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brian bean is a Chicago-based socialist activist, writer, and speaker originally from North Carolina. He is one of the founding editors of Rampant Magazine. His work has been published in Jacobin Magazine, Socialist Worker, Red Flag, International Viewpoint, Bel Ahmar ( رمحألاب ), Spring, Green Left Weekly, Chronique de Palestine, Agency, Viento Sur,and more.
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Palestine: A Socialist Introduction: A Socialist Introduction Hardcover – 15 February 2021
by Sumaya Awad (Editor), Brian Bean (Editor)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 40 ratings
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Palestine: A Socialist Introduction systematically tackles a number of important aspects of the Palestinian struggle for liberation, contextualizing it in an increasingly polarized world and offering a socialist perspective on how full liberation can be won. Through an internationalist, anti-imperialist lens, this book explores the links between the struggle for freedom in the United States and that in Palestine, and beyond. It examines both the historical and contemporary trajectory of the Palestine solidarity movement in order to glean lessons for today's organizers, and compellingly lays out the argument that, in order to achieve justice in Palestine, the movement has to take up the question of socialism regionally and internationally.
Contributors include:
- Jehad Abusalim,
- Shireen Akram-Boshar,
- Omar Barghouti,
- Nada Elia,
- Toufic Haddad,
- Omar Hassan,
- Remi Kanazi,
- Annie Levin,
- Mostafa Omar,
- Khury Petersen-Smith, and
- Daphna Thier.
Review
"In Palestine: A Socialist Introduction, editors Sumaya Awad and brian bean introduce both the Question of Palestine as well as socialist principles--topics that have each produced volumes of scholarly literature--to 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 Israel's 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, co-author 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 re-energize 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 Pappé, author of Ten Myths About Israel
"Ten 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 bean's book should be widely read, and its socialist, bottom up vision of transformation acted upon." --Hadas Thier, author of A People's 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
About the Author
Sumaya Awad is a New York-based, Palestinian, socialist writer and activist. She is a cofounder of the Against Canary Mission Project, which helps defend student activists targeted by blacklists because of their advocacy for Palestinian human rights. Sumaya is a senior media editor at the Institute for Middle East Understanding, and an independent writer focused on refugee issues, Palestine solidarity, Islamophobia, and immigration. She has been published and interviewed by a wide variety of outlets including the Feminist Wire, Truthout, In These Times, Open City, the Middle East Solidarity Magazine, and Slate.
Product details
Publisher : Haymarket Books (15 February 2021)
Language : English
Hardcover : 250 pages
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4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 40 ratings
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Brian Bean
brian bean is a Chicago-based socialist activist, writer, and speaker originally from North Carolina. He is one of the founding editors of Rampant Magazine. His work has been published in Jacobin Magazine, Socialist Worker, Red Flag, International Viewpoint, Bel Ahmar ( رمحألاب ), Spring, Green Left Weekly, Chronique de Palestine, Agency, Viento Sur,and more.
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Top reviews
Lynn Braben
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tells what the msm won't
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 July 2021
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Fascinating tome that gives an overview of Israel's dark past. Difficult to read in parts and I was shocked at how much I didn't know.
Verified Purchase
Fascinating tome that gives an overview of Israel's dark past. Difficult to read in parts and I was shocked at how much I didn't know.
If you're interested in politics and world history, this book is a must.
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Georgina Macias
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read!
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Georgina Macias
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read!
Reviewed in the United States on 4 October 2021
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Great book!
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Stephen
5.0 out of 5 stars 6 stars
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Great book!
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Stephen
5.0 out of 5 stars 6 stars
Reviewed in the United States on 16 March 2021
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Really illuminating
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Sara
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceeded Expectations
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Really illuminating
One person found this helpfulReport
Sara
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceeded Expectations
Reviewed in the United States on 24 January 2021
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Beautifully written.
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Beautifully written.
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Elliot
4 reviews
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May 26, 2021
Haymarket Books is currently offering the ebook for free to download, available here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/...
This was a great, comprehensive introduction to Palestine and the history of the oppression of the Palestinian peoples featuring a collection of essays from a variety of scholars. I picked it up to read now as it was just published months ago and the past few weeks have seen a surge in global discussion and media coverage since the eviction of Palestinians from their homes in Shiekh Jarrah and subsequent violence. I also am not very familiar with socialist theory so I thought it would be a good place to start to educate myself by reading work from Palestinian and anti-imperialist scholars (which it turned out to be).
