Triangle DSA stands firmly in support of Palestinian Liberation. Our chapter is staunchly anti-zionist and anti-imperialist. We also find it essential to engage in a practice that is rooted in the rich history of resistance to colonial projects. In light of the recent implementation of a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, we find it all the more important to emphasize the importance of anti-colonial struggle and an end to the occupation with full rights and liberties to Palestinians as the true goal of this movement.
This article will cover the theory that guides our practice through an exposition on the South African Anti-Apartheid movement and its connection to the Palestinian Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement. We will then cover the direct ways in which TDSA has put this theory into practice through campaigns, commitments, and material changes in our communities. We call on all comrades committed to Palestinian Liberation to join us in this member-led work, and sign our pledge to boycott Israeli products in our communities.
Section I - The importance of being anti-zionist
Zionism is a nationalist movement that seeks to establish a Jewish ethnostate. Though other locations were initially considered during Zionism’s ideological formation in the 19th century, Palestine was ultimately chosen as the site for this colonial project. Zionism historically emerged in response to the severe deprivation, discrimination, and antisemitism that Jewish communities experienced across Eastern and Western Europe, and it relied on the imperial powers such as the UK, France, and later the US for financial, ideological and military support for this colonization (1, 2, 3). From the outset, Zionism was conceived as a settler colonial movement, which expels Palestinians from their land through ethnic cleansing, extermination, and expropriation. It is intent on rendering Palestinian lives unlivable through occupation, siege, policing, infrastructural and legal apartheid, and maiming (4,5,6). As a political, economic, and sociocultural ideology that operates transnationally, Zionism seeks continuous expansion through warmaking, proliferation of settlements on Palestinian territories, and eradication of Palestinian identity, history, memory, and culture (7).
Because Zionism claims to represent all Jews, it erases non-European Jewish experiences and other ways of being Jewish that were historically formed in entanglement with Muslims and Arabs (8). The ideological machine of Zionism is supported by donors and committed politicians, pro-Zionist think tanks and media, religious institutions such as evangelical churches in the US, and cultural practices such as birthright trips to Israel (9). Apart from liberal political circles across the globe, the Israeli government has forged relationships with the far-right leaders and movements in apartheid South Africa and some Latin American countries, and it has found ideological support among Hindu nationalists, Christian militias in Lebanon, and forces that are deeply antisemitic (10).
In the DSA, we do not support Zionism. To take an anti-Zionist stance is to speak and act against the racist violence of the ethno-nationalist state, unleashed with brutality and impunity on the Palestinian people, land, culture, and future and propped up by colonial logics and imperialist calculations of the global powers such as the US. To be an anti-Zionist also means to call for the end of continuous Nakbah, or the catastrophe for Palestinians; to demand the end of war on Palestinian children; and to advocate for the end of illegal occupation of Palestine and Israel’s expansionist ambitions in the region. To challenge Zionism is to pursue the creation of a space where Palestinians and Jews will collectively flourish in peace, safety, and justice (11).
To be an anti-Zionist does not mean to be anti-Semitic. The dangerous and purposeful conflation between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism stifles any critique of the Israeli state’s policies, while diverting attention from the objective rise in anti-Semitism in many societies across the globe (12). Leftist politicians, academics, and religious and secular Jews who have spoken for peace, justice, and liberation in Palestine have been viciously attacked (13). This is a deeply concerning trend because it undermines critique, threatens academic and other democratic freedoms, and continues to render Palestinian—and Jewish—lives unsafe (14).
Section II - Anti-zionism in practice: The Origins of the BDS Movement
Resistance to Zionism as a racist, imperialist, and colonial ideology takes many forms. One of the most widespread globally is the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction movement, or BDS. It calls for an end to the occupation, the recognition of equal rights of Palestinians in their homeland, as well as ensuring the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland. BDS emerged as a tactic in 2005 and calls for a full consumer boycott of Israel across food, culture, and academia; institutional divestment from Israeli corporations complicit in apartheid; and governmental sanctions that would end military or free-trade agreements with Israel (15).
This strategy of exerting grassroots financial pressure on entities violating human rights is not new. The BDS movement drew much inspiration directly from the South African Anti-Apartheid Movement, or AAM. Boycott campaigns against the South African apartheid regimes began in 1959 when the African National Congress issued calls to boycott the regime until compliance with a set of demands. This was done in conjunction with other tactics of advocating for international pressure and several armed resistance campaigns. Combined, this strategy had effects both inside and outside of apartheid South Africa. On the inside, millions of workers participated in general strikes, civil disobedience, and sabotage (16). Abroad, diaspora South Africans launched campaigns to boycott and take direct action against companies like Shell Oil who were operating with the apartheid regime. All of this worked to demonstrate the collective power of the South African people and forced the regime to grant them a seat at the negotiating table. From there, the non-white population was granted the right to vote and elected the ANC to power (17).
