Abraham Serfaty (‎; 16 January 1926 – 18 November 2010) was an internationally prominent Moroccan Marxist-Leninist dissident,

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Lat ...

, and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

, who was imprisoned for years by

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Hassan II Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scotti ...

of Morocco, for his political actions in favor of democracy , during the

Years of Lead Years of Lead is a phrase used in several countries to refer to periods of history marked by military repression, political violence or terrorism. Years of lead may refer to: Historical periods * Years of Lead (Brazil), period of state violence ...

. He paid a high price for such actions: fifteen months living underground, seventeen years of imprisonment and eight years of exile. He returned to Morocco in September 1999.

Life and politics

Abraham Serfaty was born in

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

, on 16 January 1926, to a

middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

Moroccan Jewish Moroccan Jews (; ; ) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews began immigrating to the region as early as 70 CE. They were much later met by a second wave of migrants fro ...

family originally from

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

. He graduated in 1949 from

École des Mines de Paris École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

, one of the most prominent French engineering

schools A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of ...

. His political activities started very early. In February 1944, he joined the Moroccan Youth Communists, and, upon his arrival in France in 1945, the French Communist Party. When he returned to Morocco in 1949, he joined the

Moroccan Communist Party The Moroccan Communist Party was a political party in Morocco. The party was established in November 1943 on the basis of the individual communist groups that had been active in Morocco since 1920.Great Soviet EncyclopediaМарокканская ...

. His anti-colonialist activities had him arrested and jailed by the French authorities, and in 1950 he was assigned a forced residence in France for six years. Shortly after Morocco's independence in 1956, he encumbered several, more technical than political, posts and was part of the Ministry of Economy from 1957 to 1960. During that time, he has been one of the many promoters of the new mining policy of the newly independent Morocco. From 1960 to 1968, he was the director of the Research-Development of the Cherifian Office of

Phosphates Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphor ...

, but was revoked of his duties because of his solidarity with miners during a strike. From 1968 to 1972, he taught at the Engineers School of Mohammedia, and at the same time, collaborated at the "Souffles/Anfas" artistic journal, headed by

Abdellatif Laabi Abdellatif Laâbi (; born 1942) is a Moroccan poet, journalist, novelist, playwright, translator and political activist. Laâbi, then teaching French, founded with other poets the artistic journal Souffles, an important literary review in 1966 ...

. Abraham Serfaty was a Moroccan Jew, and an anti-

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

Jew who did not recognize the State of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and was outraged by what he saw as the mistreatment of the Palestinians. In 1970, Serfaty left the Communist Party, which he considered to be too doctrinarian and became deeply involved in the establishment of a Marxist-Leninist left-wing organization called "'' Ila al-Amam''" (''En Avant'' in French, ''Forward'' in English). In January 1972, he was arrested for the first time and savagely tortured, but released after heavy popular pressure. As he was again targeted for his continuing fight, Serfaty went underground in March 1972, with one of his friends

Abdellatif Zeroual Abdellatif Zeroual (1951 in Berrechid, Morocco14 November 1974 at " Derb Moulay Chérif" in Casablanca) was a philosophy teacher and member of the national committee of the " Ila Al Amame" movement. Abdellatif was the son of Haj Abdelkader Zerou ...

, who was also wanted by the authorities. It was then that he met for the first time Christine Daure, a French teacher who then helped both men to hide. After several months of hiding, Abraham Serfaty and Abdellatif Zeroual were arrested again in 1974. After their arrest, Abdellatif Zeroual died, a victim of torture. In October 1974, at the " Derb Moulay Chérif", center of interrogation in Casablanca, Abraham Serfaty was one of five prisoners sentenced to life in prison. He was officially charged with "plotting against the State's security", but the heavy sentence seemed to have been more a result for his attitude against the annexing of the Moroccan Sahara, even if this motif did not appear in the official indictment, than his political activism. He then served seventeen years at the

Kenitra Kenitra (, , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is a port on the Sebou River with a population of 507,736 as of 2024. It is one of the three main cities of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region and the capital of the similarly named Kénitra ...

prison, where, thanks to

Danielle Mitterrand Danielle Émilienne Isabelle Mitterrand (née Gouze; 29 October 1924 – 22 November 2011) was the wife of French President François Mitterrand, and president of the . Life Danielle Émilienne Isabelle Gouze was born on 29 October 1924 in Ver ...

's help, he was able to marry his biggest supporter, Christine Daure.

