Published 12/27/2025 10:52
Communist leader Issam Makhoul, president of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) and former secretary general of the Communist Party of Israel, died on Thursday (26), aged 73, in Haifa.
A historical activist on the Palestinian-Israeli left, Makhoul played a central role in the political, intellectual and internationalist articulation against the occupation and apartheid imposed by Israel on the Palestinian people.
Born on July 18, 1952, in the village of Buqei’a, in northern Israel, Makhoul joined the student movement at the University of Haifa at a young age, where he participated in the founding and organization of Arab student representation entities.
In 1977, he joined the Communist Party of Israel and, over the following decades, assumed different responsibilities in the party leadership, including the party’s general secretary between 2002 and 2007.
Through Hadash, Makhoul was elected member of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, serving in office between 1999 and 2006.
Its institutional action has always been linked to defending the rights of the Palestinian people, opposing the occupation and building a political alternative based on equality between Arabs and Jews, in direct confrontation with the militaristic consensus dominant in Israeli politics.
During his time as general secretary of the Communist Party of Israel, Makhoul was one of the strongest voices against the “disengagement” plan from the Gaza Strip promoted by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
At the time, the Gaza “disengagement” plan envisaged the unilateral withdrawal of Israeli settlers from the territory, without negotiation with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
The initiative was presented by the Israeli government as a gesture towards peace, but it ended up weakening the Palestinian leadership linked to the political process, while at the same time strengthening groups that defended the path of armed resistance.
After Hamas’s victory in the 2006 Palestinian elections, Israel began imposing a strict siege on the Gaza Strip, often ignored by those who cite disengagement as proof of the unfeasibility of a negotiated solution.
In a text written around twenty years ago, when justifying Hadash’s opposition to the initiative, Makhoul warned that the plan did not represent an advance towards peace, but the preparation of new cycles of violence.
“The absence of a Palestinian partner in the disengagement plan; the absence of pressure from most of the real peace camp in Israel, busy paying praise to Sharon; the absence of an American position interested in achieving a solution in the foreseeable future; together with what Sharon perceives as a historic opportunity to liquidate the political solution, block the formation of the Palestinian state and save the occupation – all this leads us to foresee the next war, hidden in the facial features of the disengagement plan. It is our duty warn in advance, so that we know from now on who will bear the responsibility for its outbreak”, says the text.
In addition to his party and parliamentary activities, Makhoul stood out for his internationalism and for confronting topics considered taboo in Israel, such as the fight against nuclear weapons and the defense of Mordechai Vanunu, a technician who revealed the Israeli nuclear program in the 1980s and was subjected to decades of persecution and sanctions.
From 2010, Makhoul presided over the Emil Touma Center for Palestinian and Israeli Studies, consolidating the institute as a central space for critical reflection, theoretical production and political memory on the Palestinian-Israeli reality.
His actions combined activism, Marxist elaboration and commitment to international solidarity, including political and emotional ties with movements and parties in Latin America, including Brazil.
In a statement, the Communist Party of Israel and Hadash stated that Issam Makhoul stood out for his “unshakable progressive and internationalist position” and for a trajectory guided by the struggle for the liberation of the Palestinian people and the construction of a society founded on justice and humanity.
According to the statement, his memory will remain a reference for future generations of communist militants and peacekeepers.
Source: vermelho.org.br
