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Die Linke in Palästina
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 13, 2025
An introduction to the Palestinian Left written in German might immediately arouse suspicion. But the author, Thomas Schmidinger, is an Austrian political science professor at a university in Iraqi Kurdistan who was active in the early Green Party in the 1980s — an eccentric background that suggests he might not be as anti-Palestinian as most German liberals. This pamphlet is indeed useful, offering concise explanations of the difference between the DFLP and the PFLP, the origins of PPP and FIDA, etc.
The Palestinian Left really emerged with industrialization under the British Mandate, around the time of the October Revolution. Jews played an important role in the formation of early unions and communist groups, both Arab Jews and also left-Zionist colonizers who broke with Zionism. The Palestine Communist Party was originally founded by Yiddish-speaking workers, but in the 1920s, the Communist International pushed for its "Arabization." Under Stalinism, Palestinian communism was split along national lines, with Arab communists forming the National Liberation League. In line with Stalin's support for the creation of Israel, the NLL was the only Arab party to endorse the 1947 partition plan.
After these betrayals, Stalinism survived in reduced form in the occupied Palestinian territories, while new leftist currents emerged in the Palestinian diaspora after 1967, including the PFLP, DFLP, and numerous splinters. The author even briefly mentions Palestinian Trotskyists like Jabra Nicola, but he categorizes Nicola as part of the Israeli Left, as he was active in Matzpen. I would have liked to read more about collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli leftists, such as the exchanges between Matzpen and the DFLP in the 1970s.
I was ready to praise this book until I got to the last chapter and the conclusion. Schmidinger devotes dozens of pages of statements by Palestinian left groups about October 7, and his only point is to condemn them for not distancing themselves from the killing of civilians — as if such a platitude were the defining criterion of leftism. He does not similarly denounce all communists for not distancing themselves from civilian deaths in the October Revolution.
There is a debate to be had about whether Palestinian leftist groups have subordinated themselves to the right-wing bourgeois forces leading the national liberation movement. But that is a question of strategy and not individual actions — this kind of abstract pacifism could just as easily be used to condemn Zionism, the Kurdish national liberation movement, or any political struggle in history.
Schmidinger explicitly praises Stalin for his role in the partition of Palestine (and neglects to mention the fate of the early Jewish Palestinian communists, who were all executed). In the end, this author's "leftism" is sub-reformism: he's happy to accept imperialist domination as long as there are some symbolic gestures toward the oppressed.
The Palestinian Left really emerged with industrialization under the British Mandate, around the time of the October Revolution. Jews played an important role in the formation of early unions and communist groups, both Arab Jews and also left-Zionist colonizers who broke with Zionism. The Palestine Communist Party was originally founded by Yiddish-speaking workers, but in the 1920s, the Communist International pushed for its "Arabization." Under Stalinism, Palestinian communism was split along national lines, with Arab communists forming the National Liberation League. In line with Stalin's support for the creation of Israel, the NLL was the only Arab party to endorse the 1947 partition plan.
After these betrayals, Stalinism survived in reduced form in the occupied Palestinian territories, while new leftist currents emerged in the Palestinian diaspora after 1967, including the PFLP, DFLP, and numerous splinters. The author even briefly mentions Palestinian Trotskyists like Jabra Nicola, but he categorizes Nicola as part of the Israeli Left, as he was active in Matzpen. I would have liked to read more about collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli leftists, such as the exchanges between Matzpen and the DFLP in the 1970s.
I was ready to praise this book until I got to the last chapter and the conclusion. Schmidinger devotes dozens of pages of statements by Palestinian left groups about October 7, and his only point is to condemn them for not distancing themselves from the killing of civilians — as if such a platitude were the defining criterion of leftism. He does not similarly denounce all communists for not distancing themselves from civilian deaths in the October Revolution.
There is a debate to be had about whether Palestinian leftist groups have subordinated themselves to the right-wing bourgeois forces leading the national liberation movement. But that is a question of strategy and not individual actions — this kind of abstract pacifism could just as easily be used to condemn Zionism, the Kurdish national liberation movement, or any political struggle in history.
Schmidinger explicitly praises Stalin for his role in the partition of Palestine (and neglects to mention the fate of the early Jewish Palestinian communists, who were all executed). In the end, this author's "leftism" is sub-reformism: he's happy to accept imperialist domination as long as there are some symbolic gestures toward the oppressed.
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April 22, 2025spannender Einblick! hab mich ehrlich gesagt davor nicht gut genug ausgekannt um jetzt ein Review da zu lassen
September 27, 2025
Hält was es verspricht: eine gute Einführung in die Geschichte der Palästinensischen Linken und ihr Untergang. Oft bricht das Buch ab und verweist aber dafür auf weiterführende Literatur, die man lesen kann. Es fehlt noch das Buch über die Linke in Israel, da die Geschichten beider Bewegungen oft überschneiden.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews