Middle East

Walking on two legs

Israel, Palestine and the Middle East from a Matzpen perspective. An interview with Moshé Machover

October 13, 2015 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

MOSHÉ MACHOVER was a founder of the Israeli Socialist Organisation in 1962, better known by the title of its journal, Matzpen (meaning “Compass” in Hebrew). The journal became known for its anti-Zionism and anti-nationalism from a Marxist perspective. Machover was interviewed on 17 September 2015 by Platypus members Thomas Willis and Richard Rubin. What follows is an edited transcript of their discussion, focussing on its potential lessons learned for the present. [Read More]

The Arab uprisings and the dawn of emancipatory history

Book Review: Alain Badiou. The Rebirth of History: Times of Riots and Uprisings. New York: Verso, 2012.

October 1, 2012 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

Introduction ALAIN BADIOU CLAIMS that the twenty first century has yet to begin. We stand mired in the ideology of democratic materialism, which insists there are only bodies and language, and that we can persist without an idea. Our “atonal” environment of weak differences is riddled with a type of nihilism that crushes every master signifier, even those struggling to point in the direction of equality. Emancipatory politics is confronted with the nearly impossible task of going beyond the subject of the market, but with no clear means by which to do so. [Read More]

Alain Badiou Arab Spring Book Review Middle East

To know the worst

Anti-Semitism and the failure of the Left on Iran

September 1, 2012 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

DESPITE THE CREATION OF AN AUTOCRATIC and anti-Semitic regime after the Khomeneiite revolution of 1979, the European Community and later the European Union continued to deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran; and even with new, insufficient sanctions in place, trade with Iran continues until today. It is the capitalist state’s primary task to allow the further realization of capital, but there is a certain sense in which politics surpasses this function. [Read More]

Anti-Deutsche Anti-semitism Iran PR Iran Islamism Israel Israel-Palestine Conflict Khomeni Middle East Zionism

Marxism and Israel

Left perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

May 5, 2011 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

LAST NOVEMBER PLATYPUS hosted a roundtable discussion between Alan Goodman from The Revolutionary Communist Party USA, and Richard Rubin from Platypus entitled “Marxism and Israel: Left Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” at Hunter College in New York City. Panelists were asked to speak on the role the Left has played in the development of Israel, the Left’s analysis of the role of American intervention in the Middle East, and what a critical Marxian approach to the conflict currently looks like, compared to what it might look like. [Read More]

Alan Goodman Israel-Palestine Conflict Public fora RCP Israel Palestine Middle East

Which way forward for Palestinian liberation?

April 8, 2010 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

ON FEBRUARY 23 2010, Platypus hosted an event entitled Which Way Forward for Palestinian Liberation? in which Joel Kovel, author of Overcoming Zionism and frequent commentator on the Israel-Palestine conflict, and Hussein Ibish, political analyst and senior fellow at The American Task Force on Palestine, answered questions posed by Richard Rubin of Platypus. An audience question and answer session followed. Below is an edited transcript of the event. The Platypus Review encourages readers to listen to the full audio of the event, available online at the above link. [Read More]

Israel Palestine Public fora Middle East

The Left and Prospects for Democracy in the Middle East: Iraq

March 20, 2010 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

Platypus panel held at Left Forum 2010 in New York City, Pace University, March 20, 2010. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element Panelists Laura Lee Schmidt (Chair)—Platypus Affiliated Society; History, Theory, and Criticism of Art and Architecture, MIT Issam Shukri—Worker-Communist Party of Iran (WPI) Ashley Smith—International Socialist Organization Christopher Cutrone—Platypus Affiliated Society; University of Chicago Description The 2003 U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq was, like the 1990-91 Gulf War, a turning point for the international Left, though few recognized this. [Read More]

Left Forum 2010 Democracy Iraq Iraq war Leftism Middle East Worker-Communist Party of Iran