On this day half a century ago, the farewell scene seemed astonishing, for the man who captured freedom and led the dream to defeat was cried by the great masses with sincere burning, and some of them even climbed up the lighting poles to take a final look at the coffin that was carried on the shoulders of poverty and the pipe dreams of socialism.

What adds to the astonishment is that half a century after the departure of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who passed away on September 28, 1970, the paradox of illusion and love persisted, even if it extended to the deep disagreement over the course of the Nasserite era, so his supporters consider him the legendary man who sided with the poor and the Arab masses rallied around him. Others see it as the first founder and spiritual father of the tyranny of military rule in Egypt.

Both complete bias and total aversion have indications and signs that make the man who ruled the country for about 17 years a clear figure in modern Egyptian history, but that effect may extend to what we are currently witnessing on all political, economic, social and cultural levels.

Although those who preceded him and his successors each possessed a path, people differed between their support and rejection. You will not find an Egyptian who says he is Faruqi, my gentlemen, or my blessed!

Climb to the top

Quite the opposite of the social and political drama that the late President Anwar Sadat lived in, in the years before the coup by army officers against King Farouk, and he was later known as the July 1952 revolution, the beginning of Nasser's career was normal, as he was the son of an employee of the post office, joined the Military College And he was promoted in the military ranks until he became "Bakbashi" (lieutenant colonel).

The "leader" was not arrested before the coup against the king, and he did not participate in secret organizations whose mission was to assassinate figures supporting the British occupation, and he was not dismissed from the army because of his political moves, as happened with his companion Sadat, but by going back to his press talks and his book "The Philosophy of the Revolution", we find that he refers to " Sacrifices he made since childhood.

He participated in demonstrations against the British occupation when he was a student in primary school and then in high school, and he insisted on joining the War College because of his conviction that the Egyptian army is the one capable of liberating his country from the English.

Gamal Abdel Nasser, the leader of the officers' republic, whom the poor loved (social networking sites)

Although the late President Mohamed Naguib was the one who led the leadership of the Free Officers Movement at the time of announcing its coup against the king, and he was at the time holding the rank of major general in the army, Abdel Nasser confirms that he is the real leader and the first component of the organization.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, he said, “Until 1948, I focused on composing a core of people who were extremely dissatisfied with the course of things in Egypt, and who had sufficient courage and determination to make the necessary change. A small group of loyal friends are trying to bring out our general ideals with a common goal and a common plan. "

Najib is overthrown

After the success of the coup against the king, on July 23, 1952, Naguib became president of the first republic in the history of Egypt, and the so-called Revolutionary Command Council was formed of 14 officers, including Abdel Nasser, and the so-called Six Principles of the Revolution were declared.

The principles of the revolution included the elimination of feudalism and colonialism, the control of capital on government, the establishment of a strong national army, social justice, and the establishment of a healthy democratic life.

However, ideological differences plagued the Council, so Najib wanted the army to return to its barracks and establish a civil life based on the representative component, while Nasser believed that the new republic did not tolerate democracy before the officers rebuilt the state.

The dispute took about two years between Naguib and Abdel Nasser until the latter resolved and forced his president to resign, in November 1954, and he was placed under house arrest, so that the latter would assume the presidency of the country until his death.

Immortal leader

"Authority other than the masses is just an authoritarian rule hostile to the essence of the truth." This is what Abdel Nasser believed and made it clear that he had succeeded in rallying around him millions of fans of his fans and becoming their leader.

It cannot be asserted that a specific reason made Nasser a leader stand in a position of concentration, while the state revolves with its institutions and individuals around his person and his will, but his supporters see that the entirety of his accomplishments are what prompted the masses to find in him the leadership they needed, while some believe that the reason is the historical circumstance. Where the Egyptians found one of them ruling them after centuries of foreign rule, whether he was a conqueror or a conqueror.

With regard to the leader's achievements, we find that bias towards the poor, especially the peasantry, is the major card that the Nazarenes raise in the face of any critic of the Nasserite era, citing the law of agrarian reform, which stipulated that the agricultural ownership of individuals ranges between 50 and 200 acres, and the rest of the land is distributed to the landless peasants.

Here it should be noted that the law was passed and work began to implement it, in September 1952, that is, two years before Nasser assumed the presidency, in addition to the fact that the legislation did not achieve its target, according to Al-Ahram - semi-official newspaper - the number of landless peasants increased from 44% Before the July Revolution to 45% in 1972.

Other than that, Abdel Nasser targeted the building of many factories, the most famous of which are aluminum factories in Naga Hammadi, spinning factories in several governorates, an iron and steel factory in Helwan, juice factories in Qaha, and Al-Nasr car manufacturing company.

The High Dam was one of the largest economic projects in the sixties of the last century, as it worked to regulate agricultural land irrigation in addition to generating electric power, and the decision to build the dam coincided with the announcement of the nationalization of the Suez Canal, to become an Egyptian joint stock company after it was subject to French-British management and depletion.

Parallel to Nasser’s internal moves, his steps internationally took an upward curve, as he supported national liberation movements in countries that were subject to foreign occupation, and he called for the Non-Aligned Conference and then the establishment of the Non-Aligned Organization, which represented the positive neutrality of the developing world.

He was also interested in deepening Egypt's role in Africa financially by supporting liberation movements with money and weapons, and morally by visiting African capitals and broadcasting radio waves that reach most countries of the African continent.

On the Arab level, Nasser succeeded in creating a state of popular Arab rallying around the myth of the pan-Arab national project, which he tried to materialize on the ground by declaring unity with Syria in 1958, which soon ended in 1961, and he also supported the revolution in Iraq, Algeria and Libya. .

Another face

But at a time when the leader was building factories, promoting Arab nationalism, and giving rhetoric speeches that elevate the dignity of the Egyptian people under the slogan "Raise your head, my brother, the era of enslavement has passed," another aspect of his leadership was flourishing all over Egypt.

Although he once said, “The fearful do not make freedom, and the weak do not create dignity,” but through systematic practices he created a state of fear inhabited by weak citizens, where his opponents see that he established a military state based on individual rule and around him a number of generals who protect his survival At the helm of power and then their interests.

Consequently, prisons were filled with opponents of his policies from all currents, headed by Islamists, and even by those who shared the same left-wing trends with him.

Many biographical books and media interviews for opponents of the leader's rule talk about the horrors of torture they encountered in Nasser's prisons, which even those who love Nasser admit, but they carry their blame to the police and intelligence officials, absolving Abdel Nasser as if he was not the leader.

In addition to the repression, corruption of the army generals was rampant in all state institutions after Nasser placed them at the head of its administration, and they became chief editors of newspapers and responsible for factories, public sector companies, and even sports clubs.

And the corruption of the administration extended to the corruption of the military decision, so it was the decision to send thousands of Egyptian soldiers to fight the war in Yemen that began in 1962, and there is no accurate statistic about the number of Egyptian soldiers killed in that war, while sources say that the numbers reached 20 thousand dead, sources said Another is that the number did not exceed 5,000.

Matters reached a climax with the leader's decision to close the Straits of Tiran, which led to the outbreak of the war with Israel on June 5, 1967, without Egypt being prepared, or so it was said, that the result would be a catastrophic defeat that the Egyptians called a setback, we do not know if that was a sign On her bone or downplaying the defeat.

And Abdel Nasser died 3 years after the defeat of June, leaving behind the dream of a unitary Arab project that confronts Zionism by force, and at the same time he left the military eagle on the Egyptian flag so that the officers' republic continues to control the government until now, while the simple Egyptians who said Abdel Nasser and his successors of The military, they are defending them, talking about himself and telling about the poverty rates in Egypt.

Today is the anniversary of the half-century since the death of Abdel Nasser.

I still remember how I received the shocking good less than two months after I arrived in Paris to study.

The defeat of 67 was still a pain, but we were resisting with our head up under the leadership of a leader who did not give up and did not give up.

May God have mercy on Abdel Nasser and compensated us with good

- Hassan Nafaa (@hassanafaa) September 28, 2020

More than one source brought information about the 1967 war to Egypt before the setback so that the president made decisions that were surprised by the army leaders .. The death anniversary of # Gamal_Abdul Nasser pic.twitter.com/JuUOXBgybL

- Al Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) September 28, 2020