On March 18th, 2022, the National Political Committee (NPC) of the Democratic Socialists of America officially dechartered the DSA’s BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group (WG). This disciplinary action constitutes the latest development in an antagonistic relationship between the WG and the highest political body of the DSA that most recently came to national attention during the WG-led call for DSA chapters to expel Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) for accepting a J Street political junket to Israel, slandering BDS, and voting for increased funding to Israel’s Iron Dome system. The NPC opposed expelling Bowman, even as individual chapters dissented from the NPC’s stance on the issue.

Dechartering means that the BDS and Palestine Solidarity WG has been disbanded. Members of its steering committee are ineligible to hold DSA national leadership positions for one year. Furthermore, the NPC has moved to ensure that future DSA Palestine work will be folded into the DSA’s International Committee, with leadership that is hand selected by the DSA NPC, as opposed to maintaining the autonomy to select and appoint leadership that had been previously enjoyed within the WG. To clarify, the DSA’s decision to dissolve the WG and instead have Palestine work be housed within its International Committee means that the DSA is actively disbanding its only working group exclusively dedicated to Palestine, and leaving it to its body tasked with international affairs to take up Palestine and BDS work amongst myriad other causes.