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Communist Party of PalestineThe Communist Party of Palestine was a communist party in Palestine 1922-1923. It was formed through a split in the Jewish Communist Party (the other factions formed the Palestinian Communist Party). A major difference between the two parties was the attitude towards Zionism. The Communist Party of Palestine was more staunch in its condemnation of Zionism, whereas the Palestinian Communist Party was open towards some degree of cooperation with Zionists. The Communist Party of Palestine opposed Zionist settlements in Palestine. In 1923 the two parties merged, forming the Palestinian Communist Party. The Palestinian Communist Party - 1922-1923It was born through a split in the Jewish Communist Party (the other factions formed the Communist Party of Palestine ) Palestine Communist PartyThe Palestine Communist Party (Yiddish: Palestiner Kumunistishe Partie, abbreviated PKP) was a political party in British Mandate of Palestine formed in 1923 through the merger of the Palestinian Communist Party and the Communist Party of Palestine. In 1924 the party was recognized as the Palestinian section of the Communist International.[1]In 1923 the party congress a position of support was adopted in favour of the Arab national movement as a movement "opposed to British imperialism and denounced Zionism as a movement of the Jewish bourgeoisie allied to British imperialism", a move that won it membership of the Comintern.[2] The Party was also opposed to Zionist settlement in Palestine and to the Histadrut and its Jewish labor policy.[3] During the mid-1920s the party began recruiting Arab members. According to British intelligence sources, the first Arab joined the party in 1924. By 1925 the party had 8 Arab members. In that year the party was in contact with the Arab-Palestinian Workers Organization. Simultaneously the party establish relations with elite sections of the local Arab society. According to Halliday, many Christian Arabs were attracted towards the party since they, being Orthodox, felt emotional bonds with Russia. However, when the Comintern made its ultra-left turn in 1928 and denounced cooperation with national bourgeoisies in the colonies, the process of strengthening of the party amongst the Arab population was stalled. In 1930 the Comintern did yet another sharp turn, urging its Palestinian section to speedily increase the Arab representation amongst its cadres and leaders.[1] During Stalin's time, the party militants in the USSR suffered from heavy purges, including numerous people close to party leader Leopold Trepper. Daniel Averbach, one of the founders of the party, was so brutally beaten that he went mad.[4] The party was dissolved by the Comintern in 1943. The majority of the Arab members formed the National Liberation League (Usbat al-Taharrur al-Watani), which would in 1947 be the only Arab Palestinian party to support the 1947 UN Partition Plan, in line with the official position of the Soviet Union. After the formation of the State of Israel, the Communist Party of Israel was founded within its boundaries in 1948, by former PKP members and the branches of the National Liberation League within the areas of the new state. source: wikipedia |