Sumaya Awad - Palestine: A Socialist Introduction

Praise for Palestine: A Socialist Introduction

In Palestine: A Socialist Introduction, editors Sumaya Awad and brian bean introduce both the question of Palestine as well as socialist principlestopics that have each produced volumes of scholarly literatureto new audiences. They accomplish this tremendous feat with moral clarity and analytical rigor. The volume provides the reader with an internationalist framework, defined as a commitment to anti-imperialism, and uses it to place Palestine into local, regional, and global historical context. The book connects the past to our present and, despite the daunting odds before us, sustains a commitment to a socialist future where all of us are free because all of us are free. Noura Erakat, author of Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine

A crucial reminder that Israels settler-colonial project is not merely a historical event that we can move past, but an ongoing reality backed by successive Western administrations. In moments where those who fight for freedom and equality triumph in their local battles around the world, we (Palestinians) see this as part of the victory in our battle for freedom in Palestine. Only through the strengthening of our civil society, of trade unions and workers, can we build our struggle against occupation and pressure Israel until it ends its project of colonialism and racial segregation. This volume lays bare just that. Ahmed Abu Artema, Palestinian journalist and peace activist

The Vietnam War was once a line in the sand. Protests against the war radicalized a generation, built a new left, and taught it why imperialism was indispensable for capitalism. Palestine is the Vietnam of our times. This urgent book will offer a new generation of activists lessons on why, to fight capitalism and apartheid today, we need to fight like Palestinians. Tithi Bhattacharya, coauthor of Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto

This collection is a poignant and incisive engagement with the past, and possible future, role of the left in the struggle for justice in Palestine. From critical analysis of organizational matters to the very complex issues of gender and secularism, this book is a must-read for anyone whose socialism has brought them to care and act on behalf of Palestine and the Palestinians. As a left, we are at a crucial juncture of strategic contemplation in general and on Palestine in particular. This book offers ways forward that can reenergize the left as a robust alliance of identification and solidarity for the sake of the liberation of Palestine as well as that of all the oppressed workers and peoples around the globe. Ilan Papp, author of Ten Myths About Israel

Nine powerful essays, meticulously woven together by Sumaya Awad and brian bean, combine rich political history with incisive analysis of the current conjuncture and struggle. The book provides an entry point for new activists to understand a conflict whose history has been so deliberately obfuscated, alongside a rich well of analysis on complex political questions. Awad and beans book should be widely read, and its socialist, bottom-up vision of transformation acted upon. Hadas Thier, author of A Peoples Guide to Capitalism: An Introduction to Marxist Economics

The contributions within this book not only offer an understanding of Palestinian realities, they also provide insight into themes such as diaspora and the search for belonging, and reflect the voices of all those who wish to return home in dignity, justice, and freedom. In essence it is a book which outlines a roadmap for return, with nuance and an offer to go beyond acknowledging the injustice in order to do something about it. Mariam Barghouti, Palestinian American writer

This collection of essays is an essential contribution to the socialist perspective on the issue of Palestinian liberation. Its authors share a valuable overarching insight: that for socialists the fight for Palestinian individual and national rights is not a mere object of abstract solidarity, but must be approached within the context of the international struggle against imperialism and for socialism. Mosh Machover, author of Israelis and Palestinians: Conflict and Resolution

A Palestine primer for the growing socialist movement, and an argument for socialism for the growing Palestine solidarity movement, this book is a valuable resource for building the type of US left that the world desperately needs. Danny Katch, author of Socialism Seriously: A Brief Guide to Human Liberation

The truth is simple: the Palestinian people deserve the right to self-determination. But to get to that truth, you need to understand the history and politics of their struggle. This book is a tremendous roadmap to get to that truth. Dave Zirin, author of A Peoples History of Sports in the United States

Essential reading for anybody interested in understanding the past, present, and future of the Palestinian liberation struggle. Eric Blanc, author of Red State Revolt: The Teachers Strike Wave and Working-Class Politics

2020 Sumaya Awad & brian bean

Published in 2020 by
Haymarket Books
P.O. Box 180165
Chicago, IL 60618
773-583-7884
www.haymarketbooks.org

ISBN: 978-1-64259-531-4

Distributed to the trade in the US through Consortium Book Sales and Distribution (www.cbsd.com) and internationally through Ingram Publisher Services International (www.ingramcontent.com).

This book was published with the generous support of Lannan Foundation and Wallace Action Fund.

Special discounts are available for bulk purchases by organizations and institutions. Please call 773-583-7884 or email for more information.

Cover design by Izzaddine Mustafa.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is available.

For the martyrs

INTRODUCTION

About This Book

Sumaya Awad & brian bean

The Palestinian cause is not a cause for Palestinians only,
but a cause for every revolutionary, wherever he is, as a cause
of the exploited and oppressed masses in our era.

Ghassan Kanafani

This book is born in the midst of a highly polarized political moment in the long historical struggle for the liberation of Palestine. The winds of sympathy for the Palestinian people blow among the peoples of the world, and a solidarity movement, with boycott, divestment, and sanctions as the key components, blossoms. At the same time, repression carried out by states and governments against Palestine activism has been fierce. In Palestine, the situation is dire, with the expansion of settlements, possible annexation in the West Bank, and the unlivable conditions of the open-air prison of Gaza. The political movement is trapped at an impasse of never-ending peace talks over the terms of oppression and occupation that has been the status quo since the 1993 Oslo Accords. Donald Trumps so-called Deal of the Century, which amounts to official adoption of apartheid, is the grim culmination of this process.refugee crisis of staggering proportions, a rise internationally of far-right forces and governments, and looming military tension between the major world powers. The future of Palestine is woven into this fabric of despair and resistance. The liberation of Palestine is bound to the struggle against the global capitalist system: its local governments, states, and imperialist forces.