Jamal Abdulnasser

His Upbringing

Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein Khalil Sultan Al Marri was born
On January 15, 1918 AD, at his father’s house – No. 12 Qanawat Street – in the Bakus neighborhood in Alexandria, just before the events of the 1919 revolution in Egypt. He is from an Arab Qahtani family, where his father was born in the village of Bani Mur in Assiut Governorate, and grew up in Alexandria, and worked as an agent for the Bacchus Post Office there. His parents had married in 1917, and they had two sons after him, namely Ezz Al-Arab and Al-Laithi. Abdel Nasser biographers Robert Stephens and Saeed Abu Al-Rish say that the Nasser family believed in the idea of “Arab glory”, and this is evident in the name of Abdel Nasser’s brother, Ezz al-Arab, and this is a rare name in Egypt. The family traveled often because of Gamal’s father’s work Abdel Naser. In 1921, they moved to Assiut, and then in 1923 they moved to Al-Khatahba. Abdel Nasser attended kindergarten in Muharram Bey, Alexandria, then joined the primary school in Al-Khattbeh between 1923 and 1924, and in 1925 Jamal entered Al-Nahhasin Elementary School.

Jamaliya in Cairo, and stayed with his uncle Khalil Hussein for three years, and Jamal used to travel to visit his family in Alexandria only during school holidays.

Abdel Nasser was exchanging letters with his mother, but the letters stopped in April 1926, and when he returned to Al-Khatahtbeh, he learned that his mother had died weeks before, after giving birth to his third brother, Shawqi, and no one had the courage to tell him that.

Abdel Nasser later said:

Gamal Abdel Nasser Losing my mother was in itself a very sad matter. Losing her in this way and not saying goodbye to her was a shock that left me with a feeling that time cannot erase.
My own pains and sorrows in that period made me find extreme reluctance to inflict pains and sorrows on others in future years.

Jamal Abdulnasser

Abdel Nasser’s grief deepened when his father got married before the end of this year.
After Jamal completed the third year at the Nahaseen School in Cairo, his father sent him in the summer of 1928 to his maternal grandfather, so he spent the fourth year of primary school at Al-Attarin School in Alexandria. ) to Ras El-Teen School in Alexandria after his father moved to work in the postal service there. He began his political activity at that time, as he saw a demonstration in Al-Mansheya Square in Alexandria, and joined it without knowing its demands, and he learned after that that this protest was organized by the Young Egypt Association, and this protest was denouncing the English colonialism in Egypt, in the wake of a decision of the President The ministers at the time, Ismail Sidqi, abolished the 1923 constitution, and Abdel Nasser was arrested and detained for one night, before his father released him.

His Upbringing

His mother is Sudanese from an Egyptian mother named Set El-Breen from the city of Dongola

His father married her while he was working with the British medical team in Sudan, but he lived and grew up in the village of Mit Abu al-Kum. Sadat indicated that the village did not cloud his mind, but it was his grandmother and his mother who charmed and controlled him, and they are the main reason for the formation of his personality. Sadat was proud to be in the company of his esteemed grandmother, that grandmother who used to stand to greet her when she was passing by despite her illiteracy, but she had extraordinary wisdom, so that families who had problems would go to her to take her advice in addition to her skill in providing prescriptions for patients.

Sadat mentioned that his grandmother and his mother used to tell him extraordinary stories before going to sleep. They were not traditional stories about the exploits of ancient wars and adventures, but rather about modern heroes and their struggle for national independence, such as the story of the poisoning of Mustafa Kamel by the British who wanted to put an end to the struggle against their occupation. for Egypt. Anwar al-Saghir did not know who Mustafa Kamel was, but he learned through repetition that the British are evil and poison people, but there was a popular story that affected him deeply, which is the story of Zahran, who was called the hero of Denshway, which is three miles away from Mitt Abu al-Kom.

The village paradise ended for Sadat with his father’s return from Sudan, where he lost his job there following the assassination of Lee Stack, and the consequent withdrawal of Egyptian forces from the region. After that, the family consisting of the father and his three wives and their children moved to a small house in Kobri al-Qobba in Cairo, and Sadat’s age at that time was about six years. His life in this small house was not comfortable, as the father’s income was very small. Finishing his high school studies in 1936. In the same year, Al-Nahhas Pasha had concluded with Britain the 1936 treaty, and according to this treaty, the Egyptian army was allowed to expand, and thus it became possible for him to join the Military College, where enrollment was limited to children of the upper class, and indeed he was enrolled in the Military Academy In 1937, these events pushed Sadat into politics.

