The Democratic Socialists of America: From Zionism to Anti-Zionism
- Ofek Kehila
- 13 hours ago
- 3 min read
Founded in 1982, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is today one of the biggest left-wing political organizations in the US. But how has an institution that was home to socialist Zionists become so hostile to the State of Israel? Let’s delve into the history of DSA and drastic political shifts of the DSA.
The Democratic Socialists of America
The Democratic Socialists of America was founded in 1982 as a partnership between two left-wing organizations: the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and the New American Movement (NAM). One of its founding members, political activist Michael Harrington (1928-1989), envisioned the DSA as a champion of social democracy, making it a home for diverse left-wing political agendas, such as democratic Marxism, religious socialism, and even Labor Zionism, the socialist variant of Zionism. Thus, advocates of a social democratic Jewish state worked together with Marxists, Fabians, religious socialists, and former communists to fight for workers’ rights, promote social ownership, and endorse progressive candidates in the Democratic Party.
DSA and Israel: The first years
DSA’s co-founder, Michael Harrington, was not only a firm believer in the capacity of socialism to bring about a positive change in US politics but also a strong supporter of the State of Israel. In an article from 1975, he defended Zionism and Israel’s right to exist while condemning the UN resolution equating Zionism with racism: “The basic fact is that Zionism – which I take to mean the philosophy of support for, and identification with, a Jewish homeland in Israel – is the national liberation movement of a Jewish people asserting their right to self-determination. If one preposterously charges that Zionism is racist, then so are all nationalisms that joined to condemn it at the UN. And that is to drain the concept of racism of any serious meaning.” Under Harrington’s leadership, the DSA was initially characterized by being inclusive of Labor Zionists, supportive of Israel, and opposing antisemitism and anti-Zionism.
From Zionism to anti-Zionism
However, after Harrington’s death from cancer in 1989, the DSA underwent major political and ideological changes. One of the most salient of these was a shift from a Zionist stance to a prominent anti-Zionist agenda.
On October 7, 2023, in the aftermath of Hamas’s deadly attack and slaughter of 1,200, mostly civilians, in southern Israel, the DSA issued a statement expressing solidarity with Palestine and stressing that the October 7 events were “a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime.” No words of support for the innocent victims or a condemnation of the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust were provided.
The DSA’s anti-Zionist position was further defined at its 2025 national convention, where a resolution calling for DSA members and elected officials to be expelled from the group if they give material support to Israel was passed. Members could even get expelled for statements like “Israel has a right to defend itself.” These resolutions align with anti-Zionist and antisemitic statements made by Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City and an endorsed member of the DSA.
Wrap up
Recent years have seen an anti-Zionist radicalization of an organization that once was home to Labor Zionists and supporters of Israel. With rising members such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialists of America is expected to become even more hostile to Israel in the future.
Asked how progressive Jews should respond when confronted with anti-Zionism and antisemitism on the Left, Harrington’s answer was “Obviously fight it… Insist on the right of Jewish self-determination.”
One of history’s ironies is that by today’s standards, the founding leader of DSA could have been expelled from the organization for his statements against antizionism and antisemitism.
Ofek Kehila (Israel, 1987) is a scholar of Spanish Golden Age literature and Latin American literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. His research bridges the gap between those traditions, highlighting their aesthetic, cultural, and historical dialogue. He holds a PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2022) and was a postdoctoral fellow at Freie Universität Berlin (2023-2025).