#YDSA

[a-very-tired-jew]

Rebranding, Rebranding, and more Rebranding

Something I have noticed over the course of this year is that many of the SJP groups that were behind the campus protests, and supported the larger off campus actions, have either dissolved and created a new group, dissolved and joined an already existing group, or rebranded.

If they rebranded or dissolved and reformed under a new name they typically went from SJP to PSC to AD. You can see the progression across social media where accounts for various university groups suddenly stop and others begin following this pattern. Each time it correlates with attention they don't want (e.g. the most recent being the outing of Samidoun as a terrorist front group and the organizer behind these college protests).

But now with the attention being brought towards who is funding and educating these groups and the resulting consequences, I'm seeing them dissolve and join others that align with their ideals. The most recent move is to join YDSA groups across campuses, which in turn have moved from being democratic socialist groups into full blown tankie ones*.

This is another trend I've noticed as groups that purported to be progressive socialist spaces have revealed that they were actually tankie spaces all along, and they were just hiding their more extremist radical positions under a veneer. As we've seen across this site, social media in general, and Leftist spaces, tankies are not friends to Jews and use Soviet era rhetoric to "disguise" their antisemitism behind claims of "anti-Zionism".

I'm saddened that YDSA groups have become this way and have embraced antisemitic propaganda and rhetoric, but I'm not surprised (which saddens me even more).

Part of me knows they're being manipulated by front groups who seek to manipulate their dissatisfaction with the USA, the West, and the world for their own goals. That these fronts are taking these young adults and focusing their fear, anger, empathy, and sympathy at a situation that has nothing to do with them. It's seeding in historical revisionism, conspiracy, antisemitism, and all sorts of hate into these groups by couching it within progressive language. It uses words like "genocide" and "oppressor" to play on the emotions of these young activists because they're big scary words that play to big emotions.

But I've also been around long enough to know that antisemitism is always just below the surface for many people. Yes they're being manipulated by terrorist front groups. But also, how many of them are saying hateful things they've heard throughout their lives? How many of them are just saying horrendous shit towards Jews in the diaspora and/or in Israel who have no power whatsoever regarding this war because they can? How many of them are just being hateful ignorant antisemites because now they can openly spout the conspiracies about Jews they've always believed because society taught them it was true but not okay to say until now?

Something will happen eventually, and I'm sure we'll see these young adult activists complain about it. But freedom of speech and the right to protest here does not mean freedom from consequences. So take a moment before you go and call a Jew a k***to their face and think.

*if your YDSA isn't this way, that's fine, I'm not speaking about yours then. I'm speaking in generalities and trends I've noticed across college campuses and through speaking with my colleagues. We don't focus on single points of data, but the general trend.

[jonatgan-official]

message from students in the West Bank in occupied Palestine, save & spread this message to all your orgs and as many people as possible!!!

[corythesaxon]

So the YDSA group I used to be an exec for went down hill. This group is supposed to be a socialist and democratic group. The new exec board consists of Communists and Tankies that are re-writing the RSO’s papers to be strictly Communist.

They had the audacity to talk to me like I am an outsider and mansplained to me that Tankie isn’t a real term.

[asthmatic-rheumatic]

I was there picketing last night!! It was a blast!! 🚩

Source

Let’s go!

[facelessoldgargoyle]

do you think if she stayed a warlord in Brockton Bay, Taylor would have developed a cult following? you got the beginning of one springing up on the message boards around the undersiders in general. that one user (don’t remember character name) who wanted to work for Bitch.

I think she would hate the attention, but I think she would also find a number of creative uses for them. Maybe if shit wasn’t so hostile with the PRT (or if they had other threats to worry about) she could have set up grassroots campaigns for influencing politics. Maybe Lisa would show up as a civilian to run these meetings.

What I’m saying is: Lisa would fucking crush it at the Young DSA.

[leftyllama]

YDSA con made biden drop out, you're hearing it here first folks

[pastinawitheggs]

two pieces for a fundraiser, more to come soon : )

[btvs3x21]

if you read any of my posts, please read this one.

lily (whose instagram account is snizdorg) is someone i know personally and have been politically organizing with irl for several months now in cal ydsa.

since august 2024, she's been conversing with and fundraising for sabreen (whose instagram account is sabreen_najm) and her daughter ruwaida. lily has not vetted them herself, but she can verify that they have been supported by orgs which can and do vet palestinians. she has also been in contact with sabreen for months and trusts her.

this is sabreen with ruwaida.

their goal is to evacuate from gaza to egypt and to seek critical medical treatment since her daughter was severely injured by an israeli bomb hitting their shelter.

here's one of sabreen's posts about her daughter's injury.

lily had helped sabreen and her family raise over $27,000 on gofundme when, without notice, their fundraiser was terminated on february 18th for allegedly violating the tos. just like that, all of those donations were rescinded in the blink of an eye.

here is what gofundme had to say when they terminated sabreen's fundraiser.

i believe that the world is a good place. i believe that the people in it care about others, even those we don't know. that's why i'm asking you to find whatever you can spare and donate it to sabreen and her daughter.

you can donate either here to sabreen's gogetfunding or to lily's paypal at lilygrodzins1.

for what it's worth, paypal is what sabreen and lily both trust more since crowdraising platforms can revoke the donations for no real reason. furthermore, donating via paypal cuts out the fee that crowdraising platforms take, meaning every penny goes to sabreen and her daughter.

