Democratic Socialists of America members angrily claimed over the weekend that the group’s New York City chapter cracked down on expressing pro-Hamas sentiment on social media.
The chapter’s leadership criticized a joint Instagram post from DSA groups last week that called the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel “resistance against imperialism,” asking for its removal, five Young DSA chapters alleged in a statement. The now-deleted post invited viewers to join an Oct. 7 City Hall protest against Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for supposedly failing the pro-Palestinian cause, the Washington Examiner previously reported.
“Along with objecting to a protest critical of Mayor Mamdani, a chapter elected official, the NYC-DSA Steering Committee took issue with the use of an inverted red triangle and Arabic text in the post, which they described as ‘pro-Hamas dogwhistles,’” the YDSA groups said. “YDSA Steering members were told explicitly that chapter leadership was considering removing funding from NYC-YDSA or stripping our organization of representation on NYC-DSA Steering as repercussions.”
DSA’s New York City chapter did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
In addition to endorsing the protest, three of the five dissenting groups jointly shared the pro-Oct. 7 post before two removed themselves, archived webpages show.
“October 7th marks three years since resistance against imperialism changed the fate of our world forever,” the initial post said. An accompanying graphic showed Arabic text next to the English words, “glory to the martyrs, victory to the resistance.” Other local activist groups endorsed the planned Oct. 7 protest beyond DSA.
MAMDANI’S ANTISEMITISM PLAN INCLUDES PROGRAM CO-LED BY CONTROVERSIAL ARAB GROUP
Mamdani faced criticism from DSA allies and critics for his response to the Hamas invasion’s anniversary. Israel supporters said he falsely equated the Jewish state with Hamas, while participants in the Wednesday City Hall protest accused him of not advocating strongly enough for Palestinians, according to multiple reports.
“No one can pressure us into forsaking our principles, and no politician will ever be above the socialist movement,” the YDSA chapters said over the Instagram controversy. “We will continue to fight for a world free of oppression, occupation, and genocide. INTIFADA UNTIL VICTORY!”