I initially hesitated to read this book after seeing a critique of it on twitter (found here: https://twitter.com/Louis_Allday/stat...). In my opinion, I don't think it holds strong enough to warrant not reading it because the book does exactly what the title says it does: introduces the reader to Palestine with a socialist angle. We can get caught up in the technicalities of what socialism means and digress into the intricacies that distinguish Trotskyism and Stalinism (which that review adamantly argues is harmful to the cause), but for those who are not familiar with socialist theory and history I think it explains well how socialist themes can be applied to anti-imperialist movements within Palestine and globally. For those that seek to understand these nuances within the socialist movement in more detail, then this introduction is perhaps too basic and requires a more specialised work (the reviewer linked above provides some recommendations). For those however who want to read a narrative of the region in relation to occupation, settler-colonialism, and capitalism from the Palestinian perspective with a socialist application then I would wholeheartedly recommend it.
I would certainly disagree with anyone who argues that this book is anything other than anti-imperialist as it continuously exposes the implications of the United States and the settler-colonial Zionist project by the state of Israel on Palestinian lives within the local and regional context as well as in diaspora. Contrary to the Twitter review, I think we can critique US enemies AND be anti-US imperialism when discussing all the obstacles to liberation from oppression - which I think the book does well. Regardless, you can make up your own mind after reading!
I especially appreciated Part 3 which explains the importance of the BDS movement (featuring an interview with its co-founder), the crucial role of Palestinian women in shaping the resistance, and the parallels with the Black liberation movement in the United States and other movements against white/colonial oppression across the world. The afterword by Remi Kanazi is particularly inspiring and details ways in which we can act in solidarity against the ongoing oppression.
And finally just want to emphasize again that this is just an introduction! Reading about Palestine should not stop here as there are so many great books as well that I feel more prepared to engage with after reading this.
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Tara
574 reviews
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October 31, 2023
This is an essay collection by multiple writers looking at Palestine through a socialist lens. There are some essays I found more engaging then others, as per usual with a collection, but overall it was a good read.
I feel like the title is a bit misleading, as this doesn't read like an introduction text to me, on either Palestine (which I have a good understanding of) or Socialism (which I have a very basic understanding of). I still think there is a lot to gain from the essays even if some of them went deep into the weeds- which is great if you already have some understanding and
may be too much or too specific for someone looking for an introduction.
The strongest essays to me were:
- "Not an Ally: the Israeli Working Class" -analyzing how labor rights and the working class relate to the struggle for Palestinian freedom
- "Multiple Jeopardy: Gender and Liberation in Palestine" covering a number of things from White Feminism to Palestinian women contribution in liberation work and their erasure from it
- "Cops Here, Bombs There: Black-Palestinian Solidarity" which talks about solidarity in the 60's to the present
I will also say there is an essay "The National Liberation Struggle: A Socialist Analysis" that I remembered seeing this thread a while back https://twitter.com/Louis_Allday/stat... and this is one of the essays that for me went a bit too deep into the weeds regarding socialism and like I said my socialism history is not great, so I can't say much about that criticism. There is also this review which also addresses this essay and the introductory framework from the editors: https://viewpointmag.com/2021/12/11/t...
This book is currently, and frequently, offered as a free e-book from the publisher Haymarket Books.
2023
non-fiction
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Chris
18 reviews
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January 27, 2021
A fantastic introduction to Palestinians' struggle for liberation. For a short(-ish) book, there's a lot of info packed into it.
It covers a wide range of topics, from the historical roots of the 1948 Nakba to the nature and extent of US and UK support for Israel at the expense of Palestinians and other oppressed Arab groups in the middle-east, to even a class analysis of Israel and an explanation of the counter-revolutionary nature of the Israeli working-class. It also includes important chapters detailing the history and failure of the PLO and left-wing liberation organizations to really improve material conditions for Palestinians and how such groups - and Palestinians outside said groups - have responded to the Arab Spring and Arab uprisings throughout the region, as well as chapters on the role of women in the Palestinian liberation movement and the connection between the Palestinian struggle and the black struggle for liberation in the US.
While Palestinians have faced crushing defeats fighting for basic human rights and the right to return to their own land, the authors who wrote the several essays which compose this book remind us that there is a way out and to be optimistic. While Palestinians face oppression from 3 fronts - from the Palestinian Authority which is supposed to represent them, from Western-backed Israel and from other Arab states who accept them as refugees but treat them as second-class citizens, Palestinians - along with other working-class Arab groups - have been organizing on the ground in complex and shifting ways. Support for Palestinians have also been gaining ground in the US and other countries through the BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanction) Movement.
