ABSTRACT
The specific experience of communist parties in the Arab world has varied from country to country, a certain common evolution underlies their individual histories. The key to this commonality lies in the two powerful forces which have shaped a distinctly “Arab” communism: the Soviet-dominated world communist movement, and cultural, economic, and political conditions in the Arab world. With the exception of the Sudanese Communist Party, all the major communist parties in the Arab world were founded under the aegis of the Comintern. All looked to a world communist movement dominated by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union for political and ideological leadership and material support. The Arab communist parties benefited from the wartime prestige and popularity of the Soviet Union and its preeminent military role in the war in Europe. A new communist organization—the Palestine Communist Party—soon emerged from the wreckage of Mifleget Poalim Sozialistim Ivrin, and by 1922 it had assumed a distinct identity and an anti-Zionist stance.
