Democratic Movement for National Liberation
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Democratic Movement for National Liberation
الحركة الديمقراطية للتحرر الوطنى |
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|---|---|
| Leader | Henri Curiel |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Dissolved | 1955 |
| Newspaper | al-Jamahir |
| Youth wing | Communist Student League |
| Membership (1952) | 2,000-3,000 |
| Ideology | Communism |
The Democratic Movement for National Liberation (Arabic: الحركة الديمقراطية للتحرر الوطنى, abbreviated حدتو, HADITU, French: Mouvement démocratique de libération nationale, abbreviated M.D.L.N.) was a communist organization in Egypt from 1947-1955. HADITU was led by Henri Curiel. The movement followed the line of the National Democratic Revolution.
HADITU was founded in July 1947 through the merger of two communist factions, the Egyptian Movement for National Liberation and Iskra. Soon after the foundation of HADITU, the organization had a membership of around 1,400, being the largest communist organization in Egypt at the time.
HADITU published a legal weekly newspaper, al-Jamahir (الجماهير, 'The Masses').Al-Jamahir had a regular circulation of 7-8,000, but the circulation occasionally peaked to around 15,000.Al-Jamahir played an important role in the growth of HADITU. Free copies of the newspaper were handed out to workers at factories, and the newspaper became an important rallying point to spread the influence of the movement amongst industrial workers. The newspaper had a relatively high journalistic standard, with photographic essays and industrial exposures. The paper was closed in 1948 under martial law provisions implemented by the Egyptian government at the start of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
In early 1948 Curiel presented the paper 'The Line of National and Democratic Forces' to the HADITU Central Committee, a document that became an important point of reference in the organization. The document contained criticisms against the earlier leadership and political line of the Egyptian communist movement.
HADITU had a student front, the Communist Student League. HADITU also led the Preparatory Committee for an Egyptian Students Federation.
HADITU went through a series of splits. One of the first groups to break away from HADITU was the Revolutionary Bloc led by Shudi Atiya ash-Shafi (a split provoked by the non-inclusion of ash-Shafi in the HADITU Central Committee as the movement was reorganized. Ash-Shafi argued that HADITU had a bourgeois outlook). In April 1948 two HADITU splinter groups, Toward a Bolshevik Organization and Voice of the Opposition, merged to form the Egyptian Communist Organisation. Another HADITU splinter group was Toward an Egyptian Communist Party (NAHSHAM).
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