Democratic Socialists of America platform backs Palestinian ‘right to resist’

The far-left Democratic Socialists of America movement launched a “national program” this week that backs the Palestinian “right to resist,” and calls for drastic changes to US governance.

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the home base of leftists like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The movement has won a string of election victories in recent weeks, upsetting incumbents in New York and Colorado.

The DSA announced on Tuesday its national program, called “Workers Deserve More,” calling the outline the movement’s “political vision.”

The program demands the Palestinian “right of return,” which calls for every Palestinian refugee and their descendants, now numbering in the millions, to move into Israeli territory.

Critics say the right of return has no legal basis, is not granted to any other refugee group, and would effectively end Israel’s existence as a Jewish-majority state.

The DSA’s program also recognizes the Palestinian “right to resist military occupation” and the “right to self-determination in a free Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.”

“End all military and economic aid to Israel. Prosecute US and Israeli leaders responsible for the genocide in Gaza,” the manifesto says.

There is no other recognition of Israel in the document.

The DSA’s other foreign policy goals include defunding the US Defense Department, closing overseas military bases, and lifting embargoes on Cuba, Venezuela and Iran.

The program calls for sweeping changes to the American political system, including by abolishing the US Senate, ending the two-party system, and replacing the presidency and Supreme Court with new entities subordinate to the House of Representatives.

On economics, the program calls for public ownership of leading corporations and industries, “aggressive wealth taxes,” a federal jobs guarantee, public housing, universal rent control and a 32-hour work week.

The program also demands free universal health care, free medical education and training, reparations to “end the legacies of slavery and colonialism,” reining in police, open immigration, and voting rights for all US residents and the incarcerated.

At a launch event, DSA leaders said that the movement’s candidates will be required to endorse the platform.

???? DSA now says support for its radical Workers Deserve More platform will be incorporated into the endorsement process for candidates.

“Having our endorsed candidates supporting the program, it’s a requirement now.” https://t.co/fP8n413h4f pic.twitter.com/vn3g1RT48C

— Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) July 15, 2026

The DSA “vision” imagines the end of capitalism, with no debt, bills, health insurance, mortgages or landlords. The manifesto blames “the billionaire class” for preventing that utopian vision.

A DSA committee, including members of the movement’s National Political Committee, drafted the program between April and June.