Exile and return

International pressure was enough in Serfaty's favor that he was finally released from prison in September 1991, but immediately exiled from Morocco and deprived of his Moroccan nationality on grounds that his father was Brazilian. He found a haven in France, with his wife, Christine Daure-Serfaty. From 1992 to 1995, Serfaty taught at the University of Paris-VIII, in the department of political sciences, on the theme of "identities and democracy in the Arab world". Eight years after his exile and two months after the death of King

, he was finally allowed by

King Mohammed VI Mohammed VI (; born 21 August 1963) is King of Morocco. A member of the Alawi dynasty, he acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II. Upon ascending to the throne, Mohammed initially introduced several ...

to return to Morocco in September 1999, and had his Moroccan citizenship restored. He then settled at

Mohammedia Mohammedia (), known until 1960 as Fedala (), is a port city on the west coast of Morocco between Casablanca and Rabat in the region of Casablanca-Settat. It hosts the most important oil refinery of Morocco, Samir Refinery, which makes it the cen ...

with his wife Christine in a house made available to them, even receiving a monthly stipend. In the same year, he was appointed Advisor to the National Moroccan Office of Research and Oil Exploitation (Onarep). This nomination did not stop him for asking then Moroccan Prime Minister

Abderrahmane Youssoufi Abderrahmane Youssoufi ( ; ; 8 March 1924 – 29 May 2020) was a Moroccan politician and human rights lawyer who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Morocco from 1998 to 2002, serving under King Hassan II and King Mohammed VI. He was the Secr ...

to resign after attacks on the independent newspapers and magazines and restrictions of their rights and

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

. Serfaty died in

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in November 2010. Abraham Serfaty was the co-author, with his wife Christine, of the book ''The Other's Memory'' (''La Mémoire de l'Autre''), published in 1993.

Views on Zionism

Abraham Serfaty was a fervent

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...

, to the extent that he declared that

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

had nothing to do with

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

. He moreover stated that the Jews had no right to Palestine, especially

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and the

Western Wall The Western Wall (; ; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: ''HaKosel HaMa'arovi'') is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name ...

. He led several demonstrations supporting the Palestinian people, especially during Israeli air raids on

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

, stating that Jerusalem was the capital of Palestine and that Israelis had no right to it. In "Prison Writings on Palestine", he writes:

"Zionism is above all a racist ideology. She is the Jewish reverse of Hitlerism ..t proclaims the State of Israel "a Jewish state above all," just as Hitler proclaimed an Aryan Germany."

Death

Abraham Serfaty died on 18 November 2010, at the age of 84 in a clinic in Marrakech.Marco : mort d’Abraham Serfaty, célèbre opposant à Hassan II
/ref> Only two official representatives of the

community were present at his burial. His funeral at the Jewish cemetery in Rabat was solely attended by Moroccan Muslims, on account of his political stance regarding the Palestinian issue.

Awards and honors

*1991

PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award The PEN America Literary Awards have been characterized as being among the "major" American literary prizes. The awards are among many PEN awards sponsored by International PEN in over 145 PEN centres around the world. Many of the awards onc ...

References

* "The unsubdued, Jews, Moroccans and Rebels" (''L'Insoumis, Juifs, marocains et rebelles''), with Mikhaël Elbaz, Éditions Desclée de Brouwer, 2001, * "Morocco, from black to grey" (''Le Maroc du noir au gris''), Éditions Syllepse, 1998, * "The Other's Memory (''La Mémoire de l'Autre''), Éditions Stock, 1993, * "In the King's Jails – Kenitra's writings on Morocco" (''Dans les Prisons du Roi – Écrits de Kénitra sur le Maroc''), Editions Messidor, Paris, 1992, * "From jail, writings on Palestine" (''Écrits de prison sur la Palestine''), Éditions Arcantère, 1992, * "The anti-zionist struggle and the Arab Revolution (Essay on Moroccan Judaism and Zionism)" (''Lutte anti-sioniste et Révolution Arabe – Essai sur le judaïsme marocain et le sionisme''), Éditions Quatre-Vents, 1977, ISBN {{DEFAULTSORT:Serfaty, Abraham 1926 births 2010 deaths Jewish Moroccan politicians Jewish anti-Zionism in Africa Jewish communists Jewish socialists Jewish atheists 20th-century Moroccan Jews Human rights abuses in Morocco People from Casablanca Moroccan democracy activists Ila al-Amam (Morocco) politicians Moroccan prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Morocco Moroccan torture victims Moroccan communists Moroccan Communist Party politicians Moroccan dissidents Moroccan atheists Advisors of Mohammed VI of Morocco Moroccan exiles Republicanism in Morocco Anti-revisionists Hoxhaists Anti-Zionist Jews

Life and politics

Exile and return

Views on Zionism

Death

Awards and honors

See also

References