Ahmad Nabil el-Hilaly passes away

Veteran Marxist lawyer Ahmad Nabil el-Hilaly, died this morning of kidney failure in El-Salam Hospital, in Ma3adi, Cairo, only 11 days after his life-long friend and comrade Youssef Darwish passed away.
Born in 1928, the son of a landowning pasha who was the last Prime Minister of Egypt before the 1952 coup, Hilaly, a.k.a. Comrade Beshir, gave up his wealth and land, living instead a poor humble life, dedicating his career to defending peasants, workers, and the poor in Egypt and the Arab World. After helping revive the Egyptian Communist Party in 1975, Hilaly led a split in the late 1980s, cofounding with Darwish, the People’s Socialist Party.
Hilaly headed the legal defense team during the Revolutionary Socialists’ trial in 2004. Here’s his opening statement in court.
Hilaly’s funeral will take place tomorrow Monday noon, in front of 3omar Makram mosque in Tahrir Sq. His family and friends will mourn his death and receive condolences, Tuesday evening, at el-Hamdiya el-Shazliya mosque in Giza.

The first time I was ever detained by State Security police was back in October 2000, where I spent four days in Lazoughli, part of a crackdown on leftist students active in the intifada solidarity movement. My mother, horrified and not knowing what to do, rushed looking for Hilaly’s phone number to get his help. Hilaly went twice to the State Security prosecutor’s office in Heliopolis, where I was being interviewed, but was told I wasn’t inside, and he couldn’t see me. Funny enough, I ended up then with a Muslim Brotherhood legal defense team, as two MB lawyers happened to be in the Heliopolis SS prosecutor’s building attending with their group’s detainees. They volunteered to help, as I was still handcuffed–after a long night of severe beatings and sleep deprivation by my interrogators back in Lazoughli–yelling in the corridor, “I need a lawyer! I need a lawyer!” Following my release, I always kept Hilaly’s phone number in my wallet, just in case I fell into trouble again.
I saw Hilaly in conferences at the Lawyers’ Syndicate several times, but I only spoke with him once in my life, during one of Kamal Khalil’s Imbaba parliamentary campaign rallies in November 2005. Hilaly was among Kamal’s leading supporters in his campaign, and insisted despite his fragile health on taking the effort to give a speech at Kamal’s final rally. We hardly had a conversation, we just exchanged few words of greetings, as I waited for him to give his speech.
Ahmad Nabil el-Hilaly was a great man… He will be missed…

-Baheyya wrote a fantastic well-detailed obituary, worth checking out.
-Wael 3abass posted a video and photos of Hilaly’s funeral.

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  1. […] Around 300 activists demonstrated Tuesday evening in front of the press syndicate, calling for the release of the pro-democracy detainees. The demonstrators included several of the recently released detainees, who showed up dressed in the white prison costumes they wore in Tora. The scene was beautiful. Released activists who haven’t seen one another since they got out of prison were hugging, and in tears. Others were recalling their prison stories, and exchanging jokes and laughters. Veteran socialist Kamal Khalil, and his colleagues Wael Khalil and Ibrahim el-Sahary got the lionshare of hugs and kisses. They led the demonstrators, in chants against Mubarak, and against State Security police. Central Security Forces surrounded the syndicate. The usual support brigades of baton-wielding plainclothes thugs were also present, together with few officers from State Security’s CounterCommunism’s Bureau. However, no hassels were witnessed, and one could get into the syndicate easily. The one-hour protest was followed by a conference inside the syndicate, organized by the Liberties’ Committee. Several detainees took the poduim, and shared their experiences with their supporters. Kamal Khalil denounced any talks between the opposition and Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, called for the release of Dr. Ayman Nour, Sharqawi, Sha3er, and the 700+ Muslim Brothers detainees. Kamal also condemned the US support for Mubarak and Israel, affirming that the movement for change in Egypt sees their democracy cause to be organically linked to other regional causes, most importantly Palestine and Iraq. Kamal also expressed his sorrow for the loss of his mentors and colleagues, Ahmad Nabil el-Hilaly, Youssef Darwish and Ahmad Rozza, who passed away while he was in prison. “Rest in peace,” he said to his lost comrades. “The socialist movement has been revived. The Communists in Egypt are only getting stronger day by day. You taught us a lot, and we will not fail you.” I went out later with 3alaa, Manal, and Malek to a friend’s place where we were supposed to party. Unfortunately, after two hours of laughter, we were showered with SMSs about the Israeli invasion of Gaza. We lost the mood for partying, and decided to go home and follow the news. Israeli tanks, as I write now, are rolling into north and south of the strip. Israeli F-16s have bombed two bridges in Gaza’s central zone. Gaza is now in darkness as Israeli jets shelled the only electric power station Gaza has. […]

  2. […] MONDAY, JULY 3 Kefaya and socialists are meeting with labor activists to strategize for the August national labor union elections, 7pm, at the Center for Socialist Studies. TUESDAY, JULY 4 Kefaya is holding a press conference, 12 noon, publicizing the findings of its report on Corruption in Egypt. The detailed report is the product of months of work by a group of the movement’s youth, academics and economists. The conference will be held at the Egyptian Center for Studies, building #15, 26th of July Street, behind Grand Hotel in Ramsis. WEDNESDAY, JULY 5 The Press Syndicate’s Liberties’ Committee has called for a demonstration in front of the Arab League HQ, 12 noon, in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance in Gaza. FRIDAY, JULY 7 A group of bloggers have called for a demo in front of the Israeli embassy in Cairo, 3pm, following the Friday prayers, to protest the Israeli military operations in Gaza. The meeting point would be in front of Nahdet Masr’s statue. For more information click here. MONDAY, JULY 10 A Memorial will be held for Egypt’s two “Communist Saints,” Ahmad Nabil el-Hilaly and Youssef Darwish, 7pm at the Press Syndicate. FRIDAY, JULY 14 A memorial will be held for Ahmad 3abdallah Rozza, the 1970s legendary student activist, 7pm at the Press Syndicate. TUESDAY, JULY 18 The Center for Socialist Studies is organizing a lecture, 7pm, titled, The Palestinian Divisions: New pressures on Hamas. Speakers include: Dr. Hassan Naf3a, Political Science prof at Cairo University, together with one of the center’s members. TUESDAY, JULY 25 The Center for Socialist Studies is organizing a discussion on, The Ya3qoubian Building… An insight into Mubarak’s Egypt. Participants will include, Judge Noha el-Zeini, the novel’s author 3alaa el-Aswani, and Khaled el-Sawi, movie star and member of Artists for Change. […]

  3. […] Kefaya is also organizing a children’s march on the same day in Damanhour, capital of the Beheira governorate, to express solidarity with the Lebanese children. The march will start from the Hassan And Hussein Mosque, following the Friday prayers. On Saturday, 12 August, the Hilaly Association for Defense of Civil Liberities has called for a demo in solidarity with Lebanon and Palestine, 12 noon, in front of the Lawyers’ Syndicate in Ramses Street. The Hilaly Association–headed by veteran leftist lawyers Ahmad Seif and Mohssen Shasha–was formed during Marxist lawyer Ahmad Nabil el-Hilaly’s last July memorial. It includes rights lawyers from the left, Nasserists and Islamists. […]

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