Al-Fajr al-Jadid: A Breeding Ground for the Emergence of Revolutionary Ideas in the Immediate Post-Second World War

Abstract

This article claims that all of the objectives put forth by the Egyptian revolutionary regime appeared in the leftist journal al-Fajr al-Jadid several years prior to the July 1952 revolution. The authors' central claim is also that the essentials of Nasserism including its basic tenets neutralism, pan-Arabism, and Arab socialism were clearly articulated in al-Fajr al-Jadid. Although there is no clear-cut evidence to show the existence of neither political nor ideological direct links between Nasser and the al-Fajr al-Jadid's group, this article clearly demonstrates the existence of remarkable ideological textual similarities between Nasserite's and al-Fajr al-Jadid's revolutionary ideas.

Notes

We wish to express our appreciation to the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) for their generous research grant, which helped pursuing this study.

1. R. al-Sa‘id, Munazamat al-yasar al-misri 1950–1958 (Cairo: Dar al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, no date), p.300.

2. R. al-Sa‘id, Ta‘rikh al-Munazamat al-Yasariyya al-Misriyya 1940–1950 (Cairo: Dar al-Thaqafa al-Jadida, 1976), p.311.

3. Ibid., p.206.

4. ‘Sawt al-munadilin al-ashda’‘ala al-isti‘mar wa-a‘wanihi’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 10 July 1946.

5. ‘A. Imam, al-Nasiriyya (Cairo: Dar al-Sha‘b, 1971), pp.13, 15–17.

6. See for instance, J. Gordon, Nasser's Blessed Movement (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), p.20; S. Botman, The Rise of Egyptian Communism, 1939–1970 (New York: Syracuse University Press, 1988), p.ix.

7. J. Beinin and Z. Lockman, Workers on the Nile, Nationalism, Communism, Islam, and the Egyptian Working Class, 1882–1954 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987), p.337.

8. Botman, The Rise of Egyptian, pp.54–5. See also Botman's, Egypt from Independence to Revolution, 1919–1952 (New York: Syracuse University Press, 1991), pp.61–5; Gordon, Nasser's Blessed Movement, pp.24–5; Beinin and Lockman, Workers on the Nile, pp.311–12, 337–8, 369.

9. Botman, Egypt from Independence to Revolution, p.62. In a recently published collection of articles to commemorate the lifework of Yusuf Abu Sayf, who was a prominent member of al-Fajr al-Jadid's group, Abu Sayf made it clear that his group refused to recruit to its ranks members of the Wafdist Vanguard unless the Wafdists insisted on joining the group. ‘It was more important for us that they would be more active within the public’, he recalled, and thus pursue our joint progressive goals. See Abu Sayf Yusuf (Cairo: Dar Mar Mirit, 2006), p.80.

10. R. Ginat, ‘The Egyptian Left and the Roots of Neutralism in the Pre-Nasserite Era’, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.30, No.1 (2003), pp.5–24.

11. R. al-Sa‘id, ‘al-Haraka al-Shiyu‘iyya al-Misriyya ‘Abr Sib‘in ‘Aman’, Qadaya Fikriyya, July 1992. On the involvement of a leading Marxist intellectual in the formulation and transmission of Nasser's doctrine of Arab Socialism, see, in detail, Ginat, Egypt's Incomplete Revolution.

12. Al-Fafr al-Jadid, 16 May 1945.

13. Al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 July 1945.

14. Ibid.

15. W. ‘Abdalla, ‘Tito Muharir Yughuslafya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 December 1945.

16. ‘Al-Dustur al-Yughuslafi al-Jadid’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 19 January 1946.

17. See, for instance, ‘Ishtirakiyyat Leon Blum wa-al-Fashiyya al-Jadida’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 20 March 1946; Watani, ‘Kifah al-Hind al-Watani al-Dimuqrati’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 1 July 1945; S. Sa‘d, ‘Kifah al-Sin al-Watani al-Dimuqrati’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 August 1945; ‘Al-Sharq fi Thawra’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 13 February 1946.

18. ‘Al-Ishtirakiyya al-‘ilmiyya wa-al-Qadiyya al-Wataniyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, Vol.11.

