Middle East non-Islamist Armed Groups?

[Susurrus]

Are there any active Middle Eastern armed groups that are non-Islamist or, dare I say, leftist?

[Yefim Zverev]

PKK Kurdish Workers Party

not a single reference to islam (as far as I remember party has atheist and zoroastrian stance to religion in first establishment).

women and men are completely equal with same rights and fighting together. there is not such an other single example in the middle east.

Interesting link I found as I was just searching:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/10/06/iraq.pkk/

[Susurrus]

PKK Kurdish Workers Party

not a single reference to islam (as far as I remember party has atheist and zoroastrian stance to religion in first establishment).

women and men are completely equal with same rights and fighting together. there is not such an other single example in the middle east.

Interesting link I found as I was just searching:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/10/06/iraq.pkk/

Good info, thanks.

[Leftsolidarity]

What about the PFLP? Idk if they are or not.

[Red Commissar]

Some of the old armed groups in the Middle-East typically came from nationalist groups that used a lot of populist rhetoric. Some utilized 'Marxist' rhetoric, though more of the type you expected from pro-Soviet (and later pro-Mao) shades.

Kurdish groups typically had a nationalist orientation with a nominally secular stance, as was the case with their counterparts in Arab countries. The major Kurdish groups now that maintained some sort of militias during their fighting (and still do) were the KDP and PUK in Iraq (and for awhile, the Kurdish wing of the Iraq Communist Party), the PKK in Turkey, the KDP-I (initially) and Komalah in Iran (recently there was PJAK, a PKK group, though they seemed to've gone inactive after their leader got killed), etc. typically took this position of nationalism and secularism, sometimes some socialist rhetoric. Are they necessarily 'leftist'? That depends on whether you think that this was compatible with nationalist views. Many Kurdish groups started off with a leftish bent, though nowadays they are more or less 'centrist' or soc-dem outfits operating in a bourgeoisie mindset (IE class collaborationist). In the case of the KDP and PUK, their armed wings transformed into more or less a military of the government they have operating in Iraq right now. Neither are really 'leftist' though, KDP is more of a populist and centrist group, PUK is some sort of soc-dem. More recently like much of the region, Islamist groups have also emerged that also run some militias of their own. The PKK of all the groups were probably the most 'Marxist' as far as programs and declarations went, though they ended up abandoning that position in the 90s and settled mostly solely for nationalism as well as some ideas of confederation and autonomy or something that has been formulated by their leader (Ocalan/Apo) who is in jail right now.

Within the Arab world, there were some that emerged outside of the ones that pulled off the coup. The most notable would be in Lebanon- particularly during the Civil War- and the Palestinians.

In Lebanon, you had outfits that also fell into a 'secular' position with a strong strand of republicanism and nationalism. Some went with Ba'ath, others Nasserist, others nominally Communist, some like the Progressive Socialist Party that described themselves as some sort of socialist. Did they take a strong position on class? Not as far as I see, but they weren't 'Islamic' in the sense people associate the term now. They all had armed wings that participated in the different stages of the Lebanese Civil Wars and still maintain them, at least those that are around still.

In Iran before the revolution, aside from the aforementioned Kurdish groups, there were some leftist outfits that maintained armed wings such as the People's Fedai, Tudeh, and those that ended up with the 'Islamic socialist' standpoint like the PMOI. Many of these groups threw their lot in with the Islamist forces during the early stages in the revolution, and ended up getting destroyed afterwards.

In Turkey, 'leftist' groups with armed wings typically fell into the Maoist or Marxist-Leninist shade, though most of them got crushed rather quickly by the state. The PKK ended up providing a stronger threat than they did in the long run.

In Palestine, you often found that initially groups within the struggle there were, again, of the nominal 'secular' and nationalist type. Some took up some pseudo-leftist language as Fatah did, others did not. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is probably the most 'left' as far as language and orientation goes, I think they are still around. I'm not sure if they are as active as they used to be, though I remember they had some sort of rally in Egypt a year or two ago that turned out a sizable amount of supporters. They don't have as much 'bite' as they used to though, their leader (George Habash) led the group when it was more active in violence against the Israeli state. The current leader is in jail right now (Ahmad Sadaat), having been taken by an Israeli raid on the Palestinian prison he was in because they viewed him as someone that needed to be brought to 'justice'.

Outside of the Middle-East, I'm not sure. In Afghanistan there was a apparently a Maoist outfit of some sort that declared itself against the occupation (they might or might not be the same Maoist outfit that fought against the Soviets), though I doubt they have any appreciable numbers, if any at all. Maybe someone can clear things up about that and other armed groups that exist outside the Middle-East in "Muslim" countries.

There are other 'leftist' groups, not all of them have armed wings though. Why? Some are mostly electoral outfits, others are too small to begin with. All of the parties in general though have lost a lot of influence though, either due to their own corruption and failures or the rise of 'Islamist' groups; often a combination of both. Even those with armed wings have negligible influence. Of all the ones I've seen, only the PKK (and again, they're not 'leftist' in the sense we'd approve of) really maintain active action, though that group is a shadow of itself and getting pounded heavily by the state right now. I guess PFLP could fit into the same category here. Nevermind the infighting in many of these groups in their circles.

I don't think any exist right now that could be considered left in the sense that they are genuinely 'socialist' with a clear sense of class struggle.

[Sasha]

Devsol (now dhkc/p) is still active in turkey, very nationalist though. believe there is also some other maoist groups active there. Pflp and dflp in palestine. Mudjahdeen khalq in iran are a weird cultish group with communist positions but they seem mostly to be used as as usefull idiots by the farioys anti iran players in the region

[hashem]

Mudjahdeen are not a leftist group. their leftist wing split in 1974 and was renaimed "Peykar"(organization of struggle for emancipation of worker class) few years later. it struggled against both Pahlavi and Islamist regime of Iran but suffered many casualties. it doesnt exist anymore although some of its members are active in CPI or as individuals. the islamist faction of Mudjahdeen supported khomeini in Iran but at the end it was suppressed by it. it still exists but as a cult not a political organization, and certainly not leftist by any mean.

[Rafiq]

There used to be a lot of petite-bourgeois populist "Far Left" groups in the middle east.