Induced to Volunteer? The Predicament of Jewish Communists in Palestine and the Spanish Civil War

Abstract

Despite there being no recruitment office in Palestine, dozens of members of the local Communist Party, mainly Jews, left the country to take part in the Spanish Civil War. First, this article examines the political and social circumstances which influenced individuals’ decisions to volunteer. The Palestine Communist Party operated illegally. A combination of pressure from the British mandate authorities, hostility from the Zionist establishment and acute internal disputes, following the party’s participation in the Arab Revolt in Palestine (1936–9), created strong push factors that encouraged many Party members to leave the country. The article also examines the volunteers’ ideological motivation and the transport and support networks that were necessary to bring them to the war zone. By exploring these issues, the article seeks not only to illuminate the particular case of the volunteers from Palestine, but also to make a contribution to the comparative study of foreign volunteers in modern conflicts.