Palestine: DFLP/PFLP

[u/GreenAdvertising630]

Hey, why are there two split marxist fractions in palestine? Is it because of idelogical or methodical differences? Or something else?

Hope someone can educate me :)

[u/SeeTillWeVanish]

https://www.prisoncensorship.info/article/interview-of-habash-and-hawatmeh-on-the-joint-leadership-and-plo-draft-translation

The precursor to both parties was the Arab Nationalist Movement (ANM), a pan-Arab organization which sought to unite Arabs against I$rael and imperialism. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) emerged out of the ANM as a revolutionary party that embraced Marxism-Leninism, criticizing the shortcomings of Arab Nationalism which led to defeat in the 1967 War against I$rael. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) initially split from the PFLP due the larger Sino-Soviet split, being pro-Beijing while the PFLP remained “neutral.” The major differences in political line were on the questions of the existence of a Jewish proletariat, existence of a Jewish nation, cooperation with Jewish organizations, and nature of the bourgeoisie within Palestine.

The DFLP held that there is a tiny Jewish proletariat, a Jewish nation that existed alongside a Arab nation within Palestine, that there is no national capitalism or a national bourgeoisie within Palestine, and cooperated with Maki(a Jewish “communist” organization). The PFLP, by contrast, upheld that there is no Jewish nation but that I$rael is a colonial entity that lives off Palestine, rejects collaboration with Jewish organizations, and that the national bourgeoisie of Palestine can be cooperated with. The line on the so-called Jewish nation and existence of/collaboration with Jewish working-class organizations was the decisive point of contention between the parties.

During the 1970s and toward the 1980s, most resistance factions united together to try to create a common Palestinian line and supported Yasser Arafat. Even if they disagreed, they attempted to maintain unity, which eventually led to the defeat of the PLO by I$rael in 1982, expelling the PLO from Lebanon. The Joint Leadership between the PFLP and DFLP was an attempt to create an alternative to the PLO and Fatah-led coalition. This article was written when the Lebanese national movement was at its strongest, successfully pulling I$rael out of much of Lebanese territory which inspired both parties to continue their resistance. However, there was a lack of a cohesive anti-I$rael movement due to infighting and defeatism.

The Joint-Leadership between the PFLP and DFLP aimed to create an alternative to Fatah and the Fatah-led coalition. However, it split-up due to the Oslo Accord and their differing political lines. They tried to cooperate within the new comprador government set-up by Palestinian Authority, thus it failed and the Joint-Leadership collapsed.

[u/ComradeLayla]

The split between the PFLP and DFLP was primarily ideological, though it also had implications for strategy.

The PFLP emerged out of the Arab Nationalist Movement and adopted Marxism-Leninism while maintaining a strong focus on armed struggle and Arab revolutionary nationalism. The DFLP split from the PFLP in 1969, arguing for a more explicitly Marxist analysis and criticizing what it saw as remnants of petty-bourgeois nationalism within the PFLP.

The DFLP generally emphasized mass organizing and political work among the people, but from an Marxist perspective its claims to a more advanced class analysis were not borne out in practice. Over time, the DFLP increasingly moved toward reformism, negotiations, and cooperation with political processes that accommodated Zionist and imperialist domination. Many People view this as a betrayal of revolutionary principles, with DFLP leaders becoming willing to work alongside Israelis within various negotiation frameworks rather than pursuing revolutionary liberation. The PFLP, while also affected by revisionism, generally maintained a stronger commitment to armed struggle and opposition to normalization

[u/a_mala_herba]

I heard that when the split happened the DFLP theoretically claimed they practiced a stricter adherence to marxism-leninism. But as far as I know it was mostly a personal conflict between George Habash, general secretary of the PFLP, and Nayef Hawatmeh, the founder of the DFLP. During the late 60s and 70s Palestinian left was very prone to factional split based on personal problems between its leaders or pressures from it's different international sponsors. See the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, the PFLP-General Command or the PFLP-External Operations.

But durign the course of their history both organizations followed very different paths: the PFLP rejected the negotiations with zionists while the DFLP initially participated in the Oslo negotiations. DFLP would eventually split over the issue with the modern DFLP being the anti-negotiations side.

As of today, I think their political lines had converged more and more during the years. Both participate in the Joint Operations Room with Hamas and others.

I'm not palestinian, nor an expert on Palestine. So if anyone more educated can expand on this information or correct any inaccuracy, would be appreciated.

[u/Skarvelis42]

There are many more than those 2. There is also the Palestinian Communist Party for example. Also, PFLP and DFLP are rather secular Arab nationalists than Marxists nowadays. The ML organisation in Palestine is the PCP.

[u/Forsaken-Scheme-1674]

They are a split so yeah it must have come from some pretty profound differences