Region | Egypt
Nasser's Arab nationalism is revisited
In a series of anti-Israeli protests in Cairo in the past few days, demonstrators raised portraits of the late Egyptian President Jamal Abdul Nasser with a caption reading "the symbol of Arab dignity".
- By Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 July 26, 2006
Cairo: In a series of anti-Israeli protests in Cairo in the past few days, demonstrators raised portraits of the late Egyptian President Jamal Abdul Nasser with a caption reading "the symbol of Arab dignity".
The protesters chanted slogans against incumbent Arab leaders whom they accused of weakness towards the Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
"Nasser and his Arab nationalism are always revived whenever the Arab world faces hard times," said Abdullah Al Senawi, the editor of the Nasserist newspaper Al Arabi.
"A closer look will show that even the discourse used by Hassan Nasrallah [the chief of the Lebanese group Hezbollah] is basically inspired by the concept of Arab nationalism championed by Nasser," Al Senawi told Gulf News.
Israel's sustained onslaught against Lebanon coincides with the 50th anniversary of Egypt's nationalisation of the Suez Canal.
The decision proclaimed by Nasser on July 26, 1956, culminated in what came to be known as the Suez Crisis, which pitted Britain and France against Egypt.
"This decision marked a turning point for Egypt and the Third World. For Egypt, it underscored independence and control of national resources. Also it gave rise to Egypt's pivotal role in the region, a role which has, unfortunately, been marginalised during recent years," said Al Senawi.
Nasser nationalised the strategic waterway to spend its revenues on building the High Dam in southern Egypt after the World Bank turned down an Egyptian request to fund the project.
"The ensuing Suez Crisis with the attacks mounted by Israel, Britain and France on Egypt wrote the death certificate for one-time powerful empires such as the British Empire," said Fouad Aref, a professor of modern history.
"It also established the Non-Aligned Movement led by Egypt, India and Yugoslavia as a new bloc in the then bipolar world," he told Gulf News.
He argued that Nasser had emerged from the crisis as the unchallenged leader of Egypt and the architect of Arab nationalism.
"He became the revolutionary, who played a direct role in the independence of several Arab countries. No wonder, he still commands a huge following among ordinary and intellectual Arabs almost 36 years after his death."
In recent protests, many Egyptians likened Hezbollah's Naserallah to Nasser.
"Nasser was the hero of Suez in 1956 and Nasrallah is the hero of Beirut in 2006," said a protester, who was raising two portraits of Nasser and Nasrallah during a pro-Lebanon demonstration in Cairo last week.
"Both leaders truly embody Arab identity, determination and dignity. Nasser never let down any sisterly Arab country in distress. And Nasrallah is following in his footsteps," the protester, who gave his name as Ahmad, told this paper.
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