The Arab Woman: A Threatening Body, A Captive Being – Magida Salman (Mai Ghoussoub)
Notwithstanding her condition, the Arab woman shares with her sisters a common fate: a life of renunciation, of captivity, in a hyper-male society.
Women’s Participation in Radical Egyptian Politics 1939–1952 – Salma Botman
It was World War II and its consequences that prompted leftist and feminist-minded women to become increasingly articulate about the problems affecting women in Egypt.
Palestinian Women and the National Liberation Movement: A Social Perspective – Hamida Kazi
Palestinian women are conscious of the dialectical nature of their struggle: both the political struggle for national liberation and the need to bring social change within the society.
A Palestinian woman in prison – Laila al-Hamdani
A first-hand account of life as a Palestinian female political prisoner in Israel, the conflicts and relationships between inmates – both Jewish and Arab – and the struggles against prison authorities.
The Jewish collectivity and national reproduction in Israel – Nira Yuval-Davis
An in-depth study by Israeli socialist-feminist Nira Yuval-Davis looking at the constraints put on Israeli women by the zionist state, examining the role of Israeli Jewish women as reproducers of the national collectivity and their role in the "demographic race".
Feminism in Israel: a common struggle? – Debbie Lerman
On the lack of co-operation between Israeli-Jewish and Palestinian-Arab feminists, and some proposals on how to promote a common struggle.
Note to the reader
While Khamsin books will continue to provide thofough and analytical articles, we now intend to produce a parallel forum for discussion and debate, which will be circulated amongst all those who wish to take part in it.
Editorial
The Iran-Iraq war is the bloodiest and most brutal of all armed conflicts between minor powers since the second world war.
The Gulf War as Extinction of Politics – Muhammad Ja’far [Kanan Makiya]
The Iran-Iraq war is not a colonial war, not an imperialist extension of some great power's zone of influence, nor is it a proxy conflict. It is the Third World's first truly indigenous great war, and this time we have no outsider to blame but ourselves.
Arab Nationalism, the Palestinian Struggle and an Economic Scenario for a Potential Arab Unity – ‘Adel Samara
The bourgeois Arab nationalism failed to achieve its avowed aims: economic independence and the liberation of occupied Arab territory. Despite its failures, the Arab bourgeoisie still holds power throughout the Arab homeland, and has intentionally amplified the unevenness of economic development between the Arab countries.
Iran’s incomprehensible revolution – Azar Tabari [Afsaneh Najmabadi]
A critical review of two books on the Iranian revolution: despite theur shortcomings, both books make important contributions to discussions surrounding an understanding of the Iranian revolution – something that still eludes us all.
A history of modern Iran – Azar Tabari [Afsaneh Najmabadi]
Abrahamian's book, which began as a study on the social bases of the communist Tudeh Party, is unique in its detailed and in-depth coverage of a very important period of modern Iranian politics: the social upheaval and political struggles during 1941-1953.
Footnote to the debate on Jewish racism – Moshe Machover
Roberto Sussman fails seriously to come to grips with Israel Shahak's justified, if painful, challenge directed at Jewish socialists: they have been largely silent about Jewish racism and utterly failing to combat it.
Trade unions under occupation – ‘Adel Samara
Book Review: Simon Taggart's little book (79 pages) deserves notice as perhaps the first book dealing with the trade-union movement in the West Bank.
The tortured dilemma – Haim Bresheeth
Review of two books reflecting left-wing zionism's approach to Israel's wars.
Editorial
A group of leftist Turkish intellectuals and activists agreed to impart to us in Khamsin some of their knowledge concerning their country. At our request, they later agreed to put together this special issue of Khamsin, wholly devoted to Turkey.
Capital and the State in Contemporary Turkey – Turgut Taylan
After having strived, since the foundation of the republic in 1923, to become a fully integrated member of the Western world, the Turkish state is once again turning its face to the Middle East. In short, the coup of 12 September 1980 represents a radical rupture with the earlier tendencies of capitalist development in Turkey.
The Origins and Legacy of Kemalism ‒ A. Ender
Analysis on the role of Kemalism ‒ a specific form of Turkish nationalism ‒ in overseeing the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic, demonstrating its reactionary nature in annexing Kurdistan and repressing its own working class.
The Women’s Question & Difficulties of Feminism in Turkey ‒ Pembenaz Yorgun
This article examined the extent and nature of women's oppression in Turkey, the attempts of secular-nationalist movements to improve women's conditions and outlining the possible shape of a future feminist movement in the country.
The Turkish Working Class and Socialist Movement in Perspective ‒ Mehmet Salâh
Historical survey of the Turkish left and workers' movement, focusing particularly on the 1960s-70s and the slide into guerrilla warfare, looking both at the strengths and fatal weaknesses of the two interconnected movements.