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Colorful Classics #8

Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine

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This classic small book provides the outline of the strategy and overall vision of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, including laying out the enemies of the Palestinian revolution, the friends of the revolution, and orienting the movement on Palestinian, Arab and international levels.

http://pflp-documents.org/documents/P...

75 pages, ebook

Published January 1, 1969

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
Profile Image for anna.
693 reviews1,996 followers
January 9, 2024
it's stated at the beginning that any revolutionary party's aims & politics should be clear enough to be understood by the masses (since it is all for them and achieved through them), and this document provides exactly that. palestine will be free!
Profile Image for K.
292 reviews972 followers
November 14, 2023
Essentially a manifesto from several Palestinian liberation orgs, this was released in 1969 and most of it is still relevant. This identifies who their enemies and friends are, their thoughts on the petit bourgeoisie as a hinderance to success, tactics against the military, solidarity with colonized people globally but especially other Arabs, and most importantly the need for a revolutionary organization to carry out this work. They believed that these organizations should practice democratic centralism, crit self crit, and scientific socialism.
Profile Image for warren.
134 reviews12 followers
January 1, 2024
very good. its analysis of the fundamental forces supporting zionism vs the forces supporting Palestinian revolution was helpful. it also explains the economic & political reasons world imperialism is so set on supporting israel in ways i hadn't heard before.

hearing the PFLP discuss criticism & self-criticism and how to handle disputes in the party was also interesting and basically made sense. listened to it by audio book for free on Foreign Languages Press podcast page, unsure if i'd recommend that — depends on the person's tastes i guess lol
Profile Image for Zach Carter.
266 reviews241 followers
November 5, 2023
It's crucial in this moment that we discipline ourselves to revolutionary theory as it relates to the war for national liberation. In here you'll find a tremendous resource on the need to adhere to Marxist-Leninist theory, the class analysis of Palestinian society, and who the allies and enemies are in the war. In particular, the triple enemy of Zionism, world imperialism (led by the U.S.) and the Arab reaction (Arab capitalism) should be well understood, whereas the alliance of liberation is seen as the revolutionary wings of neighboring countries, which can be seen paralleled today with the resistance axis of Hezbollah, Yemen, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Nasrallah's speech the other day should clarify to us what their role is in the struggle. Palestine will be free!
Profile Image for Spooky Socialist.
57 reviews181 followers
May 17, 2025
Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine reads as most other political programs: concise, dry, and incisive in thought. Throughout its pages comes forward the deep frustration of the Palestinian liberation movement in the wake of the defeat of June 1967:

“Any thorough scientific study of the 1948, 1956 and 1967 wars would clearly bring out the role played by the enemy’s technological and organizational superiority and the reflection of this role in the military field…It would be foolish to give our military defeats in three major confrontations an arbitrary, superficial explanation that would mislead us into the belief that we could have won these battles had it not been for certain coincidences or certain errors”


The solution put forward by the PFLP is scientific socialism: the formation of a revolutionary party equipped with scientific socialist theory led by the workers and peasants with other revolutionary forces (namely the petit bourgeoisie) participating via a national front against the enemies of Israel, world zionism, imperialism, and Arab reaction.
Profile Image for JC.
607 reviews80 followers
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December 5, 2024
As someone very interested in the intersection of Christianity and leftist politics, I always find it so interesting that one of the founding members of the PFLP, who was the front's leader for some time, was the physician and Orthodox Christian, George Habash, who sang in his church choir as a child and watched the ethnic cleansing of his village of Lydda in 1948.

Various groups read this book over the past year, and I happened to miss each and every one of the discussion groups unfortunately. It’s been such a busy year. I feel like this text contains a lot worth discussing with comrades and friends, and I wish I had taken the time to at least attend a few of the educational discussions that took place. Anyway, I think it’s worth starting with this excerpt which connects the Palestinian struggle to many other liberation struggles around the world:

“This document also reflects the Front’s close relationship at the time of its founding with anti-colonial and revolutionary movements around the world. The document takes inspiration from the writings of Mao Zedong, the experience of the Chinese Revolution and, contemporaneously, the struggle of the Vietnamese people for liberation, unity and socialism. The close relationship reflected here with other revolutionary and national liberation movements has continued to be a strong reality in principle and in practice throughout the history of the PFLP—from the period of the 1970s and 1980s, when fighters in African, Asian, Arab and Latin American liberation movements both joined the ranks of the Front but also trained for their own struggles in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon—to today’s ongoing joint struggles against our mutual enemies, in confrontation of imperialism, Zionism and capitalism.”

