tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post2974764788277389733..comments2023-11-05T03:12:10.925-06:00Comments on Renegade Eye: A comment on the situation in the Middle East by the Pakistani MarxistsFrank Partisanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03536211653082893030noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-50838991140118555502007-08-02T08:57:00.000-05:002007-08-02T08:57:00.000-05:00The flame of Palestinian nationalism has flickered...<I>The flame of Palestinian nationalism has flickered and is on the verge of being extinguished.</I><BR/><BR/>I couldn't disagree more. The Palestinians' desire for a state of their own (or "their" own if you want to put it in class terms) will remain as long as Israel oppresses them and an internationalist party is not political hegemonic in the Palestinian liberation movement.planetanarchy.nethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07696103767505857138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-81377766237102866422007-07-30T13:54:00.000-05:002007-07-30T13:54:00.000-05:00Freedom of Movement and Right to Return are pipe d...Freedom of Movement and Right to Return are pipe dreams. Get over them. The two state solution is what you'll get. And then Arab part of that will FAIL, leaving everything to Israel.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-41237183168409692652007-07-30T13:51:00.000-05:002007-07-30T13:51:00.000-05:00...and there's a huge difference between a Pseudos......and there's a huge difference between a Pseudostinian and other members of the "Arab Street".<BR/><BR/>Pseudostinians are stateless welfare cases 100% reliant on charity for their survival.<BR/><BR/>The rest of the Arab Street have "prospects" for a better life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-10524170021369471282007-07-30T13:46:00.000-05:002007-07-30T13:46:00.000-05:00Materially, Hamas and Hezbollah gained popularity ...<I>Materially, Hamas and Hezbollah gained popularity because of the work they've done building community support. So while the left may snipe, we may be better served by understanding the myriad ways they've developed an organic and MATERIAL connection with their people.</I><BR/><BR/>Islamic charities. This is the same way Moqtada al Sadr holds the impoverished Shia Iraqi's in Sadr City. al Sadr dispenses all religious charity (~10% GDP). And all of al-Sadr's ministers served in roles that provided health and welafare benefits to the people from positions in the Iraqi government. So if you were poor, you had to go through al-Sadr. Now if your a poor Pseudistinian, you HAVE ONLY Hamas to deal with.<BR/><BR/>Fatah lined their own pockets w/UN & European "donations" to the Psuedistinians, but Hamas stuck to the Islamic Fundamentalist Pogrom of Islamic Charities and out-bought Pseudostinian support.<BR/><BR/>Buying the "poor" vote is nothing novel, cute or clever. It's the way its' always been done. Only now, Hamas has the monopoly on religious AND state sponsored charities.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-61737734463660543472007-07-25T22:45:00.000-05:002007-07-25T22:45:00.000-05:00John Brown: It's an inside/ outside world. You a...John Brown: It's an inside/ outside world. You are responsible for your destiny. Like the same people who led the US into war with Iraq, and had no strategy after Saddam fell, blame the anti-war movement for their loss. In the same vein why did Fatah degenerate? The roots are in nationalism itself. Arafat was so opportunist and degenerate, he told one audience he was for a two state solution and other audiences he told them he was for Israel's destruction. It is correct to support national liberation and the right to self determination. At the same time there is no such thing as revolutionary nationalism. In the end it is only substituting bosses.<BR/><BR/>Granted Hamas and Hezbollah aren't as fundamentalist as Iranian or Saudi Islamists. Still they are incapable of providing a program that can change the life of Palestinians or Israelis. In the end they are open to negotiation for any crumb they can get. Hamas was subsidized by Israel at one time, as an alternative to at that time "radical" Fatah.<BR/><BR/>Israel is no monolith. Since the fiasco in Lebanon the government approval is down, as social services are cut and corruption accusations surface. An Islamist movement is unable and unwilling to unite the potential revolutionary movement.<BR/><BR/>It's suicidal to politically support what will be in the end a reactionary political leadership. Islamism is always anti-communist.