Remembering History

The Egyptian public has witnessed in recent decades an active, at times heated, debate between present and former left-wing activists and a variety of Egyptian intellectuals over the role played by Jews in the communist movements. The polemic discourse particularly focused on their contribution to the failure of the various communist organizations to unite, expand and take root within the Egyptian lower classes in the first half of the twentieth century. This article scrutinizes and analyses, chronologically, the ongoing discourse as it came to be expressed in a number of important ideological venues. This lively polemic discourse sheds new light on the centrality of Jews in the development of organized communism during the monarchy period. It also adds an important dimension to the historiographic debate regarding the Jews of Egypt, generally, and their attitude towards Zionism and the State of Israel, particularly. NotesThe author wishes to express his appreciation to the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) for their generous research grant, which helped pursuing this study.1. See for instance, S.D. Goitein, Jews and Arabs, Their Contacts Through the Ages (New York: Schocken Books, 1955); J.M. Landau, Jews in Nineteenth-Century Egypt (New York: New York University Press, 1969); S.M. Husni, al-Yahud fi Misr Min 1882–1948 (Cairo: al-Hay'a al-Misriyya al-‛amma lil-Kitab, 1993); G. Kramer, The Jews in Modern Egypt: 1914–1952 (London: I.B. Tauris, 1989); M. Abu al-Ghar, Yahud Misr min al-Izdihar ila al-Shatat (Cairo: Dar al-Hilal, 2004); M.M. Laskier, The Jews of Egypt, 1920–1970 (New York: New York University Press, 1992); S. Shamir (ed.), The Jews of Egypt: A Mediterranean Society in Modern Times (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1987); J. Beinin, The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2005); R. Kimche, Zionism in the Shadow of the Pyramides (Tel-Aviv: Am Oved, 2009). 2. See for instance, pioneering and earlier studies such as W. Laqueur, Communism and Nationalism in the Middle East (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1957); M.S. Agwani, Communism in the Arab East (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1969). R. al-Sa‘id published extensive studies on the Egyptian left and the communist movements in Egypt throughout the twentieth century. His works are largely based on primary communist sources and interviews with many former communist activists (Jews included) as well as official Egyptian documents. See for instance his Ta’rikh al-Haraka al-Ishtirakiyya fi Misr 1900–1925, 5th ed. (Cairo: Dar al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 1981); Al-Yasar al-Misri, 1925–1940 (Beirut: Dar-al-Tali‘a lil-taba‘a wa-al-Nashr, 1972); Ta’rikh al-munazzamat al-yasariyya al-misriyya, 1940–1950 (Cairo: Dar al-thaqafa al-Jadida, 1976); Munazzamat al-yasar al-misri 1950–1957 (Cairo: Dar al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 1983). See more recent studies offering a deeper historical perspective and well-documented, such as J. Beinin, Was the Red Flag Flying