Hello comrades. To preface my question, first let me give some brief context as to what led me here. I have been doing lots of reading of newer and older texts ranging from classic theory, history, civil rights, etc etc, in preparation for a book I intend to write in the future. However, as I have grown a bit tired of blowing through dense economic texts and academic material, I decided to try and find some communist newspapers to subscribe to and receive and read in the mail as a more of a literary appetizer and to see what said organizations have to say about modern happenings. I have become aware of Peace Land and Bread by Iskra(https://www.peacelandbread.org/journal), but the only other ones I see that aren’t digital only are two sources. That being Socialist Revolution (https://socialistrevolution.org/) and The Militant (https://themilitant.com/) However I have noticed something worrying about The Militant. I did some light googling, found they have been around a long time, and are a Trotskyist paper. While I myself am not a Trotskyist, I still value other opinions from comrades and wanted to receive as wide of range of leftist reporting as possible. However I noticed their newest publications seem VERY pro Isreal and anti Palestinian liberation. This is confusing to me for what I think are obvious reasons. However I did some googling to see what their views were when you turn back the clock. This is a source from their page published in Oct 30th, 2000. (https://www.themilitant.com/2000/6441/index.shtml) Here, they are talking about the Palestinian struggle in a way that is a stark difference from their new stuff that seems aggressively pro Isreal. My question has two parts. 1. What happened to the militant between 2000 and 2023? 2. What in the hell makes a COMMUNIST NEWSPAPER PRO ISREAL? Is there some sect of socialist thought I am unaware of that is somehow pro isreal? If so, why? What is going through their heads? What’s the thought process? I know many westerners struggle separating anti-Zionism with antisemitism in their heads, (which is a whole other mind numbing conversation) but I was under the OBVIOUSLY mistaken impression that Marxist are generally able to comprehend these kinds of socioeconomic nuances. I’m not sure how well known these papers are in the modern era, but that’s why I am reaching out and posting this as many places of relevance I can. Somewhere, is some nerd that knows much, much more about socialist print history, the people behind them, and that whole specific ‘scene’ that just hasn’t come up yet in my current state of research/education. So, if that fellow nerd is out there, I would love some in-depth explanations on this phenomenon. As for everyone else, I ask everyone to see what we can find about the MODERN people currently running the Militant, as that information is surprisingly hard to come by. I may be bad at ‘googling,’ but this seems very evasive which tends to raise my brow. I feel this could be an important problem for us to pay attention to as communist, for if this is a recent trend, or imperial propaganda is out right taking over socialist and communist outlets, which given the history of The Militant, makes me worry. They have been historically targeted by COINTELPRO and harassed, infiltrated, and so on and so on, the things we all know happened in that era. It could just be a stray string of renegade marxism, or, if it IS an intelligence operation, we need to know. With the rise of anti-isreal sentiment in America, the rise of leftism as well, it seems like something certain 3 letter agencies would be motivated to squash. I should also mention, I am not a ‘conspiratorial’ person, I find the trend of conspiracy in America to be dangerous and actively undermining our ‘democracy.’ This change in rhetoric is proof of nothing more than something, sometime, changed. It is up to us marxist to find out what, and how this happened. Thank you for your time comrades.
You must log in or register to comment.
If you are looking for other lighter-reading communist newspapers I like the Red Clarion. https://clarion.unity-struggle-unity.org/2024-01-02-another-letter-to-the-youth-of-america/
I’ve found Monthly Review necessary in my journey towards better understanding the PRC.
They’re eclectic - sometimes they have articles from anarchists, mostly Marxists, often Marxist-Leninists. John Bellamy Foster and the editors are based as hell.
They also have an option to get physical magazines delivered to you.
Thank you comrades. I again ask for some assistance digging into the scenes behind the Militant, as I am baffled, confused, a wee bit worried, and curious.
Also I’m not sure but I think this is the same Patrick O’Neill: https://religionnews.com/2021/01/12/on-his-way-to-prison-catholic-activist-advocates-for-covid-19-prisoner-release/
Look into the author of the most recent article, Seth Galinsky. I don’t have time now, but this seems to be a good lead.
Edit –
Under the section From slaughtering pigs to defending haredim:
Galinsky and his party are not going to oust Nadler — and he acknowledged as much with a chuckle. Still, a couple of things intrigued me. One was that the Orthodox press, to its own amazement, appreciates Galinsky’s robust condemnation of New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s tirades about Jewish worship during the coronavirus.
Another surprise was the Socialist party’s Israel platform, which is centrist and moderate. It might have been written by an AIPAC staffer, albeit after binge-reading Marx’s “Das Kapital”: “For the recognition of Israel and of a contiguous Palestinian state. For the right of Jews to return to Israel as a refuge in the face of capitalist crisis, Jew-hatred and murderous violence.”