<BR/><BR/>Palestinian leadership has to be blamed for its destiny, just as American.Frank Partisanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03536211653082893030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-62895869302557872762007-07-25T17:55:00.000-05:002007-07-25T17:55:00.000-05:00Outstanding analysis of the events in Palestine JB...Outstanding analysis of the events in Palestine JB. I had similar thoughts as I read this post. Thank you for putting all this in perfect perspective. The depth of your understanding in some of these areas is truly amazing.liberal white boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02516512401414441594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-40472110515848962742007-07-25T14:35:00.000-05:002007-07-25T14:35:00.000-05:00Case in point: yesterday, in occupied Najaf, Abba...Case in point: yesterday, in occupied Najaf, Abbas's Coup militia stormed in on a group of students holding a sit-in for some of their comrades kidnapped by Apartheid Israel.<BR/><BR/>And what did they do? <BR/><BR/>Join the protest?<BR/><BR/>Recommend socialist slogans rather than the 'fundamentalist' ones offered by the students?<BR/><BR/>Nope - they shot the students.<BR/><BR/>And so it goes in the West Bank. What's needed is a United Front against collaborators, Uncle Toms, and Sambos.<BR/><BR/>Once that is accomplished, the correct political line will emerge around the basic and fundamental principles of freedom of movement and the right to return.John Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01515280071887632569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-51688833762059091472007-07-25T11:26:00.000-05:002007-07-25T11:26:00.000-05:00Blustein: Go back to your blog, where you can lau...Blustein: Go back to your blog, where you can laud your Nazi Grandfather.<BR/><BR/>A few things to say about this post. First, Hamas didn't take over anything in Gaza. Hamas heads the democratically elected government. Any intimation that a democratically elected government siezed control of that government is <I>prima-facie</I> suspect analysis.<BR/><BR/>You write, Ren, that "Hamas doesn't create events, it reacts to them." Nothing could be further from the truth. Hamas read the Zionist press and saw that the Dayton/Dahlan/Abbas clique was planning a coup. So they acted to stop it in Gaza.<BR/><BR/>That's why much of the Fatah leadership in Gaza and abroad (i.e., anyone not subserviant to D/D/A), quickly pointed out that what occurred in Gaza was <B>NOT</B> a Fatah vs. Hamas thing. It was a resistance vs. collaborator thing.<BR/><BR/>The writer makes it sound like Palestine has failed to obtain their freedom soley through the fault of its leadership. Nothing could be further from the truth. The destruction of Palestine at the UN was overseen by every imperialst power. The money, arms, and diplomatic support shoveled into Apartheid Israel for 60 years has made a true struggle for liberation virtually impossible. Blaming Palestine today for their suffering is much like blaming Jews for the holocaust.<BR/><BR/>In reality, the fault lies as much with the global left who has allowed their governments to fund Apartheid Israel.<BR/><BR/>The 'Marxist' left loves to fire off about how Hizbullah and Hamas are fundamentalist. But that's pure rhetoric. It has no meaning. <BR/><BR/><B>Materially</B>, Hamas and Hizbullah gained popularity because of the work they've done building community support. So while the left may snipe, we may be better served by understanding the myriad ways they've developed an organic and <B>MATERIAL</B> connection with their people.<BR/><BR/>Read Nasrallah's dispatches during last Summer's war. His <B>materialist</B> analysis of the political, military, and diplomatic solution needs no qualificatiton. <BR/><BR/>The 'fundamentalists' in the Middle East have Apartheid Israel and Uncle Sam on their heels. Meanwhile, what have American or European Marxists done lately to end the siege against them?<BR/><BR/>Knowledge of self... a revolutionary virtue. To squarely blame Palestinian leadership for their suffering while ignoring their own impotence is sad & pathetic.<BR/><BR/>The writer speaks about Gaza as though Hamas has done nothing there for a month. The 'jihadis' were forced to surrender the BBC guy. Crime is way down, and the infighting among Palestinians has also ebbed significantly. <BR/><BR/>Not surprisingly, the terrain of struggle has moved to the West Bank, where the D/D/A clique now operates. And it's not just Hamas they're targetting in the West Bank.