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The Sword and the Neck: Reading the al-Aqsa Flood
The Sword and the Neck: Reading the al-Aqsa Flood is a militant work of philosophy that insists Gaza must be approached not as a humanitarian "exception," but as a primary terrain of proletarian and anti-colonial struggle. Writing in the immediate wake of the al-Aqsa Flood and the genocidal campaign unleashed against Gaza, Yanis Iqbal reconstructs the ideological architecture that licenses extermination: Zionism, liberal modernity, and a global consensus that treats Palestinian resistance as a metaphysical scandal rather than a political fact.
Across five tightly argued chapters, Iqbal stages a confrontation between Marxism and postcolonial theory around the problem of the colonial mode of production, developing sharp critiques of Slavoj Žižek and Étienne Balibar for the ways their "abstract negativity" and political quietism ultimately disarm solidarity with Palestinian struggle.
Drawing on Mahdi Amel, Fanon, Lukács, and Marx's own insistence that philosophy must become a practice of liberation, Iqbal argues that philosophy today either aligns itself with the physics of the oppressed-or becomes complicit with extermination. The Sword and the Neck thus reads al-Aqsa Flood as a concrete act of decolonization, a rupture in the spatial order of siege that transforms Gaza from a zone of managed death into a site of revolutionary initiative. The book is both an intervention in contemporary debates on Palestine and a poignant contribution to the renewal of Marxist theory under conditions of genocidal imperialism.
Across five tightly argued chapters, Iqbal stages a confrontation between Marxism and postcolonial theory around the problem of the colonial mode of production, developing sharp critiques of Slavoj Žižek and Étienne Balibar for the ways their "abstract negativity" and political quietism ultimately disarm solidarity with Palestinian struggle.
Drawing on Mahdi Amel, Fanon, Lukács, and Marx's own insistence that philosophy must become a practice of liberation, Iqbal argues that philosophy today either aligns itself with the physics of the oppressed-or becomes complicit with extermination. The Sword and the Neck thus reads al-Aqsa Flood as a concrete act of decolonization, a rupture in the spatial order of siege that transforms Gaza from a zone of managed death into a site of revolutionary initiative. The book is both an intervention in contemporary debates on Palestine and a poignant contribution to the renewal of Marxist theory under conditions of genocidal imperialism.
- GenresPolitics
158 pages, Paperback
Published November 21, 2025
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June 29, 2026Wonderful wonderful read. Sure, this book is about the al-aqsa flood (colloquially known as October 7th), but the specifics of October 7th itself aren’t really addressed in much detail until the fourth out of five chapters. Instead, Iqbal reorients you entirely in order to properly assess October 7th. I particularly found the second chapter to be interesting, which is a respectful critique of Edward Said, a well respected pro-Palestinian historian.
Iqbal critiques Said not on the basis of historical validity, but on the basis of method — essentially arguing that his approach does not emphasize historical and material context nearly as much as ideas and culture, as if these are separate from one another. Here is a quote within the book, using commentary from Timothy Brennan on Said’s book, The Question of Palestine:
"More than anything, the book was saying that ideas, images, and stories do not reflect reality in a secondary way but are its very ligaments. He repeated the claim often in different ways: 'the massive architectural, demographic, and political metamorphosis' of Palestine by Israel took place first as a projection. Middle East reality followed upon, and was brought to realization by, images... The implicit injunction was: and therefore we need our own."
Said’s approach to historical analysis neglects the need to abolish the power structure inherent in imperialism that makes rational discourse impossible. Keep in mind that Said is ultimately a good-faith actor; the tendency to stay at the level of cultural analysis without full historical context is a mistake I think many leftists are prone to make, and even I’m still learning to be more disciplined in my own perspective.
The third chapter is a critique of another popular voice in leftist spaces, a considerably louder figure than Said— Slavoj Zizek. Long story short Slavoj Zizek will either take on a bashful and reactionary tone towards Gaza or take the genocide to the level of abstraction. There is a particularly disgusting hypothetical conversation he acts out between “Israel Hardliners” and Hamas that essentially claims that the conflict is a consciously manufactured agreement between both sides that is mutually beneficial to both agendas by advancing anti-semitism.
My favorite parts largely came from the fourth chapter. There is a very long example from a story about princesses and dragons and what not, but Iqbal weirdly is able to recognize it as an example of how consciousness forms under certain conditions, and what conditions allow for a change in consciousness. It is simply fantasy to assume that peace between Israel and Palestine can be reached without anti-colonial violence. Movements like the BDS campaign — nonviolent demonstrations of solidarity — are not sufficient to change the power relations of the ongoing conflict.