There? (Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1990); S. Botman, The Rise of Egyptian Communism, 1939–1970 (New York: Syracuse University Press, 1988); Y. Amitay, Egypt–Israel – A Look From the Left: The Egyptian Left and the Arab–Israeli Conflict, 1947–1978 (Haifa: Kinneret Zmora Publishers, 1999) (in Hebrew).3. Both Beinin, The Dispersion; and Abu al-Ghar, Yahud Misr, dedicate a chapter to Egyptian Jewish communists.4. On the history of the various communist organizations see a detailed account in R. Ginat, A History of Egyptian Communism, Jews and their Compatriots in Quest for Revolution (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2011).5. See also a broad discussion in Ginat, A History of Egyptian Communism. See also Beinin, the Dispersion, chapter 6; I. Schrand, Jews in Egypt Communists and Citizens (Hamburg and London: Lit, 2004).6. Ginat, A History of Egyptian Communism.7. Hadetu was the largest communist organization of the late 1940s. It was founded in mid-1947 following the amalgamation of three of the four main communist organizations (al-Haraka al-Misriyya lil-Taharrur al-Watani [Hametu], Iskra [al-Sharara] and Munazzamat Tahrir al-Sha’b), and a few tiny communist frameworks. On Hadetu, see Ginat, A History of Egyptian Communism, chapter 10.8. See Ginat, A History of Egyptian Communism, chapter 12. Conventional wisdom suggests that the partition plan of Palestine was not unanimously endorsed by the Egyptian communists, and particularly one group, Tali‘at al-’Ummal, openly objected it. See for instance, R. al- Sa‘id, Ta’rikh al-Munazzamat al-Yasariyya al-Misriyya, 1940–1950 (Cairo: Dar al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 1976), pp 41–3; Beinin, Was the Red Flag, pp.59–63.9. R. ‘Abbas, Awraq Henri Curiel wa-al Haraka al Shuyu‘iyya al-Misriyya (Cairo: Sina lil-Nashr, 1988).10. I. Fathi, Henri Curiel didda al-Haraka al-Shuyu’iyya al-’Arabiyya fi al-Qadiyya al-Filastiniyya (Cairo: Dar al-Nadim, 1989).11. M. Tiba, Al-Haraka al-Shuyu‘iyya al-Misriyya 1945–1965 (Cairo: Sina lil-Nashr, 1990).12. S. Zaharan, Fi ‘Usul al-Siyasa al-Misriyya (Cairo: Dar al-Mustaqbal al-’Arabi, 1985).13. See a broad discussion of the role played by these figures in the development of organized communism in Egypt, in Ginat, A History of Egyptian Communism, chapters 8–12.14. See a detailed account of Curiel's efforts in, Beinin, The Dispersion, pp.153–9, 165–78.15. H. Curiel, Pages Autobiographiques Une Contribution à I‘Histoire de la Naissance du Parti Communiste Egyptien – de 1940 à 1950, File 402, Egyptian Communists in Exile (ECE), International Institute of Social History (IISH), Amsterdam, p.23.16. On the communists’ stand on and policy toward these issues, see, in detail, Ginat, A History of Egyptian Communism, chapters 11–12. See also F. Mursi, Al-‘Alaqat al-Misriyya al-Sufyatiyya (Cairo: Dar al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 1976), pp.258–9. See also R. al-Sa‘id, ‘al-Haraka al-Shuyu‘iyya al-Misriyya ‘Abr Sib‘in ‘Aman’, Qadaya Fikriyya (July 1996), pp.21–37.17. On Majmu‘at Ruma and its correspondence with the DMNL and other foreign groups, see the unique collection of ‘Egyptian Communists in Exile (Rome