Communist Parties in the Middle East
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Communist Parties in the Middle East Since the Russian Revolution, communist parties have undergone great change, affecting the entire Left and its associated social movements. Communist Parties in the Middle East: 100 Years of History aims to cover a century in the lives of these parties, from the moment the communist ideology first reached the region in the early twentieth century, right up to the upheaval caused by the dissolution of the USSR and, more recently, the Arab Spring. The book has been designed to offer a unique, updated and comprehensive study of communist parties in the Middle East. The volume analyses the composition of the communist parties in the Middle East, as well as their role as the vanguard in relation to the objectives of libera- tion, emancipation, revolution and system change or reform, and their connection to mass or popular movements. It also looks back at the level of autonomy experienced by the region’s communist parties during the Cold War, and the ten- sions that this generated within them, as well as the search for individual con- structions of communism that considered cultural characteristics and the local context of the struggle. Finally, the chapters trace the history of the parties, including – for the first time in the literature – the post-Cold War period and continuing to the current situation, in which communist parties occupy a residual position in the political field, sharing space with other groups on the Left, new programmes adapted to neoliberal advancement in the region, and the mobilizations symbolized by the uprisings of 2010–11. The first section of the book presents the evolution of the communist parties in Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel and Palestine, Lebanon, Morocco, South Yemen, Sudan, Syria and Turkey. The second section explores some cross-cutting issues that have affected relations between the communist parties and other political sectors: political Islam and the New Left, as well as the arguments around the question of gender in the Arab world and in leftist circles. Laura Feliu is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Ferran Izquierdo-Brichs is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Europa Regional Perspectives Providing in-depth analysis with a global reach, this series from Europa examines a wide range of contemporary political, economic, developmental and social issues in regional perspective. Intended to complement the Europa Regional Sur- veys of the World series, Europa Regional Perspectives will be a valuable resource for academics, students, researchers, policymakers, business people and anyone with an interest in current world affairs with an emphasis on regional issues. While the Europa World Year Book and its associated Regional Surveys inform on and analyse contemporary economic, political and social develop- ments, the Editors considered the need for more in-depth volumes written and/or edited by specialists in their field, in order to delve into particular regional situations. Volumes in the series are not constrained by any particular template, but may explore recent political, economic, international relations, social, defence, or other issues in order to increase knowledge. Regions are thus not specifically defined, and volumes may focus on small or large group of countries, regions or blocs. Parliamentary Institutions in Regional and International Governance Functions and Powers Andrea Cofelice Youth at the Margins Perspectives on Arab Mediterranean Youth Elena Sánchez-Montijano and José Sánchez García Terrorism and Insurgency in Asia A contemporary examination of terrorist and separatist movements Edited by Benjamin Schreer and Andrew T. H. Tan Communist Parties in the Middle East 100 Years of History Laura Feliu and Ferran Izquierdo-Brichs For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/ Europa-Regional-Perspectives/book-series/ERP Communist Parties in the Middle East 100 Years of History Edited by Laura Feliu and Ferran Izquierdo-Brichs First published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 Laura Feliu and Ferran Izquierdo-Brichs The right of Laura Feliu and Ferran Izquierdo-Brichs to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced orutilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, nowknown or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Europa Regional Editor, Middle East and North Africa: Christopher Matthews British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record has been requested for this book ISBN: 978-0-367-13445-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-13446-4 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Taylor & Francis Books Contents List of tables vii Acknowledgements viii List of contributors ix 1 Communist parties in the Middle East and North Africa: An overview 1 LAURA FELIU, FERRAN IZQUIERDO-BRICHS AND FRANCESC SERRA PART I Communist parties: case studies 43 2 Iran’s communist movement: Reform and revolution 45 YASSAMINE MATHER 3 The Communist Party of Turkey: An instrument of ‘Soviet eastern policy’? 60 BÜLENT GÖKAY 4 The Iraqi Communist Party 74 JOHAN FRANZÉN 5 The Lebanese Communist Party: Continuity against all odds 90 ROSA VELASCO MUÑOZ 6 The Syrian Communist Party: Patrimonialism and fractures 109 ROSA VELASCO MUÑOZ 7 Class and nation: Arab and Jewish communists in Palestine 129 MUSA BUDEIRI 8 The communist movement in Egypt 152 BÁRBARA AZAOLA-PIAZZA vi Contents 9 Communism and organizational symbiosis in South Yemen: The People’s Democratic Union, the National Liberation Front and the Yemeni Socialist Party 168 JOHN ISHIYAMA 10 The Sudan Communist Party: Bolshevize it, O God! 184 ABDULLAHI A. IBRAHIM 11 The communists in Algeria (1920–93) 199 PIERRE-JEAN LE FOLL-LUCIANI 12 The four faces of Morocco’s communists: PCF, MCP, PLS and PPS 216 BERNABÉ LÓPEZ GARCÍA PART II Context, debates and cross-cutting issues 239 13 Islamists and communists: A history of Arab convergenze parallele 241 LUZ GÓMEZ GARCÍA 14 The New Left in 1960s and 1970s Lebanon and 1917 as model and foil 258 LAURE GUIRGUIS 15 From Marxism to anti-authoritarianism: Egypt’s New Left 268 LAURA GALIÁN 16 Women and left in the Middle East: the voice of the protagonists: How feminist change occurs in Lebanon: an interview with Azza Chararah Baydoun 282 NATALIA RIBAS-MATEOS Index 299 Tables 12.1 PPS representation in legislative elections from 1977 to 2016 231 Acknowledgements This publication has been compiled within the framework of the research pro- jects led by Dr Laura Feliu-Martínez and Dr Ferran Izquierdo-Brichs: ‘Popu- lar Revolts from the Mediterranean to Central Asia: Historical Genealogy, Power Cleavages and Identity Factors’, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity (HAR2012–34053); and ‘Transnational Dynamics and Actors in the MENA Region: A Historical Genealogy of Elites and Social Movements in between the Local and Global Level’, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity, Agencia Estatal de Investigación and European Regional Development Fund (HAR2016–77876-P). Contributors Laura Feliu is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the Faculty of Poli- tical Science and Sociology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. She leads, together with Ferran Izquierdo-Brichs, the research project ‘HAR2016– 77876-P Transnational Dynamics and Actors in the MENA Region’, financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. She has worked and published extensively on international human rights promotion, on international relations of the Middle East and North Africa, and on Spanish foreign policy. Her latest publications in English include: Political Islam in a Time of Revolt (co-authored with Izquierdo-Brichs and Ether- ington, 2017); ‘Transnational Advocacy Networks (TANs) and Human Rights Activism’, in The Routledge Handbook of Mediterranean Politics (ed. Gillespie and Volpi, 2017); and ‘The Western Sahara Members of the Mor- occan Parliament: Parliamentary Diplomacy and Identity Perceptions’ (with Parejo Fernández) in Global, Regional and Local Dimensions of Western Sahara’s Protracted Decolonization (ed. Ojeda, Veguilla and Fernández- Molina, 2016). Ferran Izquierdo-Brichs is Senior Lecturer on International Relations at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. His research is focused on the sociology of power and the Arab world. He has published numerous arti- cles on these issues, and recently the following books: Political Islam in a Time of Revolt (with Etherington and Feliu, 2017); Poder global. Una mirada desde la sociología del poder (with Etherington, 2017); El islam político en el Mediterráneo. Radiografía