NEW YORK — The Democratic Socialists of America is coming apart at the seams.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman let his membership lapse. Colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ripped the New York chapter over a pro-Palestinian rally Sunday. And others on the left are struggling to reconcile their views with the group — even disavowing it amid criticism from across the political spectrum.
The reckoning for the DSA in the wake of Hamas’ attacks on Israel could mark a realignment at the extreme end of the Democratic Party. Progressive politicians looking for an endorsement from the DSA have long faced a Middle East litmus test, answering questions about whether they’ll boycott Israel and if they back Palestinians “living under occupation.”
The brutality Saturday — violence of a greater scope and intensity than earlier Israeli-Palestinian clashes — has shaken some who had been boosted by the DSA. And the blowback has been felt across Congress, statehouses and city halls where the party has made inroads.
In Michigan, Rep. Shri Thanedar officially renounced his DSA membership, saying in a statement Wednesday that he won’t “associate with an organization unwilling to call out terrorism in all its forms.”
In Los Angeles, DSA-endorsed City Council member Nithya Raman rejected the group’s rhetoric late Tuesday, saying a national DSA statement on the attacks “failed to reckon with the horrors committed by Hamas and was unacceptably devoid of empathy for communities in Israel.”
In New York, the DSA lost one of its most prominent members in Bowman, a vocal critic of the Israeli government. His spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that he let his membership expire last year following disagreements on funding Israel’s missile defense system.
The bloodshed and budding war in Israel are shining a brighter spotlight on tensions between the often younger, left-leaning DSA-backed politicians and their mainstream Democratic colleagues.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman said he has split from the Democratic Socialists of America last year, while fellow New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has criticized the group for backing a rally in Times Square that turned antisemitic.