[dadbodbucky]

fuck it chat i'm swinging the bat at the hornet's nest

911 characters and their political leanings*

* these are personal headcanons don't bite me unless it's sexy

bobby has been a registered democrat since the 90s. he believes in voting in every election, and since 2020 has made sure everyone in the station is registered to vote and votes not just for presidentials but also state, local, and school district elections (before 2020 he was too in his "i can't get attached this isn't a family this is a means to an end" feelings). he is very careful about not pressuring his subordinates into voting one way or the other, and believes in the power of impartiality and subjectivity.

athena is THE establishment democrat to me. she's pro-gay, pro-cop, law and order but ETHICALLY, please! she loooooves nancy pelosi.

may grant is a member of her college's YDSA. this is going to be the thing that makes athena go gray.

maddie is a white suburban democrat. this is entirely based on her vibes

i'm so sorry. buck is apolitical. he never feels like he knows enough on a topic to form an opinion. he asks bobby who to vote for in elections. he is an ally who thinks putting a rainbow emoji on his instagram is effective allyship.

i'm even more sorry. eddie diaz is socially liberal fiscally conservative. he thought he was a raging liberal when he was living in texas because he didn't hate gay people. he hasn't quite unpacked us imperialism yet.

chris (disabled, latino, at least two dads) is cooking a WICKED leftist philosophy tho and when he does eddie and buck will be forever changed. insert whitney chewston mama let's learn meme

hen and karen are both progressive democrats, karen being a little further left than hen. they're especially interested in lgbt+ rights, racial equality, and healthcare access. they frequently go to community events!

chim is full socdem. his bio dad was conservative (fuck him), and the lees were probably some flavor of center left. chim took after the lees until he read the socialist manifesto while he was trying to get his business degree (he dropped out but kept the book) and then he reread it every time gerrard pissed him off. hen and karen do have to drag him to events because he's an introvert however. (yes this one is wishful thinking. this is howard chimney han to ME)

tommy kinard: not enough data. likely some flavor of "reformed right of center" liberal, maybe even leftist?

gerrard: most normal trump voter

ravi: libertarian :/

[butchboromir]

relevant info: i think my campus's QSU is disorganized and the people who are active in the discord for it sometimes annoy me so i would be going to Observe what is up out of morbid curiosity. no clue what's up with the socialist thing it just got posted in the campus YDSA discord and i'm trying to go to more things. i have homework i need to finish but like, going to a social event won't kill my ability to do it

[edwad]

edwad as ydsa member who is very dsa critical i am curious how you engage with dsa

im an NPEC member (newly appointed to my 2nd term) and i do a lot of political education stuff with my chapter. i feel like being dsa-critical is just part of being in dsa lmfao but im in a pretty big chapter (boston) so its a bit easier to find people to work with who aren't so bad as opposed to when i was organizing in bama and any socialist group i could've worked with was maybe 10 people max. im not sure dsa is the vehicle for socialism or whatever but it allows you to meet people who you might do meaningful work with, maybe even outside of dsa if it comes down to it. i think thats worth it.

[moonlitlex]

hi. please pay attention to what is happening at purdue university encampment as well. the international students being targeted by admin are at risk of losing their visa status which would probably lead to them being deported. here is the guide to calling and emailing admin, for both community members and people outside of the purdue community. i believe they are not taking phone calls any longer but emails are still open.

you can follow ydsa purdue, sjp purdue, jvp indiana, and purdue alumni for palestine for updates.

[vergeofinsanity]

All my life i was told to walk down a middle path, to not speak too loudly, and not cause others to have to think too hard about things they dont want to

Now im in college. im on a diversity coalition exec board, im part of the YDSA, I am getting a political science degree with a women gender sexuality minor. im soon to add an organizational leadership major. Im setting myself up for a life of being loud, fighting, making change, and doing what is right.

And I am SO excited.

[arguablysomaya]

has ydsa ever actually been useful

[karinyosa]

columbia u is doing a tuition strike to get all columbia university schools to divest from zionist supporting companies. the admin of the columbia ydsa ig account (@columbiaydsa) offered to help my school organize our own strike if campus groups were interested when i asked if the strike was exclusive to columbia u schools (it is), so if anyone else is wants to do something similar, give them a shout. it sounds like they'd be happy to help + columbia has a history of tuition strikes so will probably be more informative than most

[milfstalin]

it's silly to expect from them but i still wish the ydsa chapter at my university was at least a little useful outside of planning marches lmao. or that the grad student union was better organized. or that there was any level of organization for the food & service staff. or that the average student gave a shit.