Abraham Serfaty is an internationally prominent Moroccan dissident, militant, and political activist, who has been imprisoned for years by King Hassan II of Morocco, for his political actions in favor of democracy and development’s regime, during the Years of Lead. He paid a high price for such actions: fifteen months living underground, seventeen years of imprisonment and eight years of exile. A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively opposes an established opinion, policy, or structure. ... The word militant has come to refer to any individual or party engaged in aggressive physical or verbal combat, normally for a cause. ... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change. ... Look up monarch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Hassan II (July 9, 1929-July 23, 1999) was King of Morocco from 1961 to his death. ... The Years of lead was a period in the history of Morocco marked by state violence against dissidents and democracy activists. ...

Life and politics

Abraham Serfaty was born in Casablanca, in 1926, of a middle-class Jewish family originally from Tangiers. He graduated of the “Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines” of Paris in 1949. His path as a political activist 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. His anti-colonialist fight had him arrested and jailed by the French authorities, and in 1950 he was assigned a forced residence in France for six years. Casablanca from space A view on the Boulevard de Paris in central Casablanca Casablanca Spanish Language for white house (classical Arabic name: الدار البيضاء, transliterated , white house, dar beïda in dialectal Moroccan Arabic) is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Tangier (in Berber and Arabic Tanja, in Spanish Tánger and in French Tanger) is a city of northern Morocco with a population of 350,000, or 550,000 including suburbs. ... The Eiffel Tower, the international symbol of the city, with the skyscrapers of La Défense business district 5 km/ 3 mi behind. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ... February is the second month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

On the morrow of Morocco’s independence, 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, but revoked of his duties because of his solidarity with miners at one 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. 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... In chemistry, a phosphate is a polyatomic ion or radical consisting of one phosphorus atom and four oxygen. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... Abdellatif Laabi was born in 1942 in Fes, Morocco. ...

Abraham Serfaty is a moroccan Jew, but also an anti-Zionist Jew who recognized the State of Israel but who demanded the abolition of the so-called “Return” law, and acted for the creation of a Palestinian State. In 1967, he no longer accepts the Israeli nationalism and is outraged by the way Palestinians were treated. He was one of the rare Jews who did not feel part of the Zionist ideology movement. Poster promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s: Toward a New Life (in Romanian),The Promised Land (in Hungarian), in small (down) text is written First Palestinian sound movie 1844 Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews by Mordecai Noah, page one. ... Proposals for a Palestinian state vary depending on ones views of Palestinian statehood, as well as various definitions of Palestine and Palestinian (see also State of Palestine). ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... A bilingual poster in Romanian and Hungarian promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s. ...

In 1970, he leaves the Communist Party, which he considers too doctrinarian and gets 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 is arrested for the first time and savagely tortured, but released after heavy popular pressure. But as he is again targeted for his continuing fight, he goes underground in March 1972, with one of his friends A. Zeroual, also wanted by the authorities. It was then that he met for the first time, Christine Daure, a French teacher who helped to hide them both. 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism; it is a branch of Marxism (and it has been the dominant branch of Marxism in the world since the 1920s). ... January is the first month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1972 calendar). ... Look up March in Wiktionary, the free dictionary March is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ...

After several months hiding, Abraham Serfaty and A. Zeroual are arrested again in 1974. After their arrest, his friend A. Zeroual died, a victim of torture. In October 1977, at the big trial of Casablanca, Abraham Serfaty was one of the five culprits 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 Western Sahara, even if this motif did not appear in the official indictment, than his political activism. He then served seventeen years at the Kenitra prison, where, thanks to Danielle Mitterand's help, he was able to marry his biggest supporter, Christine Daure. 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1974 calendar). ... Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... Casablanca from space A view on the Boulevard de Paris in central Casablanca Casablanca Spanish Language for white house (classical Arabic name: الدار البيضاء, transliterated , white house, dar beïda in dialectal Moroccan Arabic) is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. ... Kenitra is a city of Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey. ...

Exile and return

The international pressure is such in his favor that he is finally liberated in September 1991, but immediately banned out of Morocco and deprived of his moroccan nationality on grounds that his father was brasilian. He will find haven in France, with his wife, Christine Daure-Serfaty. From 1992 to 1995, he teaches at the University of Paris-VIII, in the department of political sciences, on the theme “identities and democracy in the Arab world”. Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: September September is the ninth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with 30 days. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Eighth years after his exile and two months after the death of King Hassan II, he is finally allowed by the new king to return to Morocco in September 2000, and his Moroccan passport restituted to him. He then settles at Mohammedia with his wife in a house made available to them and even gets a monthly stipend. In the same month, he is appointed as counselor to the National Moroccan Office of Research and Oil Exploitation (Onarep). This nomination did not stop him though for asking, in December 2000, the then Moroccan Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi to resign after the attacks on the independent newspapers and magazines and restrictions of their rights and freedom of speech. Hassan II (July 9, 1929-July 23, 1999) was King of Morocco from 1961 to his death. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Mohammedia is a port city located 15 miles northeast of Casablanca. ... Look up December in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Abderrahmane Youssoufi (March 8, 1924 - ) is a Moroccan politican who served as the Prime Minister of Morocco from 1998 to 2002. ... A public demonstration Freedom of speech is often regarded as an integral concept in modern liberal democracies, where it is understood to outlaw censorship. ...

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

References

• "The unsubdued, Jews, Moroccans and Rebels" (L'Insoumis, Juifs, marocains et rebelles), with Mikhaël Elbaz, Éditions Desclée de Brouwer, 2001, ISBN 2220047245
• "Morocco, from black to grey" (Le Maroc du noir au gris), Éditions Syllepse, 1998, ISBN 2907993895
• "The Other's Memory (La Mémoire de l'Autre), Éditions Stock, 1993, ISBN 9954419004
• "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, ISBN 2209066409
• "From jail, writings on Palestine" (Écrits de prison sur la Palestine), Éditions Arcantère, 1992, ISBN 2868290590
• "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

See also

• Morocco
• Hassan II
• Tazmamart
• Abdellatif Laabi