Neither Heroes nor Traitors: Palestinian Communists in Israel

As the British Mandate came to its end, Palestinian communists found themselves in a hard situation. They had been advocating for ending British colonialism and creating one, democratic state in Palestine, and had rejected any solution that divided the country. But in November 1947, their presumed ally, the Soviet Union, supported the UN’s Partition Plan. Soon after, the country descended into a bloody conflict leading to the Nakba (the Palestinian catastrophe) and the creation of the State of Israel. In these months, communists reversed their position, and the movement went against the Palestinian nationalist leadership by actively mobilizing for accepting partition. While a small, if vocal, group during the Mandate, after the war, these communists emerged as the political leaders of the Palestinians who remained within Israel. However, their relationships to the Israeli state and the Palestinian community was never without ambiguity. They were Palestinians who worked vigorously to affirm their constituents’ identity and protect their rights, while calling for creating a Palestinian state according to the UN decision. At the same time, they reunited with their Jewish comrades in a party that accepted the new Jewish state, and boasted its contribution to its creation, while Palestinians reeled from their trauma. In addition, their allegiance to Soviet Union, whose support for Israel was seen as betrayal of the Palestinians, frequently put them in uncomfortable positions. This paper analyzes how Palestinian communists in Israel navigated the tensions between nationalist and internationalist commitments to promote what they viewed as possible decolonization for Palestinians at the time. By firmly placing them in their local, national, and international context, and by examining their motives, actions, and public reception, this paper circumvents the popular resistance/collaboration dichotomy to highlight the role these activists played in shaping the still very partial Palestinian decolonization.