Documents Show Activists Readying Hard Left Agenda For NYC

By Jerry Dunleavy | Just the News

Aself-described “democratic socialist” will now govern New York City, capitalism’s hub in America and the free world, and Just the News has obtained internal plans from the Democratic Socialists of America detailing how the NYC-DSA branch that Zohran Mamdani belongs to intends to pressure him to inject arguably extreme anti-Israel policies into the management — and life — of the Big Apple.

Mamdani, who defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa on Tuesday, has been a longtime DSA member and leader, and he is listed as one of the group’s nine “New York State Socialists in Office.” The DSA helped Mamdani win the Democratic primary in June and the mayorality on Tuesday, but Mamdani sought to distance himself from the DSA’s socialist and revolutionary platform during the mayor’s race — something, according to Politico, the NYC branch of the socialist group gave him public cover to do.

The list of DSA demands on Mamdani

The “Socialists in Office” website says that it is a group of “DSA endorsed elected officials that works together in the New York State legislature to advance a socialist vision for working class people across our state” — and features Mamdani. A recently unearthed clip from 2023 shows Mamdani telling the DSA national conference — which he was the keynote speaker for — that “when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it has been laced by the IDF.”

Just the News obtained an internal planning document from the NYC-DSA’s Anti-War Working Group (AWWG) which shows the group has spent weeks plotting how to pressure the new Mamdani administration to carry out their socialist “demands” — including demands to push an anti-Israel agenda at New York City Hall.

The document from the group, obtained by Just the News, is titled “AWWG Palestine Policy Meeting Meeting Agenda & Notes” — and it contains the internal plans of the DSA working group. The document was obtained when a Just the News reporter used his real name to RSVP to an AWWG meeting that was listed as open to the public. 

This reporter was sent a Zoom link to join, and a Google document containing the AWWG strategy document, reproduced below, was publicly shared in the Zoom chat. The link to the document has since been disabled.

Mamdani has been supported by so-called “fact-checkers” and legacy media in denying that he is a Communist — but his oft-repeated past comments strongly contradict his denials. Mamdani is a member of the DSA, but he denies that he is a Communist.

The Mamdani campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The DSA national organization, the NYC-DSA, and the NYC-DSA AWWG all did not immediately respond to requests for comment as well.

The Anti-Israel “demands” for “Zohran administration”

The NYC-DSA’s AWWG says that it is “dedicated to countering U.S. imperialism and resisting U.S. regime-change operations and interventions in foreign wars and conflicts.”

You can read that document here:

• NYC-DSA AWWG Strategy Document

The “agenda” for the Sunday meeting included a plan to “review policy/demands document draft” and to “assign researcher/writer to each policy peace.”

The apparent anti-Israel demands for a Mamdani administration from the DSA working group included: 

• “Divest City pension funds from Israeli bonds and securities,” 
• “Withdraw City funds from banks that lend money to Israel or do business in Israel,” 
• “End City contracts with companies that do business with Israel,” 
• “Operate City-run grocery stores free from Israeli products,”
• “Investigate real estate agents hosting illegal sales of stolen lands in the West Bank,” 
• “Evict weapons manufacturers and transporters from the NYC Metro Area,” 
• “Divest CUNY endowment and reinstate wrongly fired professors,” 
• “Dismantle Eric Adam’s NYC-Israel economic council,” 
• “End repression of demonstrators and the SRG [the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group],” 
• “Remove non-profit status from charities that raise funds for IDF,” “End NYPD training with IOF,” and 
• “Arrest Netanyahu and active IDF soldiers for war crimes.”

The IDF is the Israeli Defense Forces, while “IOF” is an acronym for a derogatory term for the IDF, disparagingly referring to them as the “Israeli Occupation Forces.” The internal DSA working group document also included notes on prior meetings over the past couple months.

Notes from the NYC-DSA AWWG from Oct. 19 said that the “Demand/Policy document first page will list all the demands” and that it “can serve as the basis/tool for the work we want to do within DSA and outside.” The notes from that meeting also claimed that “DSA’s stance on Palestine is not strong” and that “this campaign could be a way to consolidate member support for Palestine.”

Notes from the NYC-DSA AWWG from Sept. 23 detail a “policy discussion around [a] Zohran administration.” The working group laid out “our top priorities” including a repetition of many of the aforementioned anti-Israel ideas, including arguing that “NYC/US not part of ICC but can still honor ICC warrants and arrest foreign nationals” such as Netanyahu.

The working group noted the existence of an “Anti War Policy for Zohran Signal Chat” and the notes asked “how will we implement” their desired anti-Israel agenda in NYC. 

Ideas included “track/stay active on appointments” and to “pressure him [Mamdani] to staff with people whose values are aligned.” The notes also called to “leverage Zohran campaign/canvassing infrastructure” and to argue that “electoralism in DSA is anti-imperialism because “canvassers care about Palestine, many there because of Palestine,” and so the group should “reach out to canvass leads, share these demands.”

DSA has become increasingly anti-Israel — and demands fealty from members

“Plan and push forward through conflict with political priorities,” the NYC-DSA AAWG notes said. “Make it clear to electeds that if they want our support, our priorities matter. Make the terms clear going in, public statement on 1st day. However focus on policies and actions, not statements in response to bad faith questions from press.”

The DSA’s national platform’s section on foreign policy focuses first on Palestine, saying, “Free Palestine. An immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to military and economic aid, and weapons sales to Israel, respect of the authority of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and national sovereignty for the Palestinian people.”

The second item on the DSA national platform calls to “End the U.S. War Machine. Greatly reduce the U.S. military budget, close overseas bases, and bring troops home.”

The DSA’s national convention in August passed a resolution “For a Fighting Anti-Zionist DSA.”

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