Group) Archives’, in IISH. See also Beinin, The Dispersion, pp.148–59.18. Beinin, The Dispersion, pp.156–9.19. R.H. ‘Abbas, Awraq Henri Curiel wa-al-Haraka al-Shuyu‘iyya al-Misriyya (Cairo: Sina lil-Nashr, 1988), p.58.20. Ibid., p.43. ‘Abbas’ argument does not correspond with the historical facts, since all Egyptian communist groups supported the partition plan of November 1947. See a broad discussion in Ginat, A History of Egyptian Communism, chapter 12.21. ‘Abbas, Awraq, pp.43–4.22. On the affair and the arrests, see ‘al-Qissa al-Kamila lil-shuyu’iyya fi Misr’, al-Musawwar, 24 Dec. 1954; interview with Marie Rosenthal-Kamil, Cairo, 10 Feb. 2007; interview with Joyce Blau, Paris, 20 May 2005; ‘Abbas, Awraq, pp.43–4.23. ‘Abbas, Awraq, p.69.24. Ibid., p.44.25. Ibid., p.46.26. Ibid., p.50.27. Ibid., pp.23, 50–51.28. Ibid., pp.23, 32, 51.29. Ibid., pp.23, 50–51. See also R. ‘Abbas, ‘Henri Curiel baina al-Astura wa-al-Waq’i al-Ta’rikhi’, al-Hilal (Nov. 1988), pp.45–6.30. ‘Abbas, ‘Henri Curiel’, p.42.31. Tariq Al-Bishri, ‘Qira’a Misriyya fi Awraq Henry Curiel', al-Hilal (April 1988), pp.18–19. 32. Ibid., pp.19–21.33. Al-Bishri is wrong. The Sudanese were not against such a move – they in fact supported and advanced it. On Curiel's stand on the future of the Sudan and the formation of the Sudanese Movement for National Liberation, see R. Ginat, ‘Swimming against the Nationalist Current: the Egyptian Communists and the Unity of the Nile Valley’, in I. Gershoni and M. Hatina (eds.), Narrating the Nile (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008), pp.67–90.34. Al-Bishri, ‘Qira’a Misriyya’, p.25.35. Ibid., p.24.36. M. Sid Ahmad, ‘Al-Yahud fi al-Haraka al-Shuyu’iyya al-Misriyya wa al-Sira‘ al-‘Arabi al-Isra’ili’, al-Hilal (June 1988), pp.23–4. See also his book, Mustaqbal al-Nizam al-Hizbi fi Misr (Cairo: Dar al-Mustaqbal al-’Arabi, 1984).37. Sid Ahmad, ‘Al-Yahud fi al-Haraka’, p.21.38. Ibid., pp.22–3.39. ‘Al-Nuqrashi Yudafi‘u ‘an al-Sahyuniyya’, and ‘al-Nuqrashi Yahlu al-Rabita al-Isra’iliyya limukafahat al-Sahyuniyya’, al-Jamahir, 23 June 1947.40. Sid Ahmad, ‘Al-Yahud fi al-Haraka’, pp.24–5.41. ‘Abbas, ‘Henri Curiel’, pp.44–5.42. Ibid.43. Ibid., p.45.44. He relies on Perrault's Arabic version, p.414.45. ‘Abbas, ‘Henri Curiel’, pp.45–6.46. Ibid.47. M. Tiba, ‘Matlub Taqwim Mawdu‘i lil-Ta’rikh al-Hadith’, al-Hilal (Nov. 1988), pp.48–57.48. The National Committee of Students and Workers (NCWS) was one of the main activist groups behind the wave of social and political discontent (February-July 1946) in Egypt. It was an umbrella organization including members from the Wafdist Vanguard, communists from the EMNL and Iskra, students and workers. On the NCWS see J. Beinin and Z. Lockman, Workers on the Nile (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987), pp.335–44; Botman, The Rise, p.60.49. T. al-Bishri, al-Haraka al-Siyasiyya fi Misr, 1945–1952 (Cairo: al-Hay’a al -Misriyya al-‘Ama lil-Kitab, 1972), pp.107–8.50. T. al-Bishri, Al-Muslimun wa-al-Aqbat fi Itar al-Jama‘a al-wataniyya (Beirut: Dar al-Wahda, 1982).51. Tiba, ‘Matlub taqwim mawdu‘i’, pp.52–3.52. Ibid., pp.53–4.53. Ibid., p.55.54. T. al-Bishri, ‘Qawl