<BR/><BR/>The author ignores this. Instead, he tries to create his own reality. Reading many Palestinian blogs and news sites (IMEMC, Ma'an, PIC), I know of no split between Hamas factions (Zahar and Haniyah form the two wings and seem to be on the same page to me).<BR/><BR/>Finally, the author mentions Marwan Barghouti as an opponent of Abbas. I have no idea on what he bases this.<BR/><BR/>Marxists shouldn't engage in wishful thinking. From prison, Barghouti said that Palestinians should support the Abbas's Zionist Coup Gov't. I have blogged several times about Barghouti and do like him, but was very disappointed in his stance towards the Abbas coup.<BR/><BR/>Maybe this has changed since yesterday, when Abbas's Storm-Troopers <A HREF="http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&Do=Print&ID=24215" REL="nofollow">attacked his family</A>. <BR/><BR/>But I don't know.<BR/><BR/>What I do know is that the left around the world should put more effort into ending their home government's support for Apartheid and less effort into attacking the political inadequacy of resistance movements amidst genocide.John Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01515280071887632569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-44840251384151204602007-07-25T06:49:00.000-05:002007-07-25T06:49:00.000-05:00GCommunists only end wars if they kill everyone.Th...G<BR/><BR/>Communists only end wars if they kill everyone.<BR/><BR/>The working class pipedream is less real than Spongebob. Revolutionary Koolaide pedlers or class warfare pimps like Ren count on your naivette as a means to justify his theft.beakerkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06088967209404588378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-84953838542833977102007-07-25T01:30:00.000-05:002007-07-25T01:30:00.000-05:00the Israeli and Palestinian working class can end ...the Israeli and Palestinian working class can end the war. good post.Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04230080850680753260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-89198495381935400202007-07-24T23:17:00.000-05:002007-07-24T23:17:00.000-05:00Mohamed: I think you are describing Sonia.Hamas wa...Mohamed: I think you are describing Sonia.<BR/><BR/>Hamas was at one time actually funded by Israel, as an alternative to Fatah, when it was leftist.<BR/><BR/>It doesn't have the tools needed to build a state of any kind. It reacts to events, rather than create events.Frank Partisanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03536211653082893030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11704331.post-65981517350426803432007-07-24T15:44:00.000-05:002007-07-24T15:44:00.000-05:00excellent post indeed!I however don't agree that t...excellent post indeed!<BR/><BR/>I however don't agree that the failure of Hamas is intrinsic. This failure has much to do with the power the Israeli state has over the Palestinian economic resources than it has to do with Hamas itself. This is not to say that Hamas would have succeeded had these restrictions been non existent, simply Hamas is not tested, and I have strong evidence to suggest that they would have succeeded if those Israeli restrictions did not exist. These evidences are best represented by the economic success stories of muslim brotherhood in Egypt, those that have been recently attacked by the Egyptian governemtn, but also specially of the unions movement of the early 1990s which was as well aborted by Egyptian government (that is given the common knowledge that Hamas are simply the representatives of the Muslim brotherhood in Palestine, which is common knowledge).<BR/><BR/>The form of Islam presented by Hamas is very much compatible with modern secular views. The only point where they collide (which is in no way a small issue) is that this form of Islam is presented as an alternative mood of socio-economic structure to that of the current capitalist western states. It also collides with other moods of societal structuring such as the socialist trotskiest movement. <BR/><BR/>I would like to think that it should be given a chance by the wester capitalist states, and the only reason it is not given this chance is that is it a strong contender!<BR/><BR/>Nevertheless, this is an excellent post. Renegade once again proves she has not only the great looks (which I speculate) but also she has the brains :)Mohamed A. H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07989700621135507989noreply@blogger.com