I guess it’s not surprising that Mao would be quoted so extensively in a book published by FLP, but it is really interesting to see how closely Mao has been read by Palestinian communists, and his writings have been a significant tie between communists in Palestine and those in the Philippines who also situate their struggle within the coordinates of Maoist theory and practice. There was also mention of Cuba as well as “Castroist” parties, but no where near as frequently as mention of Mao. This was directly related to a highly focused strategy on how to serve the people:

“The organization branch that sets up political forums, reacts with the masses in the problems and issues facing them and looks for any service that it can perform for them, such as opening a school to combat illiteracy, or helping people in collecting the harvest, or advising them in the establishment of a co-operative, or leading them in demanding an electricity or water supply project or the opening of a road, is a successful branch in giving the mass line a concrete form. Conversely, no organization branch can claim success or revolutionary action if it is enclosed within itself, confining all its time and effort to its internal organizational life, not feeling with the masses so that they do not feel its existence.”

It is also fascinating to see how Palestinian theorists accounted for the “technological superiority” of israel and made it a central part of their strategy. It was actually really interesting to see in their class analysis, engineers listed as belonging to the petit bourgeoisie:

“The petit bourgeoisie comprises the craftsmen, the educated groups such as students, teachers, junior employees, small shopkeepers, lawyers, engineers and medical men.”

Among this class that cannot be clearly delineated, include those who struggle to have even their basic living requirements met, and in the phase of democratic national liberation this class is generally considered an ally to the revolution for the PFLP.

Additionally, the armed struggle does not see itself as the only struggle, but sees legal means such as total boycotts, as a very important part of their overall strategy:

“This is our historical approach— where we are going until we reach the stage where we open a wider front against the enemy and turn our land into a burning hell for the invaders. The crossfire of armed struggle is not known to have limits and the armed resistance should not be confined to the militants, but also embrace all parts and sectors of the Palestinian resistance against the enemy at every level, dealing with the enemy militarily, but also a total boycott of all economic, civil and political institutions of the enemy and a rejection of all ties.”

Finally I wanted to finish with this very important perspective that Palestinian communists have with respect to the oppression of Jewish people in Europe and their very clear assertion that their goal is to create a “democratic national state in Palestine in which both Arabs and Jews will live as citizens with equal rights and obligations”:

“However, the truth about our war of liberation has been distorted as a result of several factors. First of all, there was the connection between the rise of the Zionist movement and the persecution of the Jews in Europe. Then there was the association made between the rise of Israel and the Nazis’ treatment of the Jews in the Second World War. In addition to these there was the dominating Imperialist and Zionist influence over large sections of world opinion, the existence in Israel of forces that claim to be progressive and socialist and the Soviet Union’s and some socialist countries’ support for the establishment of Israel. All these together with the error of certain Palestinian and Arab leaderships in the manner of their presentation of the struggle against Israel have distorted the truth about our liberation war and still threaten to distort the proper view of the true nature of this war in the eyes of many people. The Palestinian liberation movement is not a racial movement with aggressive intentions against the Jews. It is not directed against the Jews. Its object is to destroy the state of Israel as a military, political and economic establishment that rests on aggression, expansion and organic connection with imperialist interests in our homeland. It is against Zionism as an aggressive racial movement connected with imperialism, which has exploited the sufferings of the Jews as a stepping stone for the promotion of its interests and the interests of imperialism in this part of the world that possesses rich resources and provides a bridgehead into the countries of Africa and Asia. The aim of the Palestinian liberation movement is to establish a democratic national state in Palestine in which both Arabs and Jews will live as citizens with equal rights and obligations and that will constitute an integral part of the progressive democratic Arab national presence living peacefully with all forces of progress in the world. Israel has insisted on portraying our war against it as a racial war aiming at eliminating every Jewish citizen and throwing him into the sea. The purpose behind this is to mobilize all Jews for a life-or-death struggle. Consequently, a basic strategic line in our war with Israel must aim at unveiling this misrepresentation, addressing the exploited and misled Jewish masses and revealing the conflict between these masses’ interest in living peacefully and the interests of the Zionist movement and the forces controlling the state of Israel. It is this strategic line that will ensure for us the isolation of the fascist clique in Israel from all the forces of progress in the world. It will also ensure for us, with the growth of the armed struggle for liberation and clarification of its identity, the widening of the conflict existing objectively between Israel and the Zionist movement on the one hand and the millions of misled and exploited Jews on the other. The Palestinian liberation movement is a progressive national movement against the forces of aggression and imperialism. The fact that imperialist interests are linked with the existence of Israel will make of our struggle against Israel a struggle against imperialism, and the linking of the Palestinian liberation movement with the Arab liberation movement will make our struggle against Israel the struggle of one hundred million Arabs in their united national effort for liberation.”

