MUG on the NPC Vol. 2
Sup comrades! Welcome to Volume 2 of MUG on the NPC, our post-NPC meeting report series, covering our work to advance DSA’s anti-imperialist platform, position DSA as a leader in the fight for democracy, and transform DSA into an independent mass socialist party.
In this edition, we’ll be covering:
Palestine: Our work to hold the NPC accountable to our convention-decided platform and how DSA can help build a pro-Palestine mass movement.
Unity in Diversity: What it is, why it matters in DSA, and our ask of members.
Robin Wonsley: Why we voted yes on her national endorsement.
On Palestine
Politically, we believe Palestine cannot be free under an apartheid system, with colonial borders preventing the free movement of its people. This necessitates a single, plurinational republic with equal rights for all of its inhabitants, rather than a two-state solution under the illusion of a separate but equal policy. Our movement must commit itself to the full decolonization of Palestine and the democratic empowerment of its people. Our primary task as socialists in the belly of the beast is to struggle against US imperialism, which requires dismantling the anti-democratic rule of the presidency and Senate and dissolving our standing military, establishing a new republic with the right to self-determination for oppressed people within our current borders.
While we work toward winning members to our politics, we ground our immediate work in DSA’s platform sections on Palestinian liberation:
“Support self-determination for the Palestinian people and a political solution to the current crisis premised on the guarantee of basic human rights, including an end to the military occupation, an end to discrimination against Palestinians within Israel, and the right of return of refugees, as outlined in the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.”
“Discontinue US support of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people, including an end to all military aid and resisting the “normalization” of relations between the Israeli government and other governments.”
“Stand in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against apartheid, colonialism, and military occupation, and for equality, human rights, and self-determination, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.”
When the NPC makes decisions on statements, we must return to the tenets of our platform, rather than working within the framework Zionist media wants us to. However, messaging alone will not make these demands a reality. Our solidarity will be through building a pro-Palestine majority in the working class and a fighting mass movement, not just releasing statements. One potential route we’ve identified is making Palestinian solidarity a core part of our national campaigns, like the For Our Rights committee. The “our” in our rights must include the rights of the global working class, and the fight against the right is a global one that includes fighting Zionism.
On Unity in Diversity
What it means: Unity in diversity means working together as comrades to follow the democratic decisions of the Convention and the NPC, while highlighting our differences and encouraging open debate and freedom of criticism. We are committed to working within DSA and following the will of the membership and the NPC, but will always be open with our politics and work to win people toward our perspective. So long as a decision is made democratically, we are committed to unity in action.
Why it matters within DSA right now: The political tensions within the organization around the Palestine question will likely increase as Zionist repression and the Palestinian resistance develop in the coming months. With this rise in tension, it will be vital that we, as NPC members, accept democratically made decisions as legitimate and aid in their implementation. At the same time, the NPC must not repeat the prior term’s rule or ruin attitude toward members like the BDS Working Group, punishing them for voicing dissent, and MUG will work to fight bureaucratic suppression of criticism.
Our ask of members: We empathize with those comrades who feel DSA is beyond repair because of its friction with sections of the Palestinian solidarity movement and some chapters retracting their statements in the face of Zionist pressure. Rather than leave, we ask you to join us in continuing to struggle for an anti-colonial socialist movement within DSA. Because members have a right to criticize leadership and form factions, struggle is possible within DSA, unlike within a top-down sect or disorganized movement. We can organize around our vision and win members to it, gaining ground just as we did at the 2023 Convention. Unity in diversity is our path, and an unreservedly anti-Zionist DSA is our goal.
On comrade Robin Wonsley
After voting against a number of recent national endorsements, we were motivated to vote yes on endorsing Comrade Robin Wonsley in Minneapolis, who is running for re-election to city council as an independent in opposition to the Democratic Party, running openly and outwardly as a democratic socialist, and rejects a legislative strategy rooted in horse-trading.
The Act Like a Party resolution passed by Convention is a major consideration in our endorsement decisions. While explicitly addressed to the National Electoral Commission, the NPC should be accountable to clauses like “wherever possible, establish an independent identity from the Democratic Party in the public consciousness. This includes running our candidates explicitly and proudly as ‘democratic socialists’ and developing our own ‘party identity’ and common messaging. A common identity will unite all our candidates across the country. It will emphasize the existence of DSA as an independent political project from the Democratic and Republican Parties that working-class people can identify with and think of as an alternative to the two parties.”
What’s going on in the caucus?
We’ve assembled the MUG Kitchen Cabinet we mentioned towards the end of Volume 1 of MUG on the NPC, so please welcome:
Annie (River Valley DSA)
Curtis (New York City DSA)
Aliyah (Sioux Empire DSA OC)
Nick (Lower Hudson Valley DSA)
Lucas (Seattle DSA)
This team made this edition of MUG on the NPC, and our most recent joint statement with Red Star possible.
