The Arabs and the Spanish Civil War

The military coup and the subsequent development of the armed conflict in Spain had a significant impact on the Arab world. The news filled the pages of local print media, and material and logistical support campaigns were carried out in various countries. The Spanish Civil War landed in the midst of the debate between democracy and fascism in countries immersed in national liberation struggles, with the rise of more ambitious nationalist movements. This meant that the debate, which was already present in much of the Western world, acquired a new dimension in Arab countries: that of the anti-colonial perspective

In addition to acts of solidarity—which ranged from collecting aid to the clandestine shipment of weapons— hundreds of antifascist volunteers enlisted in the ranks of the Republican army, mostly within the International Brigades.

Although in popular imagination, Arab nationalisms are often seen as having sided with fascism, several prominent figures within those movements expressed support for the Republican side. The Moroccan Action Committee, CMessali Hadj’s Étoile Nord-Africaine in Algeria, and Habib Bourguiba’s Neo Destour in Tunisia, and Riad Solh in Lebanon all made public declarations of support for the Republican cause and against the military coup.

This book, printed in Beirut but published in Damascus in 1937, is clear evidence of that impact. Written with the aim of raising awareness among Syrian and Lebanese readers, using the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, it was sold on the streets of Syria for 10 cents as a political manifesto. The book was signed by Syrian communist leader Khaled Bakdash, although it was later claimed by the Palestinian Najati Sidqi—considered the first Arab to join the Palestinian Communist Party—as his own work. In fact, Sidqi was sent to Spain by the Comintern to carry out propaganda and agitation activities during the war. The memoirs he wrote about his time in Spain constitute the most detailed firsthand account of the presence of antifascist volunteers from the Arab world on the Republican side. Under the pseudonym Mustafa Ibn Jala, and posing as a Moroccan, he wrote proclamations in Arabic aimed at the front and at Morocco, participated in various radio programs for Altavoz del Frente, and, together with some Arabists and Moroccans, helped create the Hispano-Moroccan Antifascist Association.

At the same time, Sidqi’s memoirs are imbued with a bitter undertone as he reflects on the lack of interest—if not outright contempt—that his work in Spain elicited from representatives of the Republican side, whether rank-and-file militiamen or even ministers and high-ranking figures.

AR/MA