19. Imam, al-Nasiriyya, pp.178–80. On Nasser's ‘Dual Revolution’, see R. Ginat, Egypt's Incomplete Revolution (London: Frank Cass, 1997).

20. J.‘A. al-Nasir, The Philosophy of the Revolution (Tel Aviv: Gadish, 1958), pp.19–20, 25, 52 (Hebrew).

21. A.R. Salih, ‘Muhimat a-Katib’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 May 1945.

22. A.R. Salih, ‘Marhala Jadida fi al-Fikr al-Misri’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, Vol.2.

23. A.R. Salih, ‘Matalibuna al-Qawmiyya wa-Turathuna al-Thaqafi’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 June 1945; on the role of the intellectuals in guiding the popular struggle, see also I. al-Kashif, ‘Dawr al-Muthaqafin al-Ahrar fi al-Haraka al-Wataniyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 3 April 1946.

24. See for instance, N. ‘Ashur, ‘Qatalu min Ajl Faransa’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 May 1945; and ‘Dafi‘‘an al-Huriyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 1 July 1945.

25. Imam, al-Nasiriyya, p.158.

26. Ibid., pp.159, 164.

27. S. Sa‘d, ‘Ma'sat al-Tamwin’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 1 September 1945.

28. M. Amin, ‘al-Dimuqratiyya al-Misriyya bayn Ansarha wa-a‘da'ha’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 July 1945. Muhamad Amin was the pseudonym of Raymond Duwayk, see al-Sa‘id, Ta'rikh al-Munazamat, p.208.

29. I. al-Kashif, ‘Mu'tamar Butsdam’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 August 1945. Ibrahim al-Kashif was another pseudonym of Raymond Duwayk. See al-Sa‘id, Ta'rikh al-Munazamat, p.208.

30. Muraqib, ‘Ra'ihat al-‘afin’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 7 May 1946.

31. S. Sa‘d, ‘al-Taharur min al-Isti‘mar al-Baritani wa-al-Mufawadat al-Haliyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 20 March 1946. See also A.R. Salih, ‘al-Huriyya – al-Wataniyya – al-Dimuqratiyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 27 March 1946.

32. A. Sa‘id, ‘Mu‘ahadat 1936 – Limadha Nunadi bi-Ilgha'iha’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 27 March 1946. Ahmad Sa‘id was a pseudonym of Sadiq Sa‘d: see al-Sa‘id, Ta'rikh al-Munazamat, p.208.

33. S. Sa‘d, ‘Dawr al-Jamahir fi al-Haraka al-Wataniyya wa-al-Mufawadat al-Haliyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 10 April 1946.

34. S. Sa‘d, ‘Hawl ta‘til al-Mufawadat’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 26 June 1946.

35. On Nasser's shift to socialism, see M.H. Kerr, ‘The Emergence of a Socialist Ideology in Egypt’, Middle East Journal, Vol.16, No.2 (1962), pp.127–44; Ginat, Egypt's Incomplete Revolution, pp.15–19; C. Issawi, Egypt in Revolution (London: Oxford University Press, 1963), pp.54–75.

36. L. ‘Azuz, ‘al-Islah al-Zira‘i fi Rumanya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 June 1946.

37. A. Sa‘id, ‘Mulahazat ‘ala Tahdid al-Mulkiyya al-Zira‘iyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 May 1945; see also A. Sa‘id, ‘al-Islah al-Zira'i’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 August 1945.

38. S. Sa‘d, ‘Itifaqiyyat al-‘Umla al-Sa‘ba, Mahasil al-Hubub, ‘Udwiyyat al-Sharikat’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 17 April 1946.

39. Al-Fajr al-Jadid, 3 July 1946.

40. Ginat, Egypt's Incomplete Revolution, pp.15–29; P.J. Vatikiotis, The History of Modern Egypt (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1991), pp.396–7.

41. ‘Ma'sat al-Tamwin’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 1 September 1945.

42. Ibid. See also, ‘fi al-Tamwin’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 May 1945.

43. S. Makawi, ‘Misr wa-al-Siyassa al-Sina‘iyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 May 1945.

44. Ibid.

45. A. Sa‘bar, ‘al-Bunuk fi Misr wa-al-Iqtisad al-Qawmi’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 June 1945.

46. S. Sa‘d, ‘Yajib an Naqbal al-Ra'smal al-Ajnabi bi-Shurut’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, Vol.12.

