Draft:Gamal Abdel Nasser

Gamal Abdel Nasser
File:Gamal Abdel Nasser.jpg
Name	Gamal Abdel Nasser
Other Names	Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein
Personal Details
Birth Place	Egypt Alexandria
Brith Date	15 January
Death Place	Egypt
Death Date	28 September
Religion	Islam

Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970), was the second President of Egypt who held power for fourteen years from 1956 until his death. He was the leader of the 1952 Egyptian Revolution which led to the overthrow of the monarchy of the Muhammad Ali dynasty.

He came to power in Egypt in the 1950s and played a significant role in the political and economic life of the people of this country. He considered the problems of the Arab world to be the result of the interference of colonial forces, at the top of which was England, as well as the conciliatory spirit of Arab officials and the existence of hypocrisy among them, and the continuation of the feudal system and the general ignorance and backwardness of the people of the region. By presenting an ideology that was a combination of moderate socialism, national loyalty, and Arab unity, he ended the monarchy and English influence in Egypt, nationalized the Suez waterway and many Egyptian institutions, and limited agricultural land ownership. After nationalizing the Suez Canal and Nasser's political victory in the Suez Crisis, his popularity increased significantly both in Egypt and in the Arab world. In the shadow of this victory and popularity, demands for Arab unity under his leadership increased, which led to the creation of the United Arab Republic (1958–1961) through the union between Egypt and Syria. He aided the success of the anti-monarchy coup in Iraq, continued the relentless struggle against the hereditary system in Yemen, and built the Aswan Dam in Egypt without Western assistance.

In 1954, when the assassination attempt on him by a member of the Muslim Brotherhood failed, he cracked down on this organization. He placed the first President of Egypt, Mohamed Naguib, under house arrest and took his place. He officially became President in the referendum of 23 June 1956.

Muslim Brotherhood during Gamal Abdel Nasser's era

In 1951 and 1952, the Muslim Brotherhood was among the leaders of anti-British conflicts and widespread instability in Egypt, especially Cairo, which led to military conflict between the Brotherhood and England in the Suez Canal.

With the intensification of conflicts in Egypt against British colonialism and the Brotherhood's support for the Free Officers—from within the Egyptian army—led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, a military coup occurred and the government changed from monarchy to republic. The Brotherhood's support for Nasser was with the expectation that Nasser would form an Islamic state, or at least an Islamic democracy would be formed.

Nasser shut down all Egyptian parties and press outlets, except for the Brotherhood, with whom he had a close relationship dating back to the training of the Muslim Brotherhood's military forces with him. However, this understanding and cooperation did not last long, deteriorating into coldness, then tension, and finally hostility. Gamal Abdel Nasser held nationalist and Arabist ideas; therefore, as the Brotherhood's criticisms of the government intensified—based on adherence to Sharia and pressure to Islamize government laws—he also halted the activities of the Brotherhood.

After Gamal Abdel Nasser signed the 1954 agreement between Egypt and England regarding the Suez Canal, the Brotherhood called Nasser a traitor and criticisms intensified further. In that year, an unsuccessful assassination attempt was made on Nasser, which he attributed to the radical faction of the Brotherhood; however, the Brotherhood never accepted this, and it remains unclear whether the assassination plot was orchestrated by Nasser himself, the Brotherhood, or other groups. However, this assassination attempt was a good pretext to begin Nasser's pressure on the Brotherhood and the suppression and widespread arrest of the Brotherhood's leaders and members, such that the Brotherhood organization was once again declared illegal and dissolved, and a number of top leaders, including Hasan al-Hudaybi, and many of its members were arrested, and he executed more than 60 of the Brotherhood's leaders. A few years later, in 1957, he again executed a large number of imprisoned Brotherhood leaders, a year that is remembered in Brotherhood history as the year of the massacre of members.

Nasser's Harsh Speech Against the Shah

The Shah's aligned positions with اسرائیل led to Nasser's famous and fiery speech on July 26, 1960, on the anniversary of the انقلاب مصر in اسکندریه.

In this speech, Nasser called محمدرضا پهلوی a mercenary of استعمار and Israel and said: "Why does he constantly distort our slogans to place us within the sphere of influence of the آمریکا or بریتانیا? We have always asked this question, and of course, we know the answer. We are only looking for mercenaries and enemies of freedom and tyrants. This is why the Shah has taken such despotic positions against us. He has sold himself to colonialism for a pittance. To please the آمریکا and its masters, he recognized the اسرائیل. Dear citizens, let us think about the issue of freedom and defend it everywhere. No individual can sell themselves cheaply to the صهیونیست‌ها and colonialism; no one can sell their people, because people do not obey [such sales] and their will is not for sale… The Shah nowadays speaks of the Islamic alliance and the Baghdad Pact; these alliances are nothing but support for colonialism and their spheres of influence, nothing but support for global Zionism. They have sold themselves to colonialism and the Zionists, but we fight for the freedom of our country and for the vindication of the rights of the people of Palestine".

In response, the Shah of Iran, citing Nasser's presence in the region and the exaggeration of threats posed by him to US interests in the region, sought to conclude arms contracts with America. In January 1964, amidst the civil war in یمن, while ایران and عربستان supported "Mohammad al-Badr Hamid al-Din" in favor of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, Gamal Abdel Nasser had also dispatched 70,000 troops to Yemen; he wrote a letter to "Lyndon Johnson", the then-US President, warning about Nasser's empowerment and Egypt's presence on the شوروی front and its dangers for the region, and wrote: "All regional crises are related to Nasser, and he interferes in every Arab country he can; I might even say that Iran is not safe from his conspiracies, and he sees no obstacle before his destructive actions against Iran."

محمد رضا پهلوی also in the summer of 1345 (July 1966) during three-hour negotiations with "Kermit Roosevelt", the architect of the 28 Mordad coup, whom he had used as an intermediary to purchase arms from America; he cited the threats of "Gamal Abdel Nasser" as one of the reasons for his insistence on purchasing weapons from America.

Death

On the 7th of مهرماه 1349 (September 28, 1970), Gamal Abdel Nasser, the President of Egypt, passed away at the age of 58. He was one of the leaders of the 1952 Egyptian Revolution which ended the rule of ملک‌فاروق. After a period of premiership, Nasser reached the presidency in a public referendum on June 23, 1956. Among Nasser's actions was the nationalization of the Suez Canal. Nasser, the then-President of Egypt, announced in July 1956 in the square of Alexandria city that this canal is international. It was decided that the revenue generated from ships passing through this canal would be spent on constructing one of the large and semi-complete dams in Egypt, for which Egypt had previously received many loans.

See Also

• اخوان المسلمین
• ایدئولوژی
• اسکندریه