Akhir fi Awraq Henri Curiel’, al-Hilal (Dec. 1988), p.107.55. Ibid., pp.107–8.56. S. Hatata, ‘‘An al-Wahda wa-al-Inqisam fi al-Haraka al-Yasariyya’, Qadaya Fikriyya (July 1992), pp.303–8. See also S. Hatata, Fikr al-Yasar wa-‘Awlamat Ra's al-Mal (Cairo: Dar al-‘Alam al-Thalith, 2006), pp.111–25.57. S. Hatata, Al-Nawafidhu al-maftuha: Mudhakkirat Duktur Sharif Hatata (Cairo: Dar Mirit, 2006), pp.11–12.58. Hatata, ‘‘An al-wahda’.59. Ibid.60. Ibid.61. Al-Sa‘id, ‘al-Haraka al-Shuyu‘iyya al-Misriyya’, pp.21–37.62. F. ‘Abd al-Halim, ‘Haqiqat Khatt al-Quwwat al-Wataniyya wa-al-Dimuqratiyya Yana‘iru 1948’, Qadaya Fikriyya (July 1992), pp.266–72.63. M.Y. al-Jindi, ‘21 Fibrayir: Dawr Bariz lil-Shuyu‘iyyun al-Misriyyin fi al-Haraka al-Wataniyya al-Misriyya’, Qadaya Fikriyya (July 1992), pp.240–41; M.Y. al-Jindi, ‘al-Tayyarat al-Asasiyya fi al-Haraka al-Shuyu‘iyya al-Misriyya’, Qadaya Fikriyya (July 1992), pp.50–51; interview with M.Y. al-Jindi, Dar al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, Cairo, 22 Feb. 2007. See also M.Y. al-Jindi, Masirat Hayati (Cairo: Dar al-‘Alam a-Thalith, 2006), p.36.64. Al-Jindi, Masirat Hayati, p.132.65. Ibid., pp.240–41.66. T.S. ‘Uthman, ‘Khawatiru ‘an ‘Alaqat al-Tabaqa al-‘Amila al-Misriyya bi-al-Haraka al-Ishtirakiyya al-Thaniyya, 1944–1956’, Qadaya Fikriyya (July 1992), pp.193–8.67. F. Mursi, ‘Hawla Hall al-Hizb al-Shuyu‘iy al-Misri li-Nafsihi ‘am 1965’, Qadaya Fikriyya (July 1992), pp.309–19. On al-Raya and the amalgamation with the DMNL, see R. al-Sa’id, Munazzamat al-Yasar al-Misri 1950–1957 (Cairo: Dar al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 1983), pp.352–98.68. Al-Sa‘id, Munazzamat al-Yasar al-Misri, pp.354–5.69. Mursi is quoted from Beinin, The Dispersion, p.144.70. Al-Sa’id, Munazzamat al-Yasar al-Misri, p.371.71. Beinin, The Dispersion, pp.157–9.72. M.H. Haykal, ‘Al-Haraka al-Shuyu’iyya’, al-Jazeera, 22 June 2006. See text at http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/31C2AFDC-81B8-464C-AEC0-504747A2A045.htm73. Ibid.74. A. al-Qasir, ‘Maza‘imu uza’im Batila fi Hadith Haykal’, al-Ahali, No.1285, 5–12 July 2006.75. Ibid. Similar arguments were made by M.A. al-‘Alim, ‘Qira’a ‘Ilmiyya am Mawqif Siyasi’, al-Ahali, No.1285, 5–12 July 2006.76. Al-Qasir, ‘Maza’imu Uza’im’. See also A. Al-Qasir, ‘Haykal Yanshuru al-Wa‘i al-Za’if Hawla Ta’rikhna al-Watani’, in Al-Haraka al-Shuyu’iyya wa-Haykal (Cairo: Dar al-‛Alam al-Thalith, 2006), pp.7–30; H.F. Mustafa, ‘Haykal baina al-Asdaf wa al-La’la’’, al-Ahali, No.1285, 5–12 July 2006.77. Like Hatata, Abu al-Ghar's study on the Jews of Egypt totally opposes the idea that Curiel maintained links with Israel or Zionism. According to him, Curiel established (while in exile) contacts with the Israeli Communist Party in order to advance a peaceful solution to the Arab–Israeli conflict, but his adverse attitude towards Zionism remained unchanged. See Abu al-Ghar, Yahud Misr, p.116.78. S. Hatata, ‘Henri Curiel’, in Al-Haraka al-Shuyu’iyya wa-Haykal, pp.41–62. See also M.Y. al-Jindi, ‘‘Awda ila’ al-Maza’im al-Qadima’, in Al-Haraka al-Shuyu‘iyya wa-Haykal, pp.63–76

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