Session Two: PFLP’s Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine
In the mountains east of the Jordan River, a patrol from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine punctuates a battle hymn with Soviet, Czechoslovak (vz. 58), and (top left) Egyptian weapons. Early 1969.
Please join us for the second session of our study group series on Zionism! Everyone is welcome. Send us your email, and we will send you a link to the Jitsi video meeting.
When: Sunday, April 6 at 1:30PM ET
Materials:
Two sections from Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine: “Founding Document” and “Who Are Our Enemies?”
Discussion Questions:
Founding Document, 12–19
1. On page 15, the document says that “The armed resistance is the only effective method that must be used by the popular masses in dealing with the Zionist enemy and all of its interests and its presence, the masses are the authority, the guide, and the resistance leadership from which victory will be achieved in the end.” How does this differ from the way we are accustomed to hearing armed resistance discussed?
2. The PFLP resulted from the union of multiple different resistance groups who joined forced and also maintained degrees of autonomy in their action and messaging. What can we learn from this? What conflicts might arise and what benefits might this incur?
3. On page 17, the document says “armed struggle is not known to have limits and the armed resistance should not be confined to the militants, but also embrace all parts and sectors of the Palestinian resistance against the enemy at every level, dealing with the enemy militarily, but also a total boycott of all economic, civil and political institutions of the enemy and a rejection of all ties.” Is this describing economic, civil, and political boycotts as forms of armed resistance? Is this advocating for armed resistance against anybody who participates in the economic, civil, or political institutions of the enemy (which includes global imperialism)? How do we enact this call in our environments?
4. Page 18 references the resistance’s “determination to reject humility and humiliation and settlements.” What is the role of humiliation in the Zionist colonization of Palestine, as it is referenced here and elsewhere in the text?
Who are our enemies?, 27–33 (or –41)
5. Page 28 describes the emotional perspective on revolution which clouds the judgement and strategy of revolutionaries. Have you seen this experience within yourself or within the organizing spaces you participate in? (may be Palestine related or otherwise)
6. Page 29 states that “Israel is in reality an integral part of the world Zionist movement—indeed, it is an offshoot of this movement.” What do you think about that analysis?
7. Page 29 describes the World Zionist Movement as “not confined to moral backing: it is really and basically a material support that provides Israel with more people, more money, more arms, more technical knowhow and more alliances concluded by the movement by virtue of its influence, in addition to its support through publicity and propaganda in every part of the world.” How do we remove ourselves from material support for the World Zionist Movement? How do we combat this material support?
8. How do we materially (not ideologically) combat American imperialism from within the United States?
9. This document lists Arab reaction, Arabs who may nominally support the liberation of Palestine but who are materially aligned with capitalism and extraction, as the fourth enemy of the Palestinian people. What do we take away from this analysis and how can we draw parallels in our own environments?
General Remarks, 105–109
10. What is the significance of having a “scientific” approach to revolution?