His Life

He was born in the village of Mit Abul-Kom in the Menoufia Governorate on December 25, 1918, and received his first education in the village book at the hands of Sheikh Abdel Hamid Issa, then he moved to the Coptic Elementary School in Toukh Dalka and obtained an elementary certificate from it. In 1935 he joined the Military School to complete his postgraduate studies, and graduated from the Military Academy in 1938 as an officer with the rank of second lieutenant.
He was appointed in Manqabad southern Egypt. At the beginning of his life, he was influenced by a number of political and popular figures in Egypt and the world.

When his father was transferred to Cairo in 1933, Nasser joined him there, and he attended Al-Nahda Secondary School in Al-Zahir district in Cairo. On November 13, 1935, Nasser led a student demonstration against British rule in protest against the statement made by British Foreign Secretary Samuel Hoare four days earlier, which declared Britain’s refusal to return to constitutional life in Egypt. Two demonstrators were killed and Abdel Nasser was wounded in the forehead, caused by a bullet from an English officer. His colleagues rushed him to the house of the Al-Jihad newspaper, near which the accident happened, and his name was published in the issue that was issued the next morning among the names of the wounded. On December 12, the new king, Farouk, issued a decree restoring the constitution. Abdel Nasser’s political activity grew even more throughout his school years, as he attended only 45 days during his final year of secondary school. Abdel Nasser strongly objected to the British-Egyptian treaty of 1936, which provided for the continued presence of British military forces in the country, and the political forces in Egypt supported this treaty almost unanimously. As a result, the political unrest in Egypt decreased dramatically, and Abdel Nasser resumed his studies at the Al-Nahda School, where he obtained his certificate of graduation later that year.

Military Life

In 1937, Abdel Nasser applied to the Military Academy to train army officers, but the police recorded his participation in anti-government protests, and he was prevented from entering the college.
He joined the Faculty of Law at King Fuad University (now Cairo University), but he resigned after one semester and re-applied to join the Military College. Abdel Nasser was able to meet the Minister of War, Ibrahim Khairy Pasha, and asked for his help, so he agreed to join the Military College in March 1937. Nasser focused on his military life since then, and became in contact with his family a little. At the college, he met Abdel Hakim Amer and Anwar Sadat, both of whom became important aides to him during his presidency. He graduated from the Military College in July 1937, Abdel Nasser was promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Infantry Corps.

In the year 1941, Abdel Nasser requested transfer to Sudan, and there he met Abdel Hakim Amer, and Sudan was then part of Egypt.
Gamal Abdel Nasser returned from Sudan in September 1942, then got a job as an instructor at the Royal Military Academy in Cairo in May 1943.

In 1942, Miles Lampson, the British ambassador, marched to King Farouk’s palace, surrounded it with tanks, and ordered him to dismiss Prime Minister Hussein Serri Pasha, because of his sympathy with the Axis powers. Nasser saw the incident as a flagrant violation of Egyptian sovereignty, and said about it:

Gamal Abdel Nasser, I am ashamed that our army did not issue any reaction against this attack

Nasser was accepted into the General Staff College later that year.
Nasser began forming a group of young army officers with strong nationalist feelings. Nasser kept in touch with members of the group through Abdel Hakim Amer, and Abdel Nasser continued to search for interested officers in the various branches of the Egyptian Armed Forces.

Revolution

Abdel Nasser’s return to Egypt coincided with the coup of Hosni al-Zaim in Syria. His apparent success emboldened Nasser in his revolutionary endeavours.

Shortly after his return, Prime Minister Ibrahim Abd al-Hadi Abd al-Nasser was summoned for questioning over suspicions that a secret group of opposition officers had been set up; Abdel Nasser convincingly denied these allegations, and Abdel Hadi was also reluctant to take drastic measures against the army, especially in front of its chief of staff, who was present during the interrogation, and Abdel Nasser was later released. This interrogation prompted Nasser to accelerate his group’s activities.

After 1949, the team adopted the name “Free Officers Movement”. Abdel Nasser organized the “Founding Committee of the Free Officers”,

It consisted of fourteen men from various political and social backgrounds, including representatives of the Egyptian youth, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian Communist Party, and the aristocracy. Nasser was elected chairman of the committee unanimously.

In the 1950 parliamentary elections, the Wafd Party won the majority of seats, due to the absence of the Muslim Brotherhood, who boycotted the elections.
Accusations of corruption against Al-Wafd Party politicians began to surface, and rumors and suspicions spread about them, bringing the Free Officers to the forefront of Egyptian political life.

By that time, the membership of the association had grown to 90, and according to Khaled Mohieldin:

Gamal Abdel Nasser No one knew all the members, and their place in the association’s hierarchy, except for Nasser

Nasser saw that the Free Officers were not ready to move against the government, and for nearly two years his activity was limited to recruiting officers and publishing secret publications.

On October 11, 1951, the Wafd government annulled the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, which gave Britain control of the Suez Canal until 1956. According to Anwar Sadat:

Gamal Abdel Nasser Nasser then decided to launch a “large scale assassination campaign”.