While this was not an absolute victory, and racial inequality in South Africa still exists, especially in civil and military sectors, we have learned valuable lessons from the AAM. However, the unique context surrounding the Palestinian cause should also be considered. In South Africa, the Black labor force represented the vast majority of the economy, whereas Israel’s globalized economic sectors, exploitation of the labor of Ethiopian Jews (18), and heavy restrictions on the issuing of labor permits for Palestinians (19) mean that the efficacy and potentiality of a mass general strike is weakened. The ANC reached a similar conclusion leading to its adoption of a line of armed struggle, as heavy suppression of strikes meant they “could no longer be effectively employed as an instrument of mass struggle” (20). Similarly, Islamophobia and Zionism’s toxic ideology being widespread means moral appeals against the apartheid regime are an uphill battle. The United States’ direct imperialist resource incentive in the region for its oil and natural gas resources means that it would never support sanctions, as evidenced by their repeated vetoing of UN resolutions (21). This of course does not mean that we should give up the fight. We should apply scientific socialism and learn from history.
Section III - Anti-zionism in practice: How Triangle DSA has fought Zionism with BDS Actions
Support for Palestine grew across DSA in the mid to late 2010s. In 2017, DSA joined the global call for BDS at the national convention when a vote in favor of a Palestine-focused resolution passed. This vote was a historical turning point for the organization, marking the first time it came out publicly in support of Palestinian liberation and against Zionism. The vote also led to the creation of the DSA BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group, which, following a strong recruitment period from 2019 to 2021, included several members of Triangle DSA. However, due to internal friction within the DSA, the BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group separated itself from the larger DSA organization, but DSA still holds space for Palestine organizing under the International Committee.
Before any of the steps taken to acknowledge the struggle for Palestinian freedom happened within the larger DSA organization, Triangle DSA was making moves to support and actively engage in Palestinian liberation, cementing our work on local Palestine organizing and support for Palestinian liberation at the local level. In coalition with ten other organizations, Triangle DSA organized with the Demilitarize Durham2Palestine campaign to end police exchanges between Israel and the city of Durham. The work culminated into a historic win at our city level when Durham voted in favor of banning police exchanges with Israel, and became the first city ever to ban police exchanges with Israel.
But it didn’t end there. Momentum grew after the win, and people and organizations reached out to join the coalition as the movement for Palestinian solidarity grew at the local level. The coalition continued Palestine organizing at this local level while Palestine organizing was growing at the national scale through the BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group. One of the campaigns that the Working Group produced, among many other valuable resources, is the No Appetite for Apartheid (NA4A) Campaign. In 2024, this campaign gained traction at our local Triangle DSA chapter level and a group from our International Solidarity Working Group formed to work on the campaign across our cities. With much success in the first year, 16 stores across the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, and other towns in between) promised to boycott Israeli goods and products by not purchasing and selling items from Israel. The Triangle soon saw NA4A posters hung on windows across the region indicating the stores’ proud boycott of Israeli goods.
This local campaign is ongoing and growing momentum. It is our intention to continue to build public support for the boycott and use that to pressure even larger stores into changing their stocking practices. We believe that it is through this collective action that we can exert direct economic pressure on the apartheid regime, striking at nearly $300 million U.S spends on import of Israeli food products (22).
Section IV - Anti-zionism in practice: How Triangle DSA rejects Zionism internally
Alongside this direct action campaign, DSA members across the country were organizing to pass a resolution to explicitly commit to anti-zionism in principle and practice. This was driven in response to certain DSA-endorsed elected officials taking action that contradicted our values. For example, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez voted “present” instead of “nay” on a resolution to fund Israel’s Iron Dome military defense system (23). More recently, she voted to adopt the IHRA’s definition of anti-semitism, which considers any criticism of Israel as anti-semitic (24). The DSA resolution put forth that Zionism, being imperialist, racist, and colonialist, has no place in DSA. In turn, it proposed that candidates seeking DSA endorsement must pledge: to support BDS, to not platform or receive money from Zionist lobbying groups, to support legislation that promotes Palestinian liberation (such as sanctions on Israel and calls for ceasefire), and to oppose legislation that harms Palestinians (such as sending military resources or adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism). The resolution also proposed members of DSA who engage in Zionist behavior, (such as consistent public opposition to Palestine and BDS, material support or affiliation the Israeli government, Zionist lobbying groups, or settler NGOs) would be considered in substantial disagreement with DSA’s principles and thus eligible for expulsion.
