Issue No. 595
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18 - 24 July 2002 Issue No. 595 Special |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
'He was a true leader'
Occasional official neglect might leave Nasser at the edge of the picture, but, Dina Ezzat finds, the leader will never be forgotten
Gamal Abdel-Nasser died some 30 years ago, but throughout the Arab World he is still seen as a symbol of national pride. Indeed, over the past few months it was a common sight to see pictures of Nasser carried by Arab men and women demonstrating against the brutalities committed by the Israelis against the Palestinian people.
In Cairo, Morocco, Damascus and even Manama, demonstrators carried big black-and-white pictures of Nasser as they shouted slogans against the Israeli occupation and US hegemony. Moreover, Arab immigrants taking to the streets in Sydney, Brussels and Los Angeles to demonstrate their anger at Israeli aggression were also carrying the same pictures of Nasser.
"Israeli occupation and American dominance is what Nasser always warned against," said Umm Mustafa, a 50-year old Egyptian woman and house-help who can barely read and write. "When Nasser made the Revolution in 1952, it was not just for Egypt, it was for all of the Arab World. Palestine is part of the Arab World, and we have to defend it," she said.
Some weeks ago, as the Israeli military continued to commit brutalities against Palestinian civilians, Umm Mustafa joined hundreds of Egyptian men and women from all walks of life to demonstrate before the Arab League building in Cairo against what they considered to be the apathy of the Arab regimes, which had shown themselves unable to deter Israeli aggression.
The demonstration was held on the same day that Arab foreign ministers were meeting to discuss reaction to Israeli aggression. "What will they say to us? They will tell us that they deplore and condemn the Israeli aggression, and they are calling upon the US to be an honest broker. But we, the people, intend to remind them of what Nasser said some 50 years ago: we do not want to fight, but we have to fight not only against Israeli occupation, but also against US hegemony," Umm Mustafa said.
Umm Mustafa's comments were not uncommon among the demonstrators, who reacted angrily to the continuing Israeli aggression. Even among men and women who had also had serious reservations about Nasser, there were many who carried Nasser's picture during the weeks of demonstrations against Israeli aggression carried out against the Palestinian people with American consent.
"I was persecuted for my political views under Nasser, but I wish he could come back to life today to lead the Arab peoples, as he once did in the fight against Israeli occupation and American hegemony," commented Ashraf El-Bayoumi, a university professor.
El-Bayoumi is a political activist who has dedicated much time and effort over the past few weeks to organising demonstrations against the Israeli aggression. Like many other demonstrators who expressed their deep frustration at the reaction of the Arab regimes to the aggression, El- Bayoumi believes that the only way to get Israel and the US to be sensitive to demands for Arab rights is to re-apply Nasser's brand of politics.
"Dignity. We have to show dignity. Our foreign policy has to be based on dignity, not on fear. If Nasser had been afraid, Egypt might never have had the Revolution in 1952. If Nasser had been afraid, Egypt might never have inspired independence movements in other Arab and Third World Countries. And, if Nasser had been afraid, Egypt might never have built the High Dam," El- Bayoumi said. "May God's mercy be upon you Nasser. You inspired national dignity even at the worst moments of defeat," he added.
To be remembered as a symbol of national dignity even by his own political opponents is something that Nasser might never have dreamed of. And, while Nasser himself might not have dreamed of it, men and women born years after he died today hold his views on national independence, Arab unity and defiance of both Israeli occupation and US bias, looking to him for inspiration.
"He was a true leader. Look at the picture. Look at his eyes. He must have been very strong. I heard that when he used to make a speech the entire country would listen to him. My grandmother tells me that she used to think her radio would fall off the table when Nasser started a speech," said Ashraf Mounir a 13-year-old school boy who had joined the demonstration outside the headquarters of the Arab League.
"I know about Nasser and the Revolution from school. I know that he was president and that he fought against Israel. But it is my grandmother who told me that he was such a great leader that when he went to some Arab countries they carried his car," Mounir added.
Mounir was not the only boy in the demonstration. There were also many others, who, like Mounir, were born years after Nasser died, and years after talk of the glory of the Revolution has all but ended. Mounir says that there are only two pages in one of his school books about Nasser and the Revolution, which is less than the seven pages that there would have been for generations growing up under late President Anwar El-Sadat.
"It is very sad, but we are not teaching our children to be proud of our history. We act as if the Revolution that freed Egypt of British occupation is something from the past, something old that we do not necessarily need to know about, since we now know about new things," commented one primary school headmistress.
The headmistress had been a school history teacher, and said "I can say in all honesty that the amount of information in the school books about Nasser and the Revolution has gone down. Not only that, but the tone has also gone down. This is very sad. People may like Nasser, or they may dislike him; they may hold him responsible for the current political problems that started with the 1967 occupation of Arab land, for example, or they may argue that 1967 was an inevitable retaliation by Israel and the US. But, I don't think that anyone could be honest to themselves and deny that Nasser was a symbol of national pride, not only for us Egyptians, but also for the entire Arab World."
There are few books available in Cairo today that tell the history of Nasser and the Revolution to young men and women in a straightforward way. Books are available on the history of Salaheddin [Saladin], or that narrate the history of the 1973 October War, but there are few on Nasser and the Revolution.
One book that did tell the history of Nasser and the Revolution for young readers was From Gamal Abdel- Nasser to the Children of the Revolution, a book printed in 1971. Written a few months after Nasser died by Notaiyla Rashed, then the editor of a children's magazine, it was based on Nasser's speeches and told the history of the previous decades in his words, describing his childhood, his grief at his mother's death, his dreams of a revolution that would free Egypt from the British occupation, the years of glory when he led the Arab World, and the defeat in 1967.
When asked for a copy of the book recently, a salesman at one of Cairo's most popular bookstores said, "I know of the book, but I have never seen a copy. You see, under Sadat books that told the history of Nasser were not allowed. This changed under Mubarak, but we only have serious titles by people like Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, nothing for the younger generations."
Nevertheless, some members of the younger generations are managing to learn about Nasser. Eleven-year old Mohamed Khaled, for example, had not read any books about Nasser, but he knew that Nasser was "a great Egyptian leader who was loved in Egypt and all of the Arab countries". Khaled's only serious introduction to Nasser was the film Nasser 56 , produced a few years ago. Other than that, his information on Nasser and the 1952 Revolution has come from what his family or friends have told him.
However, Khaled's way of expressing his sympathy with the Palestinian children who, he says, "are trying to liberate their country by throwing stones at the Israelis" was to join his brother, a university student, at a demonstration where, like many others from widely differing age groups and social backgrounds, he proudly carried a large black-and- white picture of Nasser.
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