T. Cliff

The Problem of the Middle East

(Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq)

(1946)

Unpublished manuscript (except Chapter 8) – first published in the Marxists’ Internet Archive, June 2011.
Chapter 8 originally published in Tony Cliff, International Struggle and the Marxist Tradition, Selected Works Vol.1, Bookmarks, London 2001, pp. 27-41.
Translated from the Hebrew manuscript by R. Hod.
Four pages of the manuscript (pp.61 & 67–69) are missing.
Transcribed by George Paizis.
Edited by George Paizis & Anne Alexander.
Marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive.
Editor’s note: I have attempted to rationalise the transliteration of Arabic names compared to the original text, in order to help readers find online references to people and places mentioned, by substituting better known English transliterations of important figures’ names and removing diacritical marks. Although not entirely consistently applied throughout the text, I have generally favoured the spelling of personal names found in the Wikipedia entry for the person concerned. – Anne Alexander

	Introduction by Anne Alexander
<p. ii>	Preface		i
	Part I: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
	Chapter One:	Feudalism in the Arab East	1
	The Rise of Feudalism and the Arab Golden Age The Contradictions in the Flowering of the Arab Golden Age Why the Decline of Feudalism was not accompanied by the Rise of Capitalism
	Chapter Two:	Napoleon’s Conquest of Egypt (1798) and Mohamed Ali (1805-1849)	10
	Napoleon’s Conquest of Egypt Egypt at the Crossroads Mohamed Ali Smashes the Mamelukes and Introduces Great Changes in Land Property Relations Mohamed Ali Develops Irrigation and Changes the Organisation of Agricultural Production and Distribution Development of Industry, Shipbuilding and Transport Mohamed Ali’s Failure
	Chapter Three:	The Conquest of Egypt by the European Usurers	18
	Chapter Four:	From the Urabi Revolt (1881-2) to the First World War	24
	The Urabi Revolt and the British Occupation Public Finances The Flow of Foreign Capital Continues The Capitulations The Development of Agriculture Autocratic Imperialist Rule and the Beginnings of the National Movement
	Chapter Five:	Beginnings of the National Movement in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq	31
	Mohamed Ali’s Occupation of Syria, Lebanon and Palestine The First Shoots of Nationalism The National Movement Arises, Rejuvenated and More Encompassing
	Part II: IMPERIALISM IN THE ARAB EAST
	Chapter Six:	The Imperialist Powers’ Stake in the Arab East	38
	The Arab East as a Route The Arab East as an Economic Stake: a) Petroleum b) Dead Sea Minerals c) Cotton The Arab East as a Market and Field for Capital Investment The Importance of Colonies to the ‘Mother Countries’
	Chapter Seven:	Imperialism’s Methods of Rule	50
	The Police and the Army of Occupation Divide et Impera The Division of the Arab Countries into Many Small States The Arab League
	Part III: THE ECONOMIC STRUCTURE OF THE ARAB EAST
	Chapter Eight:	Industry and Banking in Egypt	60
	Foreign Capital Finance Capital The Merging of Finance Capital with the State The Increased Industrialization of Egypt The Concentration of Capital in Industry Rationalization, Productivity of Labour and the Rate of Exploitation in Industry The Rate of Profit in Industry The Conditions of Life of Urban Workers The Narrowness of Local Markets Hampers Industrialization of Egypt Egyptian Industry During the War How Foreign and Egyptian Capital Prepare for the Period after the War and the ‘Reconstruction’
<p. iii>	Chapter Nine:	The Agrarian Question in Egypt	75
	Land Property Relations What is the Feudal Mode of Production? Egyptian Agriculture as an Economy of Transition: a) Agriculture and the Deveopment of Commerce b) The ‘Freeing’ of the Toilers from the Land c) ‘Non-Economic’ Compulsion d) The technique of Agriculture Peasants, Tenants and Workers The Class Structure of the Agricultural Population The Standard of Life of the Agricultural Toilers