I wanna go back to a section from chapter two that I think is in relation to this idea:
Moreover, they inadvertently perpetuate the unequal value placed on First World nationals within a cultural framework that emphasizes individual sacrifice and prioritizes humanitarian governance over challenging racialized hierarchies. As Linda Tabar remarks:
"The concept [of internationals] generalizes and universalizes the experiences of European and North American relatively privileged, mobile, often white and male subjects, occluding hierarchies, power relations and the material realities of the majority of people around the world who cannot cross borders. like native Palestinians, who are imprisoned in smaller and smaller parts of their own land."
What is morally or symbolically significant does not necessarily correlate to what is politically viable. I’m reminded of the flotillas that carry humanitarian aid to Gaza. Sure, it is an objectively good act in some sense, I would not want to take that away from it. But because you have to basically be some privileged academic or otherwise, it can raise awareness but not action. No average person could possibly just up and leave on a flotilla to Gaza. It’s an unattainable image of the fetishized activist. Too much emphasis is placed on the individual, even in leftist spaces. I’ve seen people shame others for not being able to do what some of these other activists are able to, without any redirection of energy towards organizational efforts.
I also think of Aaron Bushnell, who lit himself on fire in front of the Israeli Palestinian Embassy. A symbolic act to basically say that they will not accept living in a world that allows for the conditions of genocide. I am not saying by any means that his death was in vain (the symbolic is important too), but by no means is this act able to sustain any kind of political solidarity. The individualistic image of the activist is still strong here, and once again, the act is centered around symbolic gesture instead of organized political action.
This book also made me reflect on how I feel like there is still a hesitancy amongst some to truly accept that anti-colonial violence is necessary to create new political and power relations, and therefore permanently alter the political possibilities available. I mean, I would have never picked up an Ilan Pappe book in late 2024 if it wasn’t for October 7th. We wouldn’t see all the political action and solidarity around the Palestinian struggle like we do today, or the general consensus on Israel finally being relatively negative in the United States. The nation would have never had to critically examine its own political actors, who have shown themselves time and time again to serve the interests of lobbying groups like AIPAC over the interests of the people. At a certain point, it is so blatant the cartoonishly evil hand that the US has in carrying out the genocide in Gaza through the proxy-apartheid-state of Israel that even some of my “less political” friends are unable to ignore it.
And yet there are still many who feel the need to condemn the violence of October 7th, if not explicitly by saying “I condemn Hamas” or whatever, at least by acting as if there was some other way, through “diplomacy” and the other side just has to finally open up. This falsely assumes a potential morality that has yet to be revealed deep down in a settler colonial state.
These people have yet to recognize that all other modes of peaceful demonstration have been exhausted and yet the status quo remains. A status quo that is more violent in perpetuity than an anti-imperialist revolutionary act.
Back to the main text: The final chapter is short, calling for philosophy to strive for material change, not just live in books and academia. Philosophy has the potential to change the world and bring about a new set of relations and knowledge that was previously unrealized.
Free Palestine
Iqbal critiques Said not on the basis of historical validity, but on the basis of method — essentially arguing that his approach does not emphasize historical and material context nearly as much as ideas and culture, as if these are separate from one another. Here is a quote within the book, using commentary from Timothy Brennan on Said’s book, The Question of Palestine:
"More than anything, the book was saying that ideas, images, and stories do not reflect reality in a secondary way but are its very ligaments. He repeated the claim often in different ways: 'the massive architectural, demographic, and political metamorphosis' of Palestine by Israel took place first as a projection. Middle East reality followed upon, and was brought to realization by, images... The implicit injunction was: and therefore we need our own."
Said’s approach to historical analysis neglects the need to abolish the power structure inherent in imperialism that makes rational discourse impossible. Keep in mind that Said is ultimately a good-faith actor; the tendency to stay at the level of cultural analysis without full historical context is a mistake I think many leftists are prone to make, and even I’m still learning to be more disciplined in my own perspective.
The third chapter is a critique of another popular voice in leftist spaces, a considerably louder figure than Said— Slavoj Zizek. Long story short Slavoj Zizek will either take on a bashful and reactionary tone towards Gaza or take the genocide to the level of abstraction. There is a particularly disgusting hypothetical conversation he acts out between “Israel Hardliners” and Hamas that essentially claims that the conflict is a consciously manufactured agreement between both sides that is mutually beneficial to both agendas by advancing anti-semitism.
