WASHINGTON — A Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) co-chair blamed the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israeli policies in the Gaza Strip, calling the massacre “inevitable.”
Megan Romer, who is DSA co-chair alongside Ashik Siddique, declared that backing “defense or economic support for Israel” is a “solid red line” within her ultra-far-left movement that has gained traction in a slew of Democratic primaries this cycle.
“I think the events of October 7 were, in many ways, inevitable,” Romer told the New Yorker’s David Remnick in a recent interview when asked about a DSA-backed Darializa Avila Chevalier rallying against Israel on Oct. 8, 2023.
“If you put people into an open-air concentration camp and deny them basic rights, dignity, food, and the ability to live with minimal security for so long, you have to expect that eventually they will rebel,” she went on. “And that is not defending any harm of civilians.”
The deadly surprise attack from Hamas killed some 1,200 Israelis and sparked a brutal war in the Gaza Strip.
Romer noted that she likely would’ve attended the Oct. 8, 2023 rally against Israel the day after the bloody Hamas attack if she lived in New York City at the time.
She also explained that the DSA is advocating for a “free Palestine with the capital in Jerusalem,” which means a “one-state solution.”
When pressed about Hamas’ record, Romer conceded that the terror group has some flaws.
“I would not call Hamas queer-friendly,” she said. “I would not say that you can get a lot of social rights when you’re under siege. I think most queer people that have been killed in Palestine have been killed by Israeli bombs.”
During the interview, Romer was pressed on a variety of pillars of the DSA’s far-left platform, which has rocked Democratic primaries across the country and given fodder to Republicans.
She doubled down on the position of defunding the police, something from which many DSA-backed candidates in major races across the country have distanced themselves.
“That means zero funding,” she explained. “It means taking money away from police departments and investing it elsewhere—fully funding social services, schools, and after-school programs.”
Asked about a country she believes has a great model for the US to follow, Romer pointed to Cuba, hailing it as “the most LGBTQ-friendly constitution in the world” and downplaying concerns about its government being tyrannical.
She also defended DSA skepticism of supporting Ukraine in its war of defense against Russian invaders.
“We don’t believe in pouring American money and weapons anywhere in the world,” Romer argued. “It doesn’t make anything better.”
