Solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation is at the heart of our socialist movement. To reflect our core anti-Zionist values, DSA has adopted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) framework as well as Resolution 22: For a Fighting Anti-Zionist DSA. We welcome Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s new commitment to opposing all military funding to Israel and the IHRA definition of antisemitism. But given her inconsistencies, we are not confident in her alignment with our anti-Zionist principles. 

The most recent example was when less than 24 hours after the NYC-DSA re-endorsement forum where she committed to voting against any military aid to Israel—a demand put forward by over 300 NYC-DSA members in a pledge shared by Emerge—AOC released a statement to The New York Times where she affirmed her previously stated support for the Iron Dome, saying that “the Israeli government is well able to fund the Iron Dome system, which has proven critical to keep innocent civilians safe from rocket attacks and bombardment.”

The Iron Dome provides Israel with the technological supremacy it needs to commit genocide in Gaza and indiscriminately attack neighboring countries including Iran, Lebanon, and Yemen with virtually no fear of reprisal. The difference between “defensive” and “offensive” weapons is a false distinction; it is the drastic imbalance in firepower that materially enables Israel to advance its settler-colonial project.

Any legitimation of the Iron Dome is by definition a legitimation of Zionism. And any material support for the Iron Dome—whether through funding, financing, or sales—is by definition material support for Zionism. The Iron Dome could not exist without US funding. Since 2011, the US has committed over $2 billion to the Iron Dome—Israel possesses neither the productive capacity nor the sheer volume of funds to maintain it alone. Israel cannot finance the Iron Dome without the US funding its production. A commitment to “no funding” must include no Iron Dome, whether sold or given. 

We presented the Representative with clear, straightforward demands and she has agreed to them in letter, but not in the spirit of BDS. A politician who resists liberal pressure and uses their platform to fight to stop the flow of all weapons to Israel, who speaks clearly about their stances and intentions, is one we can trust to help build our socialist future. AOC has fractured that trust and has yet to fully rebuild it. Therefore at this time we cannot ask any member of NYC-DSA to vote yes on her re-endorsement.

We have seen how liberation movements fighting imperialism and local organizers working tirelessly in solidarity have shifted the tides and in turn supported officials in shifting their stances. We are one movement, and as DSA members we will continue to organize for our Socialists in Office to take stronger stances on Palestine and for a cohesive model of partyist governance.