Key Takeaways:
- Darializa Avila Chevalier, who won the Democratic primary in New York’s safely Democratic 13th Congressional District, founded Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), an organization that called for the total eradication of Western civilization and sought instruction from militants of the Global South.
- Avila Chevalier has advocated for abolishing national borders and police, rejected any reform in favor of anarchy, and described the United States as the “Belly of the Beast” that must be dismantled brick-by-brick.
- Her positions raise serious questions about whether someone who opposes the existence of the United States and Western civilization, seeks guidance from terrorist-linked groups, and supports violence against America and its allies is fit to take the congressional oath to defend the Constitution.
Darializa Avila Chevalier won the Democratic Primary for the House of Representatives in New York’s 13th Congressional District on Tuesday. Given that NY-13 is one of the safest Democratic districts in the United States (D+32 According to the Cook Political Report), Ms. Avila Chevalier is presumably a member of the next Congressional class.
If you read accounts of her victory, you’ll find out she is stridently anti-Israel, and had the enthusiastic support of both the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. All of that is 100% true. But does focusing so much on Israel really tell the whole story?
If you look into her past affiliations and positions, it becomes clear that her vitriol goes far beyond Israel, and into areas that should be of major concern for all Americans. After all, a member of Congress has a local constituency, but a national responsibility, including on areas of homeland and national security.
Ms. Avila Chevalier was amongst the founders of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), according to a biography on a 2016 Electronic Intifada article she authored.
Based on the name, it may sound as if CUAD is simply one in a long line of far left-wing anti-Israel groups falsely accusing Israel of apartheid and seeking to harm the Jewish state through economic and cultural boycotts. However, when you look at what CUAD says in their own words, it is clear Ms. Avila Chevalier founded an organization with a far larger and even more dangerous agenda.
On their Instagram account, in a since deleted post, CUAD made their wider views very clear: they are “fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization.” While they may view Israel as an outpost of Western Civilization and support its eradication, their ambitions are much broader. In the same post, they say they seek “instruction from militants of the Global South,” militants being a euphemism for terrorist organizations.
Ms. Avila Chevalier has also been outspoken in her belief that there should be no national borders and that there should be no police. Not only has she advocated for these policies, she has attacked anyone who doesn’t meet her litmus test of absolute ideological purity. Reform isn’t enough, anarchy is necessary, and everything must be torn down, according to the materials published by the politician. There is a real question if the voters of NY-13, amidst the obsessive focus on Israel, understand the broader context of exactly who they are about to send to Washington to represent them. Do they really not want police protections in their neighborhoods? Do they really want the end of western civilization?
Ms. Avila Chevalier clearly does not support the continued existence of Israel, that much has been made abundantly clear by news reports. It has also been well established that she is one of the founders of an organization that has expressed support for the October 7 Massacre and violence against Israelis and Jews. However, that is far from the whole story. The whole story is that the voters of New York’s 13th Congressional District are about to send someone to Congress who, if her affiliation with CUAD is any indication, seeks direction from foreign terrorist organizations, believes the United States of America is the “Belly of the Beast” and that the United States and Western Civilization should be dismantled brick-by-brick – violently if necessary.
Should someone who does not believe in their own country be a leader of that country? What will it mean when someone who stands explicitly against American and western values, and supports terrorism and acts of violence against America and its allies, takes the oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic?”
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
