Henri Curiel
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Henri Curiel (September 13, 1914 - May 4, 1978) was a political activist, founder of a communist organization in Egypt. He was then involved in the support of several national liberation causes until his in assassination in Paris on May 4, 1978. Henri Curiel is buried at Père Lachaise cemetery, Paris.
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[edit] Egypt
Born in Cairo to a Jewish family of Italian origins, he was the cousin of Eugenio Curiel, physicist and anti-fascist militant murdered in Italy in 1945. He was also the uncle of the famous British KGB spy George Blake.
Henri Curiel founded in 1943 the Egyptian Movement for National Liberation (HAMETU), which became in 1947 the Democratic Movement for National Liberation (HADETU). Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, he was repeatedly arrested and, despite his Egyptian citizenship, forced to emigrate in 1950. He established himself in France and led with a circle of Jewish communist emigres from Egypt a structure known as the "Rome Group".
[edit] An anticolonialist activist
Henri Curiel worked for the Jeanson network which supported the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) during the Algerian War (1954-62). He was arrested by the French security services in 1960. Curiel was then one of the founders of "Solidarité", a support group for various anticolonial and opposition movements in the Third World (in particular Africa and Latin America), such as the African National Congress (ANC).
In 1976, Henri Curiel initiated contacts with Israeli and Palestinian representatives willing to negotiate a mutual recognition. Several meetings were organized including among others Issam Sartawi, adviser to Yasser Arafat, and Uri Avnery and Mattityahu Peled, members of the Israeli Council For Israeli-Palestinian Peace (ICIPP).
On June 21, 1976, Georges Suffert published in the French magazine Le Point an article presenting Curiel as the "head of the terrorist support network", connected with the KGB. He was put under house arrest in Digne, an administrative measure that was lifted once the charges were proved inexistent [1].
[edit] Assassination on May 4, 1978
Henri Curiel was assassinated in Paris on May 4, 1978. A far-right group claimed responsibility, but the case is still unsolved. Speculations persist in three directions:
- Jean-Pierre Maïon, a French criminal linked to the SDECE and the OAS, who worked as informant for Lucien Aimé-Blanc, and would have killed Henri Curiel on behalf of the GAL Spanish death squad [2]
- the Abu Nidal group (which allegedly shot later also Issam Sartawi), possibly commissioned by the KGB.[3]
- the South African apartheid secret police (for his help to the ANC) [1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Henri Curiel, citizen of the third world, Le Monde diplomatique, April 1998 (English)/(French)
- ^ Lucien Aimé-Blanc, 2006
- ^ Alexandre Adler, 2006
[edit] Bibliography
- Georges Suffert, Le patron des réseaux d'aide aux terroristes, Le Point, June 21, 1976
- Roland Gaucher, Le Réseau Curiel ou la subversion humanitaire, Jean Picollec, 1981
- Gilles Perrault, Un homme à part, Bernard Barrault, 1984
- Jacques Hassoun, La vie passionnée d'Henri Curiel, Revue d'études palestiniennes, 1998
- Recherches Internationales, Crise et avenir de la solidarité internationale. Hommage à Henri Curiel, n° 52-53, 1998
- Alexandre Adler at the AJOE Congess, March 6, 2006
- Lucien Aimé-Blanc, Jean-Michel Caradec'h, L'Indic et le Commissaire, Plon, 2006
[edit] See also
- List of assassinated people
- Anti-colonialism
- Wars of national liberation
- Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
[edit] External links
- The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry - Culture, Politics, and the Formation of a Modern Diaspora
- Inventory of the papers of the. EGYPTIAN COMMUNISTS IN EXILE (ROME GROUP)
- The silent idealist by Uri Avnery, Le Monde diplomatique, April 1998
- BASE DE DONNEES SUR LES ACTES TERRORISTES
- Spies Encyclopedia - Blake, George
