Pride recalled

After 50 years, only limited attention has been given to one of the nation's most memorable events. Dina Ezzat reports

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Nasser declares the nationalisation of the Suez Canal in 1956

In the heart of Al-Mansheya Square, where Gamal Abdel-Nasser declared the historic nationalisation of the Suez Canal 50 years ago, many Egyptians walk by with very little knowledge of the significance of the site or the story.

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the day when President Nasser said, to the cheers of millions around the country, "in the name of the nation, I issue the presidential decree announcing the nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company as a stock holding company", not many people in Al-Mansheya Square had vivid recollections of 26 July 1956.

"Why is this square supposed to be of any significance? It's a marketplace with some old building that foreigners are interested in taking pictures of," said 26-year-old Tamer, a street vendor.

Tamer added, "it's a crowded place, that's for sure. And this park is not good enough. There should be a bigger park."

The park that Tamer wants to see enlarged is the venue of the Bourse building where Nasser declared the nationalisation of the Suez Canal.

In a two-day seminar hosted by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and co-sponsored by the bibliotheca with the Suez Canal Authority to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Suez Canal's nationalisation, Mohamed Awad, a dedicated Alexandrian architect who chairs the Mediterranean Studies Centre based in Alexandria, indicated an interest in rebuilding the venue to revive the city's history.

Awad's endeavour, if fulfilled, might help refresh the memories of those who have forgotten what is often described as the glorious day of national pride celebrated by Egypt upon the canal's nationalisation.

Of over 10 people of different age groups and socio- economic backgrounds interviewed by Al-Ahram Weekly on the nationalisation's 50th anniversary, only one remembered that Al-Mansheya was the venue which witnessed the moment. Many, especially the younger generation, were not especially aware of the episode. They tended to confusingly link the canal's nationalisation to the movie, Nasser 56, without much awareness of the details.

The declining awareness of this part of Egyptian history was touched upon during the seminar. Historian Yunan Labib Rizk argued the need to bring back awareness to the nation of the history of nationalisation, expressing particular concern about the younger generation. This generation, Rizk warned, does not seem to be aware of the details of history and they are subjected to brainwashing campaigns that aim to reduce the significance of moments of pride. "When three young journalists ask me in one week whether or not it was wise of Gamal Abdel-Nasser to nationalise the Suez Canal rather than to have waited for 12 years after which the canal was supposed to be Egypt's by law, I have to wonder what is going on."

"In an environment so inhospitable to the rationale and heroism of the act of nationalisation, it was necessary for the Suez Canal Authority and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina to remember the fifth anniversary and to exert an effort to celebrate it," said Qassem Eilawa, a writer from Port-Said.

Like Rizk and Eilawa, other participants complained about the declining interest in the recent history. Ample evidence was offered by participant historians, political scientists and professors of law who argued that Egypt could not have expected the canal to be peacefully and effectively transferred in 1968 in accordance with the text of the relevant agreements.

For many participants, the big question was who was behind this growing sense of scepticism about the value of the nationalisation. Some attributed the decline to prevailing anti-Nasser sentiments in certain quarters by the authors of history school curricula and editors who select the relevant documentaries and TV material for viewers. Others attributed it to sheer insensitivity to the importance of maintaining a high-level of awareness of national sacrifices.

There was sufficient agreement among participants that much more needed to be done to educate the public, especially the young, not just about nationalisation but about Egypt's long history in fighting colonisation.

Speakers at the seminar included the chair of the Suez Canal Authority, Ahmed Fadel, who expressed determination to keep the "Suez legend" alive through continued hard work. They also included the director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Ismail Serageddin who expressed commitment of his bibliotheca to document the history of the Suez Canal.

Participating likewise was a host of engineers and writers who had a shared history of the canal. Engineers insisted that the canal was not being threatened by an Israeli-proposed canal to link the Red Sea with the Dead Sea. They said it would not be economically feasible to do so because the proposed canal would be much longer than the Suez Canal.

For their part, participating writers insisted that much more literary infusion needed to be offered about that moment that was somehow eclipsed by the subsequent Tripartite Aggression on Egypt in October 1956.

Political Science professor Hoda Abdel-Nasser, daughter of President Nasser, was present with her account on the political significance behind the nationalisation.

But by far the most interesting speaker during the two-day seminar was Adel Ezzat who took part in the nationalisation.

"Only three of us were in the know. President Nasser had chosen us to carry out the nationalisation," he said.

A 30-year-old engineer working with Nasser's advisor Mohamed Younis at the time, Ezzat insisted that nationalisation was not just about retrieving Egypt's long overdue rights but also about standing in the face of colonisation across the Arab region. He insisted that nationalisation was not just about providing resources for the construction of the High Dam or other developmental projects as such but about the right of Egypt to be totally liberated and independent.

"On 23 July 1956, I met Nasser for the first time during celebrations marking the fourth anniversary of the revolution. The president whispered something in Younis's ear. The next day Younis was clearly agitated and preoccupied," Ezzat recalls.

The next day, Ezzat was summoned with a colleague of his, Abdel-Hamid Bakr, to be given the assignment. "The president has tasked me with the nationalisation of the Suez Canal."

In 48 hours, as Nasser was making his annual speech on the anniversary of the revolution and as he uttered the words "De Lesseps", in reference to Ferdinand de Lesseps who in 1869 persuaded Said, Egypt's ruler, to build the canal, Younis, Ezzat and Bakr, unarmed, and working parallel with two other groups, acted promptly in Port Said, Suez and Ismailia to return the canal back to Egypt.

After the mission was accomplished, Ezzat remembered with much pride, Nasser declared nationalisation.

The clapping of the audience to Ezzat's words was a genuine expression of a remaining sense of pride, at least on the part of some people, of the nationalisation of the Suez Canal.