This resolution was brought forth to the 2024 National Political Convention, but it was heavily amended before getting passed. The amendments included the removal of the expulsion clause and mechanisms for enforcing the standards against endorsed officials. This sparked a wave among local DSA chapters to pass a local, unamended version of the resolution. Triangle DSA in particular had already passed a BDS resolution in 2022 that affirmed our chapter’s support of BDS and required that our endorsed candidates do so materially as well or risk censure by our steering committee. We saw supporting an Anti-Zionist resolution as a means to bolster and add new restrictions of candidates on members in light of trends at the national level. This resolution was brought forth to our general body meeting in September and passed unanimously with one abstention.
The moment we are in calls for us to be explicit with our stances. When Palestinian voices are being silenced and racist ideologies are being touted as sanctified through conflation with religion, the harm caused by toeing the line is greater and greater. It is clear that Zionism is a racist, imperialist, and colonialist ideology that has no place among those who reject genocide and apartheid. We stand alongside a rich history of resisting such colonial projects and call on you to join us. Pledge to boycott Israeli products. Join our DSA chapter to get involved in local organizing for Palestinian Liberation. Together we can turn the Triangle into an apartheid-free zone.
Citations
1. Khalidi, R., 2020. The hundred years' war on Palestine: A history of settler colonialism and resistance, 1917–2017. Metropolitan Books.
2. Erakat, N., 2020. Justice for some: Law and the question of Palestine. Stanford University Press.
3. Awad, S. ed., 2020. Palestine: A Socialist Introduction. Haymarket Books.
4. Puar, J. 2017. The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability. Duke University Press.
5. Bhungalia, L. 2023. Elastic Empire: Refashioning War through Aid in Palestine. Stanford University Press.
6. Weizman, E., 2024. Hollow land: Israel’s architecture of occupation. Verso books.
7. Middle East Eye. 2024. Israel: Settler group advertises new properties in southern Lebanon. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-settler-group-advertises-new-properties-southern-lebanon
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10. Loewenstein, A. 2024. Israel and Apartheid South Africa Were the Closest of Friends. Jacobin.
11. Pappe, I. 2024. Ten Myths about Israel. Verso.
12. Pappe, I., 2022. A history of modern Palestine. Cambridge University Press.
13. Hill, M.L. and Plitnick, M., 2021. Except for Palestine: The limits of progressive politics. The New Press.
14. Bailey, C. 2023. Reports of antisemitism, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias continue to surge across the US, new data shows. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/11/us/adl-cair-hate-crimes-bias-incidents-reaj/index.htm
15. Palestinian Civil Society. https://bdsmovement.net/call
16. African National Congress, 1969. Strategy and Tactics of the ANC. https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/anc/1969/strategy-tactics.htm
17. Kemp, Stephanie, 2012. The British Anti-Apartheid Movement https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/british-anti-apartheid-movement
18. Semyonov, M., Raijman, R., Maskileyson, D. 2015. Ethnicity and Labor Market Incorporation of Post-1990 Immigrants in Israel. Springer Nature
19. Masarwa, L., MacDonald, A. 2023. Gaza workers in Israel stranded after permits revoked. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-gaza-workers-permits-revoked
20. African National Congress, 1969. Strategy and Tactics of the ANC. https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/anc/1969/strategy-tactics.htm
21. Al Jazeera Staff. 2024. US vetoes UN Security Council resolution demanding Gaza ceasefire https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/20/us-vetoes-un-security-council-resolution-demanding-gaza-ceasefire
22. World Integrated Trade Solution. 2022. Food Products Exports by Israel. https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/ISR/Year/2022/TradeFlow/Import/Partner/All/Product/16-24_FoodProd
23. Uddin, R. 2021. AOC faces backlash for crying, but not voting, over bill to fund Israel's Iron Dome https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-iron-dome-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-aoc-present-condemned Middle East Eye
24. Nassar, T., Abunimah, A. 2024 AOC votes to back Israel lobby’s bogus “anti-Semitism” definition. https://electronicintifada.net/content/aoc-votes-back-israel-lobbys-bogus-anti-semitism-definition/50066 Electronic Intifada