MER Article Formation of the Egyptian Working Class The roots of the Egyptian working class reach back into nineteenth century when Muhammed ‘Ali (1805-1849), founder of the dynasty which ruled Egypt until 1952, initiated his abortive industrialization program. Beginning in 1819 his regime built European style factories in three major sectors: Milita Joel Beinin • 31 min read
MER Article Origins of the Algerian Proletariat In the first part of this essay, not included here, Bennoune notes that in pre-colonial Algeria’s rural sector land was the basic factor of production, consisting of four predominant subsistence activities: agriculture, animal husbandry, fruit tree plantations and horticulture. Ecological conditions Mahfoud Bennoune • 30 min read
MER Article Introduction The embryonic proletariat of the towns is in a comparatively privileged position. In capitalist countries, the working class has nothing to lose.... In the colonial countries the working class has everything to lose. —Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth Such are the workers of the Middle East. James Paul • 7 min read
MER Article From the Editors (January/February 1981) The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on the nomination of Gen. Alexander Haig to be Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state were indeed, as the general put it, “a special education.” Henry Kissinger’s former aide, a strong proponent of the notorious Christmas bombing of North Vietnam in 1972, The Editors • 3 min read
MER Article Davis, Israel: Utopia Incorporated Uri Davis, Israel: Utopia Incorporated (London: Zed Books, 1977). Joel Beinin • 4 min read
MER Article Tawil, My Home, My Prison Ramonda Hawa Tawil, My Home, My Prison (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1979). This book is the autobiography of a woman in revolt, but whose revolt is accidental. Although its title suggests a high degree of political awareness, the author conveys very little of the depth and impact of the str Fouzi El-Asmar • 3 min read
MER Article Letter from the Horn Khartoum, May 1980: Hundreds of Eritreans, Ethiopians and Somalis were rounded up and put in prison in nearby Omdurman when Ethiopian leader Menguistu Hailemariam visited here May 25 to help celebrate the eleventh anniversary of Sudanese President Jaafar al-Numayri’s seizure of power. The purpose of Lynne Barbee • 7 min read
MER Article "Sometimes I Have a Feeling of Foreignness" Erez Bitton’s second collection of Hebrew poems, The Book of Mint, appeared in Israel last summer, three years after Moroccan Afternoon. Bitton is an unusual man by any standard. He was born in Oran, Algeria, in 1942 and immigrated to Israel shortly after the establishment of the state in 1948. His Ken Brown • 7 min read
MER Article Oriental Jews in Israeli Society The revolt of the Black Panthers in 1971 underlined the depth of the ethnic conflicts in Israel’s Jewish population and dramatized the danger that the crystallization of ‘two nations’ could represent for Israeli national unity. Sociologists and study commissions went to work, just as they had after Mikhael Elbaz • 24 min read
MER Article Ideology and Strategy of the Settlements Movement The issue of settlement has been at the center of the political Zionist movement since its inception. The settlers have played a major role in shaping the political fabric of Israel. Since “the conquest of the land” has been intrinsic to political Zionism, the settlers engaged in that process enjoy Don Will • 14 min read
MER Article Challenge from Israel's Military The Israeli army -- or the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) -- has assumed since the 1967 war an increasingly prominent role in Israeli society. Today the IDF is the single largest factor in Israel’s economy. Its officer corps, once a highly motivated and ideologically cohesive elite trained in the ideol Joel Beinin • 7 min read
MER Article Israel at a Turning Point Israel in mid-1980 was caught in the throes of a crisis whose final consequences cannot yet be foreseen. Manifestations of this crisis include a sharp decline in public support for the government, confusion about the meaning and significance of recent events, and growing uncertainty about the future Zachary Lockman • 10 min read
