tmdreads's review
4.5
This is a must read! Thanks to Haymarket books for making it available . It took me a while to read which is typical for me with history or non-fiction. I usually only read memoirs for non fiction. But it’s important to be educated. This book covers a lot, in a series of essays it introduces you to history and the intersection of Palestine freedom with women and queer rights along side solidarity and parallels with other causes like Black Lives Matter. The idea the Israel is progressive while Palestine is backward ‘savages’ is pushed against. All causes are overshadowed by the Israel occupation and no one can be free until everyone is liberated. It shows how socialism is the best foundation for that liberation and calls us to action.
addydeejreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
fast-paced
5.0
verlayne's review against another edition
Not sure why this is marked as an introduction when it is neither an introduction to Palestine nor socialism. It assumes a high level of pre-existing knowledge on the readers behalf. Simply too dense for me. Insightful I'm sure but I found myself wading through it.
taratearex's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
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/status/1392053238967451649 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/the-palestinian-left-will-not-be-hijacked-a-critique-of-palestine-a-socialist-introduction/
This book is currently, and frequently, offered as a free e-book from the publisher Haymarket Books.
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/status/1392053238967451649 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/the-palestinian-left-will-not-be-hijacked-a-critique-of-palestine-a-socialist-introduction/
This book is currently, and frequently, offered as a free e-book from the publisher Haymarket Books.
itschlve's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
It remains an excellent starting point but crucial criticism -
https://viewpointmag.com/2021/12/11/the-palestinian-left-will-not-be-hijacked-a-critique-of-palestine-a-socialist-introduction/
https://viewpointmag.com/2021/12/11/the-palestinian-left-will-not-be-hijacked-a-critique-of-palestine-a-socialist-introduction/
xxivo's review
4.5
To start off I am not the most well read person in political books. To be honest, this was the first one I've ever have read. So my review is going to be from that perspective. From someone who wanted to read more about Palestine but feels unfamiliar with many political terms and such mentioned and used in the book.
Reviews in multiple places told me this is a nice introductory work that explains things without needing much previous knowledge. This was very true to me and it was fairly okay to follow. The book does seem to assume though you're familiar with US politics which I'm not as a Dutch person so that definitely had me googling things sometimes. Outside of that it was easy to pick up and keep reading so I think that is a huge strength of this book making so much crucial information easy accessible.
The information that was made so accessible taught me a lot. I knew extremely little about Palestine outside of some occasional news coverage that would come past my Instagram dashboard or Dutch news app. The book covers many different aspects of the Palestinian occupation and does that in chapters that are quite separate from each other but together form one big cohesive story. It was nice to sit down and read a chapter, to hear someone else with their own perspective and focus on the problems talk about it. The chapters sort of follow in chronological order of events happening but all of them talk about the past, present and future.
I especially enjoyed the chapter called "Multiple jeopardy: Gender and Liberation in Palestine." This chapter fights very hard against the perspective that only the men are fighting, that there are no queer people in Palestine and many more of those misconceptions. The chapter takes those apart and shares the facts about these things opening up my eyes a lot. The chapter that followed on the explanation of the intersections of Black-Palestinian solidarity was really great too.
Concluding I learned a lot from this book about Palestine, but also learned I need to start reading more about Palestine and other political issues in the world.
Reviews in multiple places told me this is a nice introductory work that explains things without needing much previous knowledge. This was very true to me and it was fairly okay to follow. The book does seem to assume though you're familiar with US politics which I'm not as a Dutch person so that definitely had me googling things sometimes. Outside of that it was easy to pick up and keep reading so I think that is a huge strength of this book making so much crucial information easy accessible.
The information that was made so accessible taught me a lot. I knew extremely little about Palestine outside of some occasional news coverage that would come past my Instagram dashboard or Dutch news app. The book covers many different aspects of the Palestinian occupation and does that in chapters that are quite separate from each other but together form one big cohesive story. It was nice to sit down and read a chapter, to hear someone else with their own perspective and focus on the problems talk about it. The chapters sort of follow in chronological order of events happening but all of them talk about the past, present and future.
I especially enjoyed the chapter called "Multiple jeopardy: Gender and Liberation in Palestine." This chapter fights very hard against the perspective that only the men are fighting, that there are no queer people in Palestine and many more of those misconceptions. The chapter takes those apart and shares the facts about these things opening up my eyes a lot. The chapter that followed on the explanation of the intersections of Black-Palestinian solidarity was really great too.
Concluding I learned a lot from this book about Palestine, but also learned I need to start reading more about Palestine and other political issues in the world.
alicia_ann_reads's review
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This is essentially a series of essays giving a very comprehensive look into Palestinian life, politics, occupation and ties to events experienced in the Western World.
I found the first section particularly helpful - deep dive on the history of Zionism. There's even a chapter about the LGBTQ and intersectionality.
The Foreword was also impactful.
I found the first section particularly helpful - deep dive on the history of Zionism. There's even a chapter about the LGBTQ and intersectionality.
The Foreword was also impactful.