Middle East Focus: Bygone Pinko Comrades of the Middle East…………….

Arabia Deserta

Bygone Pinko Comrades of the Middle East…………….

“Communist parties exist or have existed in practically all countries in the region, except Libya and some small Gulf countries. In countries like Syria, Iraq, Iran and Bahrain, the communists played a major part in national politics, and were at various times contenders for state power. In most countries, however, (including some of the ones mentioned above, such as Iraq) communists have suffered under severe government repression. Another problem for the Middle Eastern communists were the tight connections between the Soviet Union and various Arab governments, which often put local communists in awkward positions. In general, the communists in the region have been severely weakened. In several countries, the referrents of the WCM grew out of the Arab Nationalist Movement rather than the ComIntern. This is the case of the Yemeni Socialist Party (no longer a Marxist party today however), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (today largely defunct) and the Communist Party of Saudi Arabia (today defunct)…….”

They have been largely replaced, especially in the Gulf and in Egypt, with the Salafi (Wahhabi) fundamentalists, who are more acceptable as "revolutionaries" to the rulers. They are more easy to corrupt. As long as the rulers build more mosques, keep the school textbooks "on track", and the women imprisoned inside the burqa, these Salafis are happy. No more agitation about freedoms and end of corruption. Yes, their kind of revolutionaries.
Cheers
mhg

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