Palestine and Marxism
Joseph Daher, Resistance Books, 2024
“The main task for the left remains developing a strategy based on regional solidarity from below”
This book is an excellent contribution to discussions on Palestine ! It is a must read for Marxists and anyone who supports Palestinian liberation.
Joseph Daher is a long time Trotskyist activist and scholar who has written extensively on the Middle East. His other books are enlightening as well. This book delves deeply into the issue of Palestine and answers key questions:
What is the relationship of Zionism to Judaism?
What was the Nakba (Catastrophe) that expelled the Palestinians from their land?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Palestinian national movement?
Where did Hamas come from? What are its politics?
What Is the relationship of Palestine to other revolutions in the Middle East?
What was the origin of Islam?
How do Marxists view the Jewish Question?
What was the impact of the Oslo Accords and their aftermath?
Why do Marxists defend the slogan “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free!”?
Most importantly, what Is the solution to the colonization of Palestine?
Zionist Lobby or Imperial Interests?
“Whoever controls the Middle East controls the world’s oil spigot and whoever controls the world’s oil spigot”
The “Zionist Lobby” has been an important question among pro-Palestine activists. What causes the U.S. government to continuously support Israel? Does this support arise from the inordinate influence of Zionists? Daher disposes of the Zionist Lobby fallacy briefly but in detail. He explains that U.S. imperialism aids Israel for its own political, military and economic interests, not because of the influence of Zionists.
“The State of Israel has therefore played the role of guard dog for Western imperialist interests in the region for decades.” (34)
The relationship between Israel and the U.S. ruling class is mutually beneficial:
“To survive as a state based on the evacuation of its natural inhabitants, which arouses the anger and hostility of the masses of the region, Israel is forced — also because it is economically unviable-to rely on imperialism and make itself the instrument against revolution in the region.” (35)
As Marxist geographer David Harvey put it “Whoever controls the Middle East controls the world’s oil spigot and whoever controls the world’s oil spigot can control the world’s economy, at least for the foreseeable future” (39)
Besides targeting imperialism, the author examines the exploitive class structures of the states in the Middle East and shows how their ruling classes have accommodated imperialism. As part of this, Daher explains the role of Islamic Fundamentalism and how Marxists should relate to it. (55)
“Islamic fundamentalist forces constitute the second wing of the counter-revolution, the first being the existing authoritarian and despotic regimes.” (68)
The Right to Resist
“Support for armed resistance does not necessarily mean support for the political program of resistance organizations”
Within the pro-Palestine movement, there has been a debate on whether to support Al Aqsa Flood , the Palestinian military attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The author takes a firm stand on this:
“Like any other population under colonial occupation and apartheid, the Palestinians have the fight to resist, including by military means.” (75) and
“the violence used by the oppressor to maintain its structures of domination and subjugation should never be compared to or placed on the same level as the violence of the oppressed who try to restore their own dignity and who seek to have their existence recognized.”(77)
This is an important intervention and has been taken up by other Marxists including Firebrand Communists:
https://firebrand.red/2024/01/why-we-support-palestinian-armed-resistance/
After making this point, Daher is clear that support for armed resistance does not necessarily mean support for the political program of resistance organizations:
“this should not be confused with support for the political perspectives and orientations of the various Palestinian political parties including Hamas.”(77)
“None of these parties –Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine — offers a political strategy capable of winning the liberation of Palestine. The mainstream political parties do not view the Palestinian masses, regional working classes and oppressed peoples as the forces capable of winning the liberation of Palestine. Instead, they seek political alliances with the region’s ruling classes…”(78)
Regional Revolution
In contrast to this, the author says that,
“The main task for the left remains developing a strategy based on regional solidarity from below. This means opposing the Western states and Israel on one side while also opposing regional authoritarian states –Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, UAE etc. and the political forces linked to them. This strategy, based on class struggle from below, is the only way to win liberation for the popular classes of the Middle East from regimes held up by the imperial power of the United States, Russia and China.” (86)
Because of the weak economic position of Palestinian workers within Palestine, “the Palestinian working class and other social movements need the solidarity of other workers, peasants and oppressed peoples.” (91)
In calling for a regional working class strategy, the author rightly points out that “A strategy focused on building working-class unity against Zionism among Israeli and Palestinian workers is therefore unrealistic”.(93) This is because “the Israeli working class..has always placed loyalty to Israel above class solidarity with the Palestinian masses. This is not only the result of ideological devotion but also of material interest in the Israeli state which provides Israeli workers with houses stolen from the Palestinians as well as subsidized living standards.” (92)
Daher rejects the two-state solution rhetorically favored by the U.S. government and other ruling classes. He calls for “dismantling the state of Israel” (116) and calls for the establishment of a “democratic secular and social state in historic Palestine for all” and the right of return for Palestinians.
Finally, the author includes “Draft Thesis on the Jewish Question” by Trotskyist theorist Ernest Mandel written in 1947. This is an interesting contribution but is marked by the conditions before the Nakba and the establishment of the State of Israel. It is based on the idea the workers from colonizing Zionism could find unity with Palestinian workers. This strategy of focusing on class unity between the colonizing and colonized workers is no longer applicable if it ever was ,as the author explains so well.
Overall, this book is an important contribution to clarity on Palestinian liberation. It takes a strong stand on issues that still divide the movement. It should be of interest to everyone in the Palestine liberation movement!