You can listen to the free audiobook of this text here.
Profile Image for Raffi Zulvian.
11 reviews
April 8, 2025
Listened to the audiobook, will read the document later. This is definitely an essential read to have a full understanding of the material realities in Palestine. The analysis presented so clearly. From how to identifying comerades and enemies, to dissecting approaches to structure a revolutionary party. It's amazing how revealing it is and the fact it was written by a people enduring decades long oppression🫡
Profile Image for Lee.
54 reviews33 followers
June 22, 2021
THE blueprint.

‘To us, political thought means a clear vision of the battle before us, and this is why we stress the importance and seriousness of this matter. What does it mean to fight without political thought? It means to fight in a manner that lacks planning, to fall into errors without realising how serious they are or how to deal with them, to improvise political positions not based on a clear view. When political positions are improvised there is usually a multiplicity of positions which means dispersed forces, with the result that the revolutionary forces of our people are dispersed along many paths instead of all converging on one path as one solid force.

We want to warn against the danger of taking this matter lightly. There is among our combatants and in our bases, a trend which confuses revolutionary political thought with political debauchery as represented by certain “political forces” and “political leaders “. This trend confuses revolutionary political thought with the outworn political methods used by the Palestinian national movement before the armed struggle strategy. Also, this trend confuses political thought and the complicated sophistry of certain intellectuals in discussing matters pertaining to the revolution. Thus the trend in question tries to disdain or make light of political thought, and it is therefore necessary for us here to perform a radical corrective operation. It is revolutionary political thought which exposes “political debauchery,” strengthens our conviction in the armed struggle and unveils before the public the stupid sophistry which complicates the problems of the revolution instead of serving its cause.

To perform this revolutionary role. political thought must (1) be scientific. (2) be so clear as to be within the reach of the masses. and (3) go beyond generalities and penetrate as deeply as possible into the strategy and tactics of the battle to guide the combatants in facing their problems. When revolutionary thought fulfils these requirements it becomes the most effective weapon in the hands of the masses, enabling them to consolidate their forces and have a perfectly clear view of the battle with all the forces in action and of the position of each of these forces from the beginning of the revolution to its conclusive end.’
Profile Image for cait loughran.
100 reviews4 followers
August 20, 2024
“Glory to the steadfast of our Arab nation
Glory to the struggle of our people
Long live the unity of our fighters on the land of Palestine

We will surely win”

essential reading for those believing in liberation. Palestine will be free 🇵🇸
Profile Image for altagracia.
118 reviews13 followers
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August 16, 2025
adelante camaradas para una palestina libre! vital trazar una guía de enemigos y -según el momento- amigos rigurosa.
considero que contiene la mejor síntesis del centralismo democrático y el funcionamiento de la crítica-autocrítica! redirigiré a mis amigos a esto!
Profile Image for bella.
31 reviews
January 10, 2023
both enlightening and easy to understand. this is a scientific socialist strategy that uses marxism as a guide rather than a rigid doctrine also,
- audio book on spotify
- make sure to read the latest 2017 publication for the new introduction
Profile Image for Sleepless Dreamer.
897 reviews400 followers
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July 2, 2022
This book is essentially the communist manifesto but Palestinian. It is somewhat of a flex for me to have read this book, considering how deeply I oppose it. Review to come!
Profile Image for Ames Schroder.
13 reviews
February 24, 2025
feb book club read! incredibly accessible for a theory text with succinct explanations and breakdowns of key players, class stratification, tensions, motivations, and stakes. effective in its candor in identifying points of weakness or past failures in the movement while still providing an optimistic view for the future of Palestine and the global anti-imperialist struggle. particularly enjoyed the multiple references made to successful revolutions namely in Vietnam, China, and Russia.
Profile Image for Lo.
105 reviews4 followers
November 7, 2024
This strategy is a consistent Marxist-Leninist and somewhat Maoist theory of the liberation of Palestine. In the aim to establish a democratic, workers national state in Palestine in which both Arabs and Jews live as citizens with equal rights and the right of return.

Mao was adamant in finding out true enemies. Finding our true friends to ally with as well, but the only way to lead the masses is to have a clear, scientific enemy to attacks. So who does the PFLP see as the villain to the Palestinian Liberation movement? World Imperialism. Israel, Zionism, and reactionary governments that are just the bases and offshoots of imperialism.

This crucial strategy of finding allies led to its transformation primarily the rejection of the Oslo Accords and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Finding allies in non-secular organizations committed to the full, one-state liberation of Palestine and Pan-Arab ideology like Hezbollah and al-Qassam.

