Palestine and Marxism

by Joseph Daher

This comprehensive history lays out the essential background for understanding Palestine and its place in the struggle for socialism. Unlike many accounts that focus simply on Israel's on-going human rights atrocities, Joseph Daher situates Palestine in the context of more than a century of imperialist intervention in the Middle East. An important contribution that not only makes sense of the current moment, but also helps us think about future paths to liberation.

Adam Hanieh, Professor of Political Economy and Global Development, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies (IAIS), University of Exeter.

Genres: History, Politics

170 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 5, 2024

Reviews

[Lo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of Daher points are good, many are atrocious. He likens Hezbollah to ISIL in one instance for example. Though I think many of the points are moot, something that Daher raises is the effectiveness of pre-1979 Iran in defeating pan-Arabism and nationalism that was mostly being set forth by Nasser in Egypt. The state of Israel was obviously a fulcrum but the vacuum of power left by France and the UK made it quintessential that it be filled with even more of America’s allies. The threat of Nasser and “international communism” pushed Eisenhower and later Nixon to forge these alliances. And the rise of Saudi Arabia and its fundamentalist, counter-reformation ideology that helped legitimize it as the house of Islam. The Saudis have been economic and military allies with Israel, commit a genocide in Yemen, and hold up everything the US wants, yet they will claim solidarity Palestine.

Saudi Arabia has promoted various Islamic fundamentalists like the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda (with the help of the US) to counter the pan-arabists, nationalists, and left movements in the region. As pre-1979 Iran had done before to hold American power in the region.

This is not to question the organization of fundamentalist. Islamic fundamentalists, in particular, are contemporary results of the Middle East’s political and economic conditions caused by the imperialist powers levels of theft and dehumanization. Furthermore, this is not unique to Islam. Christian, Hindu, and Jewish fundamentalism persists and largely is fused with neoliberalism to crush any movement on the left.

I think Daher creates a good history, but I don’t find much more analysis beyond that.

[AAE · Rating 2 out of 5]

Does not offer much in the way of Marxist analysis of the Palestinian struggle, though it does have a few tidbits of interesting working class history of Palestine. For the most part, it reads as a breezy general overview of the situation from an ostensibly left-wing perspective.

At times oversimplifies the distinctions between different militant groups in the Middle East in the longest chapter, which has largely nothing to do with Palestine or Marxism, which was disappointing. Daher going on his soapbox again re: Assad and the Syrian civil war (without mentioning much by way of foreign intervention) felt out of place.

[Ziggi Chavez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of history, which is necessary for comprehension, but only 10-15% of this book actually deals with the Marxism aspect of the title, and nothing is practically enactable toward any form of praxis. I don’t feel like this book accomplished anything that hasn’t been said elsewhere.

[Alex Navarro]

Un poco trotsko pero se le perdona porque es corto y bastante condensado.

[David Rodríguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ofrece el contexto para entender el origen y desarrollo de las injusticias y calamidades que viven millones de personas en el Medio Oriente. Súper recomendable y encima cortito.