	Chapter Ten:	The Economic Structure of Palestine	86
	General Features of Palestine’s Economy Foreign Capital The Features of the Jewish and Arab Economies The Connections Between the Arab and Jewish Economies Is the Jewish Economy a Normal One? The Standard of Living of Jewish and Arab Workers Summary and Conclusions
	Chapter Eleven:	The Agrarian Question in Palestine	98
	Feudalism and Capitalism in Agriculture The Musha’a The Backwardness of the Fellah’s Farm Rent, Interest on Loans and Taxes The Fellah’s Standard of Living The Arab Village Proletariat Zionist Colonization: a) Farms on Jewish National Fund Land b) Jewish Citrus Culture The Influence of Zionism Colonization on the Arab Village Zionism and the Agrarian Question
	Chapter Twelve:	The Economic Structure of Syria	110
	Industry Agriculture
	Chapter Thirteen:	The Economy of Iraq	116
	Part IV: THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT IN THE ARAB EAST
	Chapter Fourteen:	The Arab National Movement (Mainly Analytical)	121
	Introduction The Feudal Lords and the National Movement The Bourgeoisie and the National Movement The Petty Bourgeoisie and the National Movement The Proletariat and the National Movement The Social Content of the National Movement
	Chapter Fifteen:	The National Movement in Egypt	130
	The Social Forces in the National Movement The Wafd and Imperialism The Wafd’s Relation to National Movements Outside Egypt The Wafd and the Question of the Sudan The Wafd and the Monarchy The Wafd and Democratic Liberties The Wafd and Religion The Wafd and the Peasants and Workers The Moslem Brotherhood
	Chapter Sixteen:	The Arab National Movement in Palestine	143
	Imperialism, Zionism and the Arab National Movement For the Arab Feudal Lords and Bourgeoisie Zionism is the Sole Source of Discord with Imperialism Of What Does the Feudal, Semi-Bourgeois Leadership Accuse Zionism? The Identification of Zionism and the Jews – The Main Weapon in the Hands of the Arab Feudal Reaction The Feudal Semi-Bourgeois Leaders and the World Forces of Reaction
	Chapter Seventeen:	The National Movement in Syria and Lebanon	151
	The Communal Question in Syria and Lebanon The National Movement and the Communal Question The Bourgeois-Feudal Leaders Compromise with Imperialism, are Firm with the Masses
	Chapter Eighteen:	The National Movement in Iraq	158
<p. iv>	Part V: ZIONISM
	Chapter Nineteen:	Zionism	162
	The Social Roots of Zionism Zionism Seeks for Allies among the Reaction What do the Zionist Say on Their Relation to the Arabs and British Imperialism? The Place of Zionism in the Defence System of Imperialism Can Zionism be Anti-Imperialist? The Attitude of the Zionist Socialist to the Arab Worker The Protagonists of Bi-Nationalism among the Zionists Zionism and the Jewish Workers of Palestine
	Part VI: THE WORKING CLASS MOVEMENT IN THE ARAB EAST
	Chapter Twenty:	Introduction to the Working Class Movement in the Arab East	175
	Chapter Twenty One:	The Trade Unions in the Arab East	178
	Egypt Palestine a) The trade unions which contain only Arab workers b) The General Federation of Jewish Labour in Palestine (Histadrut) Syria and Lebanon Iraq
	Chapter Twenty Two:	The Stalinist Groups in the Arab East	187
	The Stalinists and the War The Stalinists and National Unity The Stalinists and the Agrarian Question The Stalinists and the Class Interests of the Workers Patriotism in Bi-National Counties
	Chapter Twenty Three:	The Rise of an Independent Proletarian Power in Egypt	195
	Chapter Twenty Four:	Tasks of the Revolutionary Workers’ Movement of the Arab East	197
	The Agrarian Revolution The Unity of the Arab Countries The National Liberatory Struggle and the International Unity of the Proletariat Defence of the Rights of National and Communal Minorities Soviets and The Constituent Assembly
	Table of Weights and Measures		209
	Bibliography		210

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Last updated on 26.6.2011