Ultimately - as the authors remind us - the only way forward to liberating all oppressed and colonized peoples is international solidarity and struggle against imperialism, settler-colonialism and capitalism.
history
radical-left-politics
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Sunny (ethel cain’s version)
403 reviews
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August 30, 2022
“We have on this earth what makes life worth living.”
An amazing history and call to action.
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Mike Thomas
222 reviews
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May 14, 2021
Some fair criticisms of the book's author getting influenced by imperialist versions of history is here https://twitter.com/Louis_Allday/stat... (h/t ab)
8 likes
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Pavan Dharanipragada
139 reviews
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July 5, 2021
People dunk on anarchists for whatever reason but most of the time their criticisms are hard to dismiss. Lot of people in reviews are linking some twitter thread which accuses this book of being literal CIA propaganda for saying USSR didn't have the right approach to Palestine, and for saying Assad is a brutal dictator. How absurd! Firstly there wasn't much to the criticism except that USSR approached Palestine through a cold war lens, and that PFLP hasn't been very principled for some time. Entirely sober criticisms imo.
And even if these criticisms are unfair, or wrong, they are inessential to most of the arguments in the book. The essays in the book make a good job of introducing the main obstacles in the way of Palestinian liberation: the brutal repression by Israel with active support by the US, the duplicity of the Arab states, and the cowardice and corruption of Palestinian politicians. These factors are not equal, but they're each necessary for the continued existence of the status quo.
Each of these factors are explained in reasonable detail in the various essays, and while not all of them are written in a gripping way, they are all assembled to form a compact and reasonably complete whole. The socialist lens in looking at the Palestine struggle makes sense in each of the factors as it is integral in explaining the Israeli imperialism, the Arab states' complicity and the Palestinian politicians unprincipled inaction. This is not to say that the analyses are particularly deep, but Palestine problem is not complex at all and a superficial socialist analysis seems adequate. I mean to say this is not a tough read.
international-politics
palestine
socialism
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Kathryn LaMontagne
17 reviews
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October 14, 2023
Revisiting this book because of the war in Israel/Palestine rn, there are some essays and passages in here that I wish everyone would read, ones that identify the many different splintered political factions within Palestine, it is a complex political landscape not a monolith. && The ones that show that the Israeli government and founders (British, American & Western European imperialist leaders) do not care about Jewish people really — it is never safe or okay to be an occupier, the fact that Zionism has been sold as safety and morally just is a tragedy that exploits very old trauma. Israel is a colonial project that has preyed on and radicalized many vulnerable populations which is heartbreaking. Some essays in this book also speak about the treatment of Arab Jews by the Israeli state which is very telling.
This book is informative and has a timeline at the front which is very useful. The book is rooted in ideas of Marxism so the perspective is often talking about class and issues of the working class which is cool! I question certain points that are made, but it’s a really informative and sad read, I would recommend it if you’re wanting to know more about this issue and you identify with socialist politics.
Of course as a white American reading this book I must think about the ways I am an occupier in these the US and how can I be in true solidarity with indigenous people here.
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Jus
43 reviews
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June 9, 2021
A collection of accessible essays for any leftist interested in learning more about Palestine. If you’re short on time (and have a general background of the country), I would recommend the following chapters and conclusion:
- Not an Ally: the Israeli Working Class (who inherently cannot stand with Palestine due to their material conditions)
- Gender and Liberation in Palestine (good critique on White Western feminism)
- Black-Palestinian Solidarity (shout out to the Miami Dream Defenders)
HOWEVER – please note that there is genuine critique regarding the stance on Stalinism that can best be summarized in this Twitter thread. I still recommend the book but it would be disingenuous to not include this.
https://mobile.twitter.com/louis_alld...
palestine
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Anne (ReadEatGameRepeat)
647 reviews
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December 30, 2021
kinda finding it hard to rate this one because it was a collection of essays and while I do think the overal quality of the essays was great I think maybe I just...misunderstood what this book was about and I expected more of an "introduction" text rather than this well rather intense read that I do think expects the audience to have more than a beginning level knowledge on both Palestine (Which I know a little about) and socialism (which I don't know much about). I do think the conclusion at the end was really helpful to tie all the ideas of the essays together.
ebook
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