Lastly, the PFLP strategy always emphasized its role among the masses. Not as a vanguard that strives ahead but one that is entwined to lead. A party that does not isolate or alienate itself from the masses, because doing so constitutes a review of their position.
Profile Image for Devin.
218 reviews50 followers
August 22, 2020
The most important guide for the liberation of Palestine is its strategies for its liberation, written by the revolutionary Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. A critical analysis, investigation, and report into the history of Palestine's resistance against fascist israel, and how this struggle is ultimately bound with the global struggle against the united states and thus, world imperialism.

This book draws very heavily on Mao, so of course there is heavy focus on criticism, self-criticism, Party relations, discipline, and of course, the imperative to unite with the masses, build the mass line, and for the entire working class and peasant class to lead the fight. It is still so, as is the line of Marxism-Leninism.

My only issue? Like Mao [and Mao is incredible, don't get me wrong], this gets repetitive in some places. The writing style is similar to Mao so you read a lot of the same passages and points twice or three times.

This is a timeless guide, everyone supporting Palestine in their liberation struggle against colonialist, fascist israel should read this. I have a physical copy, but it is available online.
Profile Image for Dries.
104 reviews9 followers
July 14, 2021
Both from a historical and from a theoretical perspective an incredible document. The analysis (laid out in a comparatively small number of pages) is both succinctly written and exceedingly persuasive, and—despite the fact that it was written more than half a century ago now—has proven itself to still be highly relevant in our own time. While the discussion of the problems facing the Front is of course particular to the Palestinian context, the proposed solutions are well-founded on the basis of classic Marxist theory, and are presented in such a compelling manner that, in addition to its particular value as an overview of the Palestinian revolution and its specific characteristics, the document also holds universal value as a demonstration of Marxist-Leninist analysis & practice. This should be required reading for any Marxist interested in the Palestinian struggle, but may also serve as a concrete example of the practical application of revolutionary Marxism.
Profile Image for Alex Quintero.
86 reviews6 followers
March 26, 2024
Document polític del PFLP sobre la necessitat de la construcció d'una estratègia revolucionària per a l'alliberació del poble palestí. Tot i ser publicat fa més de cinquanta anys, és molt interessant llegir-lo per entendre la lluita palestina més enllà del que ens arriba pels mitjans. Dividint-lo imaginàriament en tres parts: primer destaca la necessitat de bastir una teoria i un pensament polític revolucionari ferm per a la causa palestina; després, fa una apassionant anàlisi de les diferents classes socials palestines -destacant quines son aliades de la revolució i quines no- i de les forces favorables de la lluita palestina a escala àrab i mundial, per, finalment, amb moltes referències a Mao, fer èmfasi en la importància que té la creació d'un partit comunista de masses -i la seva interacció amb aquestes- que estigui regit sota la doctrina del centralisme democràtic.
Profile Image for Matthew Eck.
238 reviews7 followers
March 10, 2024
Politico-strategic analysis/ overview of revolutionary theory and political/class consciousness in the context of Palestine. Originally published in 1969 following the June War, this document presents a clear picture of the entities composing the Zionist settler colonialism project and the PFLP’s goals for liberation
Profile Image for Tesneem.
8 reviews1 follower
April 26, 2024
i was on a roll reading this then paused for seven centuries but i finally finished it lol

it’s a really good read and gives a thorough yet high level understanding of so many of the moving parts of a revolutionary organization i rly recommend this to anyone interested in understanding palestinian resistance
Profile Image for Nadia Mageau.
16 reviews1 follower
June 30, 2024
I started this back in 2021 but life got in the way and I never had the chance to finish, but I'm glad I finally did!

This document written by the PFLP is only about 150 pages, but I really took my time to digest it, annotate it properly and read with intention. I think it's an essential read for the masses interested in a more active role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Despite being published in 1969, the strategy still holds up. I enjoyed the recognition of Marxism as an essential theoretical framework while also acknowledging Leninism as equally crucial in avoiding any rigidness that comes with Marxist theory. Marxism-Leninism is presented as a guideline for the movement's actions, and though Marxist-Leninist-Maoist theory hadn't been officially formalized when this was written, the PFLP still quotes Mao Tse-tung alongside ML theory. I especially enjoyed the quotes from Mao regarding self-criticism as central to a movement's adaptability. This document predicted many of the crucial things that have happened in this conflict, especially in recent months.

I knew this was going to be a banger.

5/5
Profile Image for Kai.
Author 1 book263 followers
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February 12, 2025
most interesting as a historical document of a particular era of post-maoist guerilla marxism. i can't say i got a ton out of reading it, though.
Profile Image for Myks.
33 reviews3 followers
November 22, 2023
was nodding my head the whole time
Profile Image for Arya.
68 reviews
December 27, 2023
fantastic ! v worth a read
some understandable line limitations because of their situation
Profile Image for shamaya.
142 reviews12 followers
May 10, 2021
Still sadly very relevant. From the river to the sea Palestine will be free!
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