47. S. Sa‘d, ‘Yajib an Nahmi Sighar al-Muntijin’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, al-Fajr al-Jadid, Vol.18.

48. Vatikiotis, The History, pp.399–401.

49. A. Takla, ‘Ara ‘an al-Ta‘lim fi Misr’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 May 1945.

50. A. Takla, ‘al-Ta‘lim wa-al-Dimuqratiyya fi Misr’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 July 1945.

51. Misri, ‘Mahu al-Ummiyya Yatada'al Hata Yakhtafi’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 13 February 1946.

52. A.R. Salih, ‘Matalibuna al-Qawmiyya wa-Turathuna al-Thqafi’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 June 1945.

53. H. Zaki, ‘al-Tashri‘at al-‘Ummaliyya fi Misr’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 August 1945; Darwish similarly attacked ferociously a law submitted by the Ministry of Social Affairs which was meant to regularize work relations between workers and employers. See, for instance, H. Zaki, ‘Al-Tashri‘at al-Ummaliyya fi Misr’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 29 May 1946. Hasan Zaki was the pseudonym of Yusuf Darwish, see al-Sa‘id, Ta'rikh al-Munazamat, p.208.

54. ‘Al-‘Ummal al-‘atilun’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 1 May 1946.

55. S. Sa‘d, ‘Nuridu Halan Wataniyan li-Mukafahat al-Bitala’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 22 May 1946.

56. Al-Fajr al-Jadid, 20 March 1946.

57. See for instance, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 1 May 1946, 7 May 1946, 15 May 1946.

58. S. Sa‘d, ‘Yajib ’an Nusalih al-Jaysh ‘ala Asas Watani Dimuqrati’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 30 January 1946.

59. Ibid.

60. Ibid.

61. Imam, al-Nasiriyya, pp.51–3, 156–74, 279–81.

62. M.H. Haykal, ‘Hunak Naw‘an min al-Dimuqratiyya – Dimuqratiyya bi-al-Muwafaqa wa-Dimuqratiyya bi-al-Musharaka’, al-Sha‘b, 30 December 1980.

63. A.R. Salih, ‘Khilaf ‘ala al-Huriyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 1 July 1945.

64. A.R. Salih, ‘“Awda ila al-‘ahkam al ‘Urfiyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 1 September 1945.

65. A. ‘Umar, ‘al-Dimuqratiyya fi Bulgharya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 1 September 1945.

66. S. Sa‘d, ‘Wasi‘u al-Dimuqratiyya fi Biladina’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 7 May 1946.

67. S. Musa, ‘Hal al-Hukuma al-Misriyya Fashiyya?’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 December 1945.

68. A.R. Salih, ‘Nuridu Hukuma Dimuqratiyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 19 January 1946.

69. S. Sa‘d, ‘al-Sha‘b Daman Intisar Harakatna al-Wataniyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 20 February 1946.

70. S. Sa‘d, ‘Haqq al-Tazahur lil-Tabaqat al-Sha‘biyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 6 March 1946.

71. See, for instance, A.R. Salih, ‘al-Sha‘b Asas al-Kifah al-Watani’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 13 March 1946; S. Sa‘d, ‘Li-Madha Nutalibu bi-Ijra‘a Intikhabat’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 13 March 1946.

72. A.R. Salih, ‘Bawadir Khatira’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 3 April 1946; A.R. Salih, ‘Khutwa Jadida fi Tariq al-Isti‘bad’, 10 April 1946.

73. See, for instance, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 7 May 1946; ‘Mu‘amarat Did al-Dimuqratiyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 7 May 1946; al-Fajr al-Jadid, 5 June 1946, 10 July 1946.

74. Imam, al-Nasiriyya, p.160; R. Ginat, The Soviet Union and Egypt, 1945–1955 (London: Frank Cass, 1993), pp.176–94.

75. R. Ginat, Syria and the Doctrine of Arab Neutralism (Brighton and Portland, OR: Sussex Academic Press, 2005), pp.107–17, 213–19; P. Woodward, Nasser (London: Longman, 1992), pp.44–5; Ginat, Egypt's Incomplete Revolution, p.5.

76. M., ‘Nazra fi al-Siyassa al-Dawliyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 May 1945; and idem, ‘Mushkilat al-Wisaya wa-al-Duwal al-‘Uzma'a al-Khams’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 June 1945.

77. A Sa‘id, al-Fajr al-Jadid, No.27, 27 March 1946, p.10.

78. Vatikiotis, The History, p.360.

79. A.R. Salih, ‘al-Nahhas Da‘if La Yaliq bi-Jihadina al-Watani’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 August 1945. See also S. Sa‘d, ‘Irfadu al-Mufawadat al-Thuna‘iyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 19 January 1946.

80. S. Khiyal, ‘Haya ila Majlis al-Amn … Wajib ajil wa-Imkaniyat Ha‘ila’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 30 January 1946.

81. S. Khiyal, ‘Qadiyyatuna wa-Majlis al-Amn’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 27 March 1946; See also an analysis of the economic struggle between the US and Britain and the ways to exploit it, in S. Sa‘d, ‘Yajib An Naqbal al-Ra‘smal al-Ajnabi bi-Shurut’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, Vol.12; S. Sa‘d, ‘Hawl al-Ba‘tha al-Tijariyya al-Baritaniyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 December 1945.

82. I. al-Kashif, ‘Harakat al-‘Alam fi ’Usbu’’,al-Fajr al-Jadid, 19 January 1946; idem, ‘Mu‘tamar Musku’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 11 January 1946. See also an article which defended the Soviet Union following anti-Soviet articles written in Egyptian papers; al-Ghanim, ‘Di‘aya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 29 May 1946.

83. J.’A. al-Nasir, The Philosophy of the Revolution, pp.52–3.

84. Imam, al-Nasiriyya, pp.379–80.

85. Ibid., pp.381–2, 400.

86. Z. Hashim, ‘Jami‘at al-Umam al-‘arabiyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 May 1945.

87. S. Khiyal, ‘Harakat al-‘Alam fi ‘Usbu‘ayn’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 June 1945; ‘Hal Nasayna Mas‘alat al-Sham?’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 August 1945.

88. S' Sa‘d, ‘Jami‘at al-Duwal al-‘Arabiyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 1 July 1945.

89. A.R. Salih, ‘Nuridu Hukuma Dimuqratiyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 19 January 1946.

90. A.R. Salih, ‘Misr wa-al-Duwal al-‘Aabiyya fi Munazamat al-Umam al-Mutahida’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 22 January 1946.

91. I. al-Kashif, ‘Harakat al-‘alam fi Usbu'’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 22 January 1946.

92. A.R. Salih, ‘Han al-Waqt li-Tajmi‘ al-Jamahir al-Sha‘biyya Hawl Kifahna al-Watani’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 6 February 1946.

93. F. Matar, bi-Saraha ‘an ‘abd al-Nasir (al-Quds: Wikalat abu ‘arfa lil-Sahafa, 1975), pp.138–9, 142.

94. Jihad, ‘Naqd wa-Taqyiym Qadiyyat al-Sudan’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, Vol.14. Jihad was the pseudonym of Ahmad Rushdi Salih, see al-Sa‘id, Ta‘rikh al-Munazamat, p.208. See also S. Sa‘d, ‘wa-Hadha Sawt Misr al-Fata’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, Vol.9.

95. Imam, al-Nasiriyya, pp.135–6.

96. Z. Hashim, ‘Jami‘at al-Duwal al-‘Arabiyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 May 1945.

97. Watani, ‘Kifah Filastin al-Watani al-Dimuqrati’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 16 June 1945.

98. S. Sa‘d, ‘Ihtidar al-Sahyuniyya’, al-Fajr al-Jadid, Vol.11.

99. See, for example, al-Fajr al-Jadid, 20 February 1946, 3 April 1946.

100. ‘A-Haraka al-Wataniyya fi Filastin’, 5 June 1946.

101. S. Hatata, ‘“An al-Wahda wa-al-Inqisam fi al-Haraka al-Yasariyya’, Qadaya Fikriyya, July 1992.