Popcorn Time: Tensions Flare Between Hakeem Jeffries' Office, NYC DSA Over Watermelon Flyer Controversy

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

As RedState previously reported, the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America landed themselves in hot water this week with wokesters in their own party after the antisemitic group promoted a protest in front of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' (D-N.Y.) NY office by way of using a drawing of a watermelon.

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For those who missed it, here's what the flyer looked like:

Some on Twitter including the NYC DSA themselves and some media outlets pointed out that the watermelon is a symbol of the Palestinian flag among the people of Gaza, who reportedly have used it as a substitute for when Israel allegedly banned the flag. 

But others were quick to note that the flag was not banned here in the U.S., and that the NYC DSA "knew exactly what they were doing" when they used it in the promotional flyer to stir up anger toward a powerful black Democratic leader:

"Watermelon has been used in racist imagery against Black people for hundreds of years. There's no excuse for using it in flyers against a Black New York politician. The Palestinian Flag is not banned in America. These gaslighting f*cks know exactly what they're doing."

In an update to this story, it appears the situation has escalated quickly, with a spokesman for Jeffries firing back against the NYC DSA by trotting out a tactic the left is notorious for using on Republicans - the race card:

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“The watermelon has long been used as a dehumanizing racist trope by white supremacists in America.  In connection with the planned rally targeting our district office, the use of racially inflammatory imagery should come as no surprise given the role NYC-DSA and other gentrifiers have played in aggressively attacking Black elected officials. They have zero credibility in the communities Leader Hakeem Jeffries proudly represents...”

The use of the phrase "other gentrifiers" in this case is code for "rich, white coddled liberals," who are more interested in virtue signaling than actually doing something meaningful that would have a long-lasting positive impact for the poor and middle-class communities they claim to want to help.

While that term fits woke white Democrats to a "t," I should note that the claim from Jeffries' office about the NYC-DSA having "zero credibility" in the communities Jeffries represents is at odds with the reality that the most prominent members of the DSA both in the city's chapter and nationally are people of color, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), as well as Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).

Not only that but there were a lot of black and brown people at the antisemitic pro-Hamas rally heavily promoted by the NYC DSA, which was held the day after Hamas terrorists slaughtered 1,400 Israeli civilians.

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As to the percentages of how many support the NYC DSA, that is unclear, but what is clear is that the demonstrations regularly put on display in the Big Apple by these groups indicate that it's not as insignificant a number as Jeffries and other pro-Israel Democrats in NYC would like you to think.

In any event, it is popcorn-worthy on some level to see Democrats continue to eat their own in NYC. And while I'm not a fan of Jeffries, on this battle at least we find common ground: The exposure of the absolute rot at the core of the NYC DSA, which at some point hopefully AOC and Bowman will have to answer for at the primary ballot box.

Flashback: Media Pounces on GOP After Inconvenient Truths About Hakeem Jeffries Are Pointed Out

Related: Hakeem Jeffries vs. The Squad: Democrats Are Having a 'Come to Allah' Moment

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