishing third.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune provides some context for today’s follow-up,
Minnesota DFL chair Ken Martin, Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and nine Jewish state legislators issued public statements condemning the Twin Cities DSA’s original remarks. The DSA is a separate organization from the DFL and to its left on the political spectrum, but some DSA-backed candidates have also won DFL endorsements in races for the Minneapolis City Council this year.
It’s not just this year or just the city council. TC DSA also endorsed candidates in 2022, two of whom now sit in the MN state Senate. Democrats control the state senate by a one-seat, 34-33 majority, made possible by the two DSA senators representing Minneapolis. Without the DSA backing, Democrats could not have moved their radical agenda through this year’s state legislative session.
Currently, there are three members of the DSA serving on the Minneapolis City Council and one member serving on the St. Paul city council. In addition, there are two DSA-endorsed representatives currently serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives, one each from Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Including endorsements from 2021, TC DSA has endorsed a total of fourteen (14) candidates, not one of whom has criticized the organization for its stance on Israel.
The latest follow-up from DSA should do little to quell the controversy. The group still does not recognize the right of Israel to exist as a nation. Unlike the original statement, the follow-up mentions Hamas by name and condemns their attack on civilians.
Curiously, for an organization with the name “America” in its title, no mention is made of the 27 Americans confirmed killed (so far) by Hamas with others being held hostage by the terrorist group.
Later in the follow-up, the DSA suggests that any criticism of their position “is racist and Islamophobic.” Read the whole thing along with the original statement, their basic position remains unchanged.
We look forward to the clarification of the clarification.