A new force has appeared on the Middle Eastern political stage: the Palestinians. True they had taken action into their own hands a few years before the June war, but the real impetus cane only afterwards. But now Palestinian action has transformed a struggle. formerly hetween governments into a mass on this as a conditien for a political settlement.
For nearly twenty years the Palestinians had been an object of history. provided the background for the downfall of passively awailing salvation by the Arab states in general, or by the 'progressive" Arab states, in particular Nasser's Egypt.
The 1948 war exposed the bankruprey of of the Arab national movement. As a result. a now leadership - petit bourgeois in class -came to the forefront; it overthrew the old regime in several Arah countries and soored considerable successes in the anti-imperialist But the June 1967 war revealed the limitations of this leadershiD: limitat ans resulting from its class nature and its nationalist ideology. Among other things it proved its tota. the Arab countries - even if only for the Palestinian cause threatens the existing regimes. These regimes theretore wish to isolate the Palestinian struggle and to leave it entirely lo the Palestinians. The Arab govertunents both resctionary and "progressive" are trying to buy stability for their regimes with a ransom to the Palestinian organisations. Moreover, the governments want to use this financial aid to direct the Palestinian struggle along their own politically convenient lines, to manipulate it the Middle Last as a whole. and to utilise it merely as a means of bargaining for a political solution acceptable to them. The Egyptian, Syrian, and Jordanian governments we mainly interested in regaining the territories they lost in the June war (thereby regaining LUCIE TOSE prestige and consolidating their uthority) while the Palestinian cause is, fron their point of view, only secondary, a means rather than an aim. This is what the Arab do-Zionisation of Israel and the establishment governments moan when they call for "liquidating the results of aggression'.
The four great powers are now meeling to reach an agreed solution which will then be imposed on the region. If the Arab governments achieve their aim, through this solution, they will be prepared to desert the Palestinians, and even take an actise part in a political and physical guidation Palestinian movement. The four powers will probably insist and for the energence of the pelt boots pens leadership - so the consequences of the 1967 wat have problems of the dish world it has become problems of the Arab tele it led breme there and ey imp the drea de of now themselves, under a working-class leadership. separate "Palestinian' nation whose members do Jeadership will automatically emerge. For this the Palestinians from the general Arab nation: further requires a subjective factor -a political overthrow; it will detend it to the last drop Arab On the other hand, imperialist interests and domination in the pegion cannot be shattered without overthrowing those junior Penneta imperialist exploitation, the niling-classes in the Arab world. The conclusion that must be drawn is not that the Palestinian people should wait quietly until imperialist domination overthrown throughout the region, but that it must rally to itself a wider struggle for the political and social liberation of Just as it is impossibla in practice to defeat Zionism without overthrowing imperialist domination throughout the region, so it is theoretically absurd to present formulas for solving the problem within the territory of Palestine Hone, ur onc speaks about T ituation existing before the overthrow i imperialism in the entire region - then the of a Palestine withour Zionism is quite impossible, And if one thinks of the situation pre-suppose a comprehensive social revolution affer the overthrow of imporislism - then what is the sense of a formula which refers to Palestine alone, withour taking into account the necossary changes which would take place in the whole region?
the formula that restricts itself to Palestine alone, despite its revolutionary appearance, derives from a reformist attitude which secks partial solutions, within the As the consequences of the 1948 war framework of conditions now existing in the region. In fact. partial solutions can only be through a compromise with imperialism and Zionism.
et the stage for replacing this limited to Palestine cannot grapple successful!
with the nationa. Problem. The formulas which impossible so long as that region is under dire social. political and national all of whose citizens, irrespective of religion, the existence of suitable objectives religiously. The authors of these formulas are they therefore hasten to add that "Palestine is the national and social liberation of the entire region. But clearly this cannot he achieved by ignoring the existence of that community as a national entity.
This problem cannet he solved within the narrow framework of Palestine. one thinking of a democratic state pure and simple -UE HUEVIE then in tact it will be a state with a Jowish majority. and there nothing to prevent it from being like the present State of Israel, but having a larger territory and bigger Arab minority. If one is thinking of a bi-national state, then it will be an artificial creation separating the Palestinia Arabs from the rest of the Arab world and fron the revolutionary process taking place in it. Besides, in a bi-national structure there are no inherent guarantees that one of the two national groups would not dominate the other All this refers to proposed solutions which can be considered as feasible within the present condition of the Middle East, I.e., which do not On the other hand, if one considers the situation which will exist after a victorious social revolution, after imperialism and Zionism are defeated. then there will not exist a separate Palestinian prohlem, but rather the problem of (Kurds, South-Sudanese). This problem can only be solved by granting these nationalities the right to self-determination. Of course, recognition of the right to selt-determination does not meas encouragement to separation: on the contrary it provides the correct basis for integration In addition the solutions which are without compulsion or ropressien. Moreover, self self-determination in the Middle East after it is liberated, only after a victoriou socialist revolution. In particular, this situation pre-supposes the optite eoni.
the existing objective revolutionary mass movement, led by the La resolutionar Marxist theory and acting according to an all-Arab strategy which will recognise
June 14 1969 Page 6