10 Facts About Youssef Darwish

Youssef Darwish was an Egyptian labour lawyer, communist and activist.

Youssef Darwish was one of the few from the Karaite Jewish community to remain in Egypt after the establishment of Israel in 1948.

Youssef Darwish earned a degree in law from the University of Toulouse in 1932.

In Toulouse, Youssef Darwish was first exposed to Marxist literature and became engaged in the local cell of the French Communist Party.

In 1934, Youssef Darwish returned to Egypt and started his career as a labour lawyer and political organizer.

In 1946, Youssef Darwish co- founded the Workers Committee for National Liberation, the first formal Marxist organisation in Egypt.

Youssef Darwish remained in prison for 6 years, during which he was frequently beaten and tortured.

Youssef Darwish was rearrested again in 1973 during President Sadat's regime: imprisoned for 3 months for communist agitation, he subsequently left Egypt for 13 years to live in Algeria and Czechoslovakia.

In 1947, Youssef Darwish joined a group called Jews against Zionism.

Youssef Darwish claimed that "sequestration wasn't a general rule applied to all Jews, but a measure imposed after 1956 primarily on French and British Jews and those who were suspected of having ties to Israel" and that it wasn't until after the 1967 war that the majority of the 10,000 Jews who had stayed behind began to leave.