The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) group has withdrawn its conditional endorsement of New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, saying she has not been sufficiently supportive of Palestinian efforts to end the war between Israel and Hamas.
in Wednesday’s NoteDSA praised Ocasio-Cortez’s “courageous stand on Palestine” but took issue with some of her recent actions, such as her panel with leaders of the Jewish Public Affairs Council, which the group said is a lobbyist that supports the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism.
“This sponsorship is a profound betrayal of all those who in recent months and decades have risked their well-being to fight Israeli apartheid and genocide through political and direct action,” the DSA said in a statement.
Once seen as one of the most outspoken progressives in the Democratic Party, Ocasio-Cortez is now criticized by those who want to end the Gaza war for her support for President Biden and funding for Israel.
In June, DSA’s national political committee voted to endorse Ocasio-Cortez on the condition that she publicly oppose all funding to Israel, sit on DSA committees, publicly oppose the criminalization of anti-Zionism, and publicly support efforts to end Israeli settler-colonialism.
The group said thousands of its members spoke out about the prospects for national support for the New York congresswoman.
The DSA said its members supported Ocasio-Cortez because of her “many brave stands for Palestine,” but also hoped she would demonstrate a “higher level of commitment” to “Palestinian liberation” and the more than 38,000 Palestinians killed in the ongoing war in Gaza.
“DSA’s national support entails a serious commitment to the Palestinian movement and our collective socialist project,” DSA said, adding that “to build a socialist movement that can defeat capitalism, we must demand more from the leadership of our movement.”
DSA said its national political committee “received a request from the NYC-DSA SC to withdraw its endorsement of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez” earlier this week.
“As we have seen no evidence that Ms. AOC meets these conditions, and at the request of the NYC-DSA SC, the NPC is withdrawing its conditional endorsement of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but our NYC chapter will continue to support her,” the group wrote.
Ocasio-Cortez defeated 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) in the 2018 Democratic primary. At 29 years old at the time, she became the youngest and first woman elected to the DSA’s Assembly, along with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
The Hill has reached out to Ocasio-Cortez for comment.