My favorite parts largely came from the fourth chapter. There is a very long example from a story about princesses and dragons and what not, but Iqbal weirdly is able to recognize it as an example of how consciousness forms under certain conditions, and what conditions allow for a change in consciousness. It is simply fantasy to assume that peace between Israel and Palestine can be reached without anti-colonial violence. Movements like the BDS campaign — nonviolent demonstrations of solidarity — are not sufficient to change the power relations of the ongoing conflict.
I wanna go back to a section from chapter two that I think is in relation to this idea:
Moreover, they inadvertently perpetuate the unequal value placed on First World nationals within a cultural framework that emphasizes individual sacrifice and prioritizes humanitarian governance over challenging racialized hierarchies. As Linda Tabar remarks:
"The concept [of internationals] generalizes and universalizes the experiences of European and North American relatively privileged, mobile, often white and male subjects, occluding hierarchies, power relations and the material realities of the majority of people around the world who cannot cross borders. like native Palestinians, who are imprisoned in smaller and smaller parts of their own land."
What is morally or symbolically significant does not necessarily correlate to what is politically viable. I’m reminded of the flotillas that carry humanitarian aid to Gaza. Sure, it is an objectively good act in some sense, I would not want to take that away from it. But because you have to basically be some privileged academic or otherwise, it can raise awareness but not action. No average person could possibly just up and leave on a flotilla to Gaza. It’s an unattainable image of the fetishized activist. Too much emphasis is placed on the individual, even in leftist spaces. I’ve seen people shame others for not being able to do what some of these other activists are able to, without any redirection of energy towards organizational efforts.
I also think of Aaron Bushnell, who lit himself on fire in front of the Israeli Palestinian Embassy. A symbolic act to basically say that they will not accept living in a world that allows for the conditions of genocide. I am not saying by any means that his death was in vain (the symbolic is important too), but by no means is this act able to sustain any kind of political solidarity. The individualistic image of the activist is still strong here, and once again, the act is centered around symbolic gesture instead of organized political action.
This book also made me reflect on how I feel like there is still a hesitancy amongst some to truly accept that anti-colonial violence is necessary to create new political and power relations, and therefore permanently alter the political possibilities available. I mean, I would have never picked up an Ilan Pappe book in late 2024 if it wasn’t for October 7th. We wouldn’t see all the political action and solidarity around the Palestinian struggle like we do today, or the general consensus on Israel finally being relatively negative in the United States. The nation would have never had to critically examine its own political actors, who have shown themselves time and time again to serve the interests of lobbying groups like AIPAC over the interests of the people. At a certain point, it is so blatant the cartoonishly evil hand that the US has in carrying out the genocide in Gaza through the proxy-apartheid-state of Israel that even some of my “less political” friends are unable to ignore it.
And yet there are still many who feel the need to condemn the violence of October 7th, if not explicitly by saying “I condemn Hamas” or whatever, at least by acting as if there was some other way, through “diplomacy” and the other side just has to finally open up. This falsely assumes a potential morality that has yet to be revealed deep down in a settler colonial state.
These people have yet to recognize that all other modes of peaceful demonstration have been exhausted and yet the status quo remains. A status quo that is more violent in perpetuity than an anti-imperialist revolutionary act.
Back to the main text: The final chapter is short, calling for philosophy to strive for material change, not just live in books and academia. Philosophy has the potential to change the world and bring about a new set of relations and knowledge that was previously unrealized.
Free Palestine
May 24, 2026
An indispensable read. Every Marxist, leftist, and left-curious liberal needs to read this book as it formidably excoriates the Western liberal conceptions of resistance and support for genocidal regimes as products inherent to Western capitalist liberal modernity and not as aberrations or severe missteps in policy; Iqbal showcases how the Gaza genocide essentially breaks the facade of Western liberal modernity and scrutinizes those on the Western left criticizing anti-imperialist resistance and repackaging it as outside the boundaries of rational discourse, dialogue, and Western imperialist-approved forms of resistance. Iqbal demonstrates that no such space for this rational discourse exists as long as imperialism as global system of accumulation subjects billions worldwide to its will. Necessary and essential read for furthering anti-imperialist Marxist discourse.
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