Jamal Abdulnasser

In January 1952, Abdel Nasser and Hassan Ibrahim tried to kill Hussein Sirry Amer with their machine guns, while he was driving his car through the streets of Cairo.
Instead of killing the officer, one of the attackers injured an innocent bystander. Nasser stated that he wept for that, and this matter made him change his mind. Sri Amer was close to King Farouk, and was nominated for the presidency of the Officers Club. Nasser was determined for the army’s independence from the monarchy, and asked Muhammad Naguib to join the Free Officers through Abdul Hakim Amer. Muhammad Naguib was a popular officer, who submitted his resignation to King Farouk in 1942, and was wounded three times in the Palestine war.

Free Officers Organization

After his release from prison, he worked as a newspaper reviewer for Al-Musawwar magazine until December 1948. After that, he worked as a freelancer with his friend Hassan Ezzat. In 1950, he returned to his work in the army with the help of his old colleague, Dr. Youssef Rashad, the physician of King Farouk.

In 1951, the founding body of the secret organization in the army was formed, which was later known as the Free Officers Organization, and he joined it. Events developed in Egypt very quickly between 1951-1952, and the Wafd government canceled the 1936 treaty, after which the famous Cairo fire broke out in January 1952, and the king dismissed the last copper ministry.

In the spring of 1952, the leadership of the Free Officers Organization prepared for the revolution, and on July 21, Gamal Abdel Nasser sent him to his unit headquarters in Arish, asking him to come to Cairo to participate in the army’s revolution against the king and the British. So he contributed to the revolution, and broadcasted with his voice the statement of the revolution. He was entrusted with the task of carrying the abdication document to King Farouk.

After The Revolution

In 1953, the Revolutionary Command Council established Al-Jumhuriya newspaper and assigned him the editorship of this newspaper. In 1954, with the first ministerial formation of the revolutionary government, he assumed the position of Minister of State in September 1954. He was a member of the Supreme Council of the Editorial Board. He also held the position of Secretary General of the World Islamic Conference in Beirut in 1955.

He was elected as a member of the National Assembly representing the Tala constituency for three terms starting in 1957. In 1960 he was elected Speaker of the National Assembly for the period from July 21, 1960 to September 27, 1961. He was also elected Speaker of the National Assembly for the second term, from March 29, 1964 to November 12, 1968. In 1961, he was appointed Chairman of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Council.

In 1969, Gamal Abdel Nasser chose him as his deputy, and he remained in the position until September 28, 1970.

Presidency of Egypt

After the death of President Gamal Abdel Nasser on September 28, 1970, and because he holds the position of Vice President, he replaced him as President of the Republic. On May 15, 1971, he made a decisive decision to eliminate the centers of power in Egypt, which was known as the Correction Revolution, and in the same year he issued a new constitution for Egypt.

In 1972, he dispensed with nearly 17,000 Russian experts in one week, and it was not a strategic mistake and did not cost Egypt much, as the Soviets were a great burden on the Egyptian army, and they were veterans of the Soviet military and retired, and they had no actual military role during the war. Absolute attrition, and the Soviet pilots, despite their mission to defend the skies of Egypt from Beni Suef Airport, had failed to fully achieve the mission, and the evidence was their loss of 6 Soviet (Mig-21) aircraft led by Soviet pilots in the first and last air clash that occurred between them and Israeli planes, and the fact that many know that Sadat’s abandonment was one of the most important steps of the October War, as Sadat wanted not to attribute the victory to the Soviets.
Also, one of the most important reasons that made him take this step is that the Soviet Union wanted to provide Egypt with weapons, on the condition that they would not be used without his order. Where Sadat answered them with the word: “(Sorry) I do not accept imposing a decision on Egypt except with my decision and the decision of the Egyptian people.” Also, these Russian experts were already obstructing Egyptian military operations during the War of Attrition, and a number of them were already discovered spying on behalf of Israel, and the Egyptian officers and soldiers did not talk to them about any details about war operations or even training, as the presence of these experts was just a symbol of support Soviet and political game no more.

He made a fateful decision for Egypt, which is the war against Israel that began on October 6, 1973, when the army was able to break the Bar Lev Line and cross the Suez Canal, leading Egypt to its first military victory over Israel.

And he decided in 1974 to draw new features for the renaissance of Egypt after the war, by opening it up to the world, so the decision was the economic openness.

One of the most important actions he undertook was the restoration of democratic life that was heralded by the July 23 revolution and was unable to implement it, as his decision in 1976 was to return to partisan life, and as a result, political platforms appeared, and from the mercy of this experience, the first political party, the National Democratic Party, emerged as the first A party after the July Revolution, which is the party he founded and headed, and its name was initially the Misr Party, then other parties followed after it, the New