Thread by @yungneocon

People really don’t understand how social movements work do they?

It is very often elites, or at least, middle ground actors (like professionals and petty boug) that lead social movements even if they are movements of workers etc. this is just a historical regularity, regardless what one may think of it normatively

For nationalist, anti imperialist, Islamist etc coalitions, which are cross class coalitions, this is especially the case. Maxime Rodinson & Franz Fanon were already discussed this 60 years ago.

Comprador elites and their children are often the leaders of social movements against the supporting/dominating state and institutions at issue.

This is true for settler revolutions—where settler movements based on elites biting the imperial hand that feeds them is basically part of the definition of the phenomena (see Veracini), and for their opposite in anti colonial & anti imperial movements.

For example: it’s a commonplace in Palestinian discourse these days to argue that Fatah and the PA are puppets of Israel, and that they are comprised of elites, and yet we can also recognize they’re the source for much of the resistance to Israel.

There’s nothing contradictory about this that doesn’t stem from the nature of the situation itself. Similarly, Hamas received US & Israeli funding at its founding, and the PLO and CIA have had an accord since the 70s or even earlier

Does the CIA’s deal with the PLO operations chief (they even brought him and his newly wed bride to US to go to Disneyland) negate the PLOs actions against Israel during that 20 year period? It would be bizarre to say it does.