In this episode Prez and Talia discuss some of Gramsci's main theories, the material conditions of their development and their relevance to today. We cover his theoretical analyses of fascism, bourgeois politics, and the state, and how he was the first Joker.

We are using The Antonio Gramsci Reader: Selected Writings 1916-1935, NYU Press Edition.

Reach out to us on Twitter @the_minyan or email us [email protected]

In this episode Prez spends way too long talking about history and theory while we deconstruct what it means for land to be used "productively." Zev discusses the relationship between eco-fascism in Israel and America. Our guest Lydia, from the Center of Communist Studies, joins us to talk about the importance of Olive Trees and other claims of "environmental stewardship" in Israel's attempts to exterminate Palestinians. Talia expands on how Israel's eco-fascism is destroying Palestinian land.

Reach out to us on Twitter @the_minyan or email us [email protected] for our sources.

In this mini-episode Prez relates Stalin's "Marxism and the National Question" to the Israel and the idea that there can be a single Jewish Nation...or why there fundamentally can't be one. Please excuse any pauses made, they forget words easily

Talia reads the Founding Document of the PFLP

From the River to the Sea, Palestine WILL BE FREE

Please do whatever you can to support the Palestinian struggle. Attend rallies and marches for Nakba Day (5/15)

From the Strategy of for the Liberation of Palestine

https://foreignlanguages.press/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/S08-PFLP-Strategy-Lib-Palestine-7th-Printing.pdf

The Minyan discusses Norm Finkelstein's book, The Holocaust Industry.

End song: Mir Veln Zey Iberlebn performed by Tsibele

References:

Finkelstein, Norman G. The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering. London: Verso, 2015.

(Talia also wants to note, she said that Verso is NOT ML/MLM.)

To tide you over until the Holocaust Industry episode is released, we here at the Minyan wanted you to hear the the debate between Norman Finklestein and Alan Dershowitz on an episode of Democracy Now in 2003.

Enjoy!

Talia goes on Mandatory OT to discuss the Battle of Cable Street, how the Jews, Irish, and Communists worked together to fight fascism, and the lessons we can apply to our current conditions.

Communist Party of Great Britain. 1943. Keep Mosley in prison. [London]: Communist Party. https://archive.org/details/keepmosleyinpris00comm.

Gottlieb, Julie. 1998. “Women and Fascism in the East End.” Jewish Culture and History, 1:2, 31-47.

Kushner, Tony & Nadia Valman. 1998. “Introduction: Minorities, Fascism and Anti-Fascism.” Jewish Culture and History, 1:2, 1-22.

Linehan, Thomas P. 1998. “Fascist Perceptions of Cable Street.” Jewish Culture and History, 1:2, 23-30.

Rosenberg, David. 2011. Battle for the East End: Jewish responses to fascism in the 1930s. Nottingham: Five Leaves.

Smith, Elaine R. 1998. “But What Did They Do? Contemporary Jewish Responses to Cable Street.” Jewish Culture and History, 1:2, 48-55.

Steel, Peta. 2017. The battle of Cable Street: they shall not pass : an account of working class struggles against fascism, including Phil Piratin, the Spanish Civil War and the rise of fascism in Europe. London: SERTUC.

We're back! We introduce Zev, discuss this past summer, and answer your burning Marvel questions.

In this long, LONG, overdue episode, the Minyan joins friend and comrade Alireza to explore the complicated history of Iran from the Constitutional Revolution of 1905 to the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Along the way, we discuss the particular class character of 20th Century Iranian society, the messy and often disappointing foreign relations between Iran and the USSR, the role of first British and then US imperialism in propping up the reactionary Pahlavi Dynasty, the rise and fall of Mohammed Mosaddegh, and the developments, tensions, and occasional fusions of nationalist, Islamist, and Marxist movements in Iran, culminating with the Marxist guerrillas who swept out the Pahlavi Dynasty in 1979, only to be coopted and suppressed by the reactionary wing of the Islamist movement who consolidated control over what would become the Islamic Republic.

Part 2, to be released at a later date, will focus on that consolidation of power in 1979 and the developments within the IR to the present day, in order to guide principled communists in how best to approach an anti-imperialist nation that is also thoroughly anti-communist and in general reactionary.

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Intro Music: Nitsokhn Lid by Yiddish Glory, remixed by Eli Bertrum

Bed Music: Nitsokhn Lid Screwed by Mr. Crane

Outro Music: Bayāt-e Tork by Yonā Dardašti, one of--if not the--most famous Iranian Jewish classical singers.

Suggested Reading: 

"Iran Between Two Revolutions" & "The Modern History of Iran" by Ervand Abrahamian

"Fragile Resistance: Social Transformation in Iran from 1500 to the Revolution" by John Foran

"Soviet Politics and the Iranian Revolution of 1919-1921" by Stephen Blank

The Minyan crew updates us on the work they've been doing during this time.