Biden Administration Signals End to Support of Yemen Genocide after International Day of Action
On February 4, the Biden administration announced plans to end support for “offensive operations” by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. While many are skeptical of the details of the plan, Biden’s actions have signaled a stark departure from Trump-era foreign policy. Much of the skepticism comes from the fact that Anthony Blinken, Biden’s new Secretary of State, supported both the Iraq war and American intervention in Libya. Furthermore, Biden explicitly left the door open to continued support for defensive operations, saying “We’re going to continue to support and help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its people”.
Read more in the San Francisco Independent Journal or read the latest report back below.
Upcoming Events
Join DSA’s California Single-Payer Campaign!
DSA chapters across California are working on a campaign to pass single-payer at the state level! Join our field operations, bring your social media or writing skills, and organize the people around you! Sign up here.
Labor Organizer Training (Starting on Wed. 3/3)
The next semester of organizer training will begin on Wednesday, March 3rd at 5 p.m. PT and run for six weekly sessions, with alternate sessions on Sundays at 2 p.m. PT:
- Session 1 – Leader Identification
- Session 2 – Mapping and Charting a Workplace
- Session 3 – The Organizing Conversation
- Session 4 – Escalating Campaigns
- Session 5 – Public Action and Engaging with the Boss
- Session 6 – Inoculation and the Boss Campaign
If you want to learn more about how to organize at your own workplace or support others in doing so through EWOC, sign up for the training.
Translation Help Wanted for Tenant Organizing
The Tenant Solidarity Committee is seeking members who can help us provide multi-language support to tenants in San Francisco. Currently, we only have the capacity to contact tenants in English. We are in need of volunteers with verbal and written fluency in languages other than English, particularly Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Tagalog who can contact tenants by phone, text, or email, and refer them to partner organizations according to their needs. If you are interested in and willing to be a multi-language volunteer in our tenant referral network, please complete this form. Contact us at tenantsolidarity@dsasf.org.
Updates and Reports
From Supervisor Preston
This week’s report from District 5 Supervisor and DSA SF member Dean Preston includes:
- An update on the public bike share program
- Dean’s denouncement of the Mayor’s announcement to sue schools to reopen
- SIP FEMA retroactive reimbursement
Have an idea or want to schedule a meeting between your caucus or committee and Dean’s office? Contact either PrestonStaff@sfgov.org or lexvonklark@gmail.com with the details, mention you’re a DSA member, and we’ll be happy to set up a meeting.
Report Back from Day of Action for Yemen
On January 25, DSA SF joined the Yemeni Alliance Committee, Arab Resource Organizing Center, East Bay DSA, and other antiwar and solidarity activists from the SF Bay AntiWar Network in a spirited car and bike caravan and rally to protest the Saudi/US war on Yemen. The SF event was part of a Global Day of Action that included an online rally attended by over 3,000 people. The call for the Day of Action was signed by over 300 different organizations in 28 countries.
The car caravan started in SOMA near the Bay Bridge. The first stop was at the corporate office of Black Rock. BlackRock is the largest asset manager in the world, controlling more than $7 trillion in assets. BlackRock’s most lucrative fund has nearly $24 billion dollars invested in war profiteers Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman that have supplied fighter jets, Apache Helicopters, tanks, warships, bombs, missiles, & ongoing weapons maintenance in the devastating Saudi-led war on Yemen.
Following the mini-rally at Black Rock, the car caravan proceeded to the Federal Building The rally there was marked by a diverse and eloquent array of speakers including many from the Yemeni and Arab communities. The action overall was notable for a significant outpouring of people from the communities most affected by the Yemen War. It also was probably the most significant anti-war action since the murder of Iranian General Soleimani a year ago.
On February 4, Biden announced plans to end support for “offensive operations” by the Saudi-led coalition. This is a step in the right direction, an opening at least that would not have happened without the work of AntiWar activists and the Yemeni people over the years culminating in the January 25 Day of Action. But it remains to be seen whether Biden’s moves turn out to be a smokescreen while continuing support for the Saudi assault on the people of Yemen at some level.
For that reason, it is vital to use the momentum from January 25 to keep moving forward and to ensure that Biden brings about a real end to the war that he helped start — and says he wants to bring to a close. For more info contact the IRIS committee at immigration@dsasf.org.
Reading Groups
?The Socialist Awakening by John Judis
“The Socialist Awakening” by John Judis is one of a number of recent books considering the questions of imagining socialism in the modern world. We will take up this short book in three sessions on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. Reading discussions for this text will resume on February 16. If interested, please register in advance. Persons new to socialism or DSA welcome.
What is Fascism?
As someone once said, the history of fascism is, at the same time, the history of the theory of fascism. This reading group will explore what fascism is and why it is a severe danger to working and oppressed people. We think these writings on fascism will help provide the conceptual tools required to develop the correct strategy and tactics to fight fascism and the far-right. We’ll cover classic texts from Clara Zetkin, Antonio Gramsci, Daniel Guerin, Leon Trotsky, and Nicos Poulantzas. We’ll also read recent writing on the US far-right, including from DSA Santa Cruz comrades, who we expect to be joining us for discussion. We’ll meet on Thursdays from 6:30-8:00 p.m. beginning on February 11th.
Please register here for Zoom and reading links.
Sign up for the EcoSocialist Book Club! Silvia Federici
The Ecosocialist Committee’s next book will be Silvia Federici’s “Re-enchanting the World: Feminism & the Politics of the Commons.” Register and help us find a time for a few sessions in March.
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