Remembering History: The Egyptian Discourse on the Role of Jews in the Communist Movements

Abstract

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.