tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711557.post115371502395669271..comments2024-03-24T20:40:46.666-04:00Comments on Pan-African News Wire: When Egypt Took Over the Suez Canal 50 Years AgoPan-African News Wirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958190577776906688noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711557.post-1153803402808073612006-07-25T00:56:00.000-04:002006-07-25T00:56:00.000-04:00How Suez made Nasser an Arab icon By Roger Hardy ...How Suez made Nasser an Arab icon <BR/><BR/>By Roger Hardy <BR/>BBC News Middle East analyst <BR/><BR/>When he nationalised the Suez Canal Company on 26 July 1956, Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser became the hero of the Arab world. <BR/><BR/>He was one of the army officers who had taken part in the coup which overthrew the country's British-backed monarchy in 1952. <BR/><BR/>The Arab response to the new military regime, writes historian Rashid Khalidi, was at first lukewarm. <BR/><BR/>"Suez changed this, firmly establishing Nasser as the pre-eminent Arab leader until the end of his life, and Arab nationalism as the leading Arab ideology." <BR/><BR/>Taking control of the canal was an act of national self-assertion - and defiance of Britain - which electrified Arabs everywhere. <BR/><BR/>Nasser was seen as a new breed of ruler ready to stand up to the old colonial order. <BR/><BR/>By the time the Suez Crisis had run its course - and Britain and France had been forced to make a humiliating withdrawal from Egyptian territory - his regional position had become unassailable. <BR/><BR/>The dream of Arabism <BR/><BR/>Arab nationalism, or "Arabism", embodied the idea that all Arabs from Morocco to the Gulf should unite in a single state. <BR/><BR/>It was an illusion, but a potent one. <BR/>---------------------------------<BR/>NASSER'S LIFE <BR/> <BR/>Born in 1918, the son of a postal clerk<BR/>Graduate of military academy, promoted to colonel in 1950<BR/>Led the Free Officers in 1952 in a coup that seized power by toppling the British-backed monarchy<BR/>Elected president in 1956 and nationalised the Suez Canal shortly after<BR/>Resigned after Arab defeats of 1967, but popular demonstrations brought him back to power <BR/>Died of a heart attack in 1970 <BR/>----------------------------------<BR/>During the heyday of Nasser's influence in the 1950s and 1960s, the idea that the Arabs should join together under Egyptian leadership became very popular. <BR/><BR/>Using the new medium of the transistor radio, Nasser spread the Arabist message into the most remote corners of the region. <BR/><BR/>Leaders tainted by their association with the former colonial powers found themselves seriously undermined. <BR/><BR/>Two years after the Suez affair, the British-backed Iraqi monarchy was overthrown in a bloody coup. <BR/><BR/>This sent a strong signal that Arab nationalists were now in the driving seat. <BR/><BR/>The young King Hussein of Jordan, derided by nationalists as a puppet of the British, survived on his throne - but only by the skin of his teeth. <BR/><BR/>The Israel issue <BR/><BR/>With Nasser's ascendancy, three ideas came to dominate Arab politics: Arabism, social justice and the struggle against Israel. <BR/><BR/>By allying itself with Britain and France in the Suez affair, Israel confirmed the Arabs in their view that it was the creation of colonialism. <BR/><BR/>The struggle against Israel became the predominant Arab cause, but it also in the end contributed to Nasser's undoing. <BR/><BR/>Some analysts think his success in 1956 led him to overplay his hand in the June War of 1967. <BR/><BR/>The Egyptian leader thought the big powers would come to his rescue, as the US had done in 1956. <BR/><BR/>Instead, Israel defeated the Arab armies in a mere six days. <BR/><BR/>Worn out from a succession of regional crises, Nasser died of a heart attack in 1970. <BR/><BR/>For many Arabs, the light of Arabism had been extinguished.Pan-African News Wirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958190577776906688noreply@blogger.com