The Economics of Occupation ‒ by ‘Adel Samara
A critical-analytic review of "The Civil Administration, Judea and Samaria, Annual Report, 18th year of Administration, 1984".
“Cruel Zionism” in Action ‒ Book Review by Moshe Machover
This excellent book recounts and documents a significant piece of Middle Eastern history; and it does so in a humane way, full of empathy for the Iraqi Jews who, like Abbas Shiblak himself ‒ a Palestinian refugee from Haifa ‒ were victims of Zionism.
Women in the Middle East: Introduction
Khamsin 1987: Woman in the Middle East – Introdution
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.
Symposium on the Gulf War: Introductory Statement & Contents
Introductory statement by the Committee for the Defence of the Democratic Rights of the Iranian People, organizers of the daylong symposium on the Iran-Iraq war held in New York on 8 September 1984.
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.
Oil, Arms and the Gulf War – Joe Stork
The war simply could not have continued at this level of carnage and destruction for this long without the oil revenues of the protagonists and Iraq's Arab neighbours.
Iranian Intellectuals and Dependency Theory – M. Arman
A critique of the Iranian intellectual left who had their dogmas – particularly those around anti-imperialist struggle – shattered by the events of the revolution; and interesting information about the development of the Iranian socialist movement.
The War and the Islamic State Apparatus in Iran – Ali Ashtiani
The Iranian utilization of the war for 'state-forming' purposes resembles the practice of fascist regimes. Another similarity between fascism and the absolutism of Islamic ideology is the expansionist idea of exporting the Islamic revolution.
International Dimension of the War – R. Keivan
The long-term rewards that the Iraq-Iran war will bring for the US will outweigh any short-term setbacks.
War of the Rentier States – Eqbal Ahmad
This is not an anti imperialist war. This is a war of local ambitions: President Saddam Hussein's opportunism and regional reaction to Iran's revolutionary promise were responsible for Iraq's initial aggression in 1980. And Ayatollah Khomeini has a great deal to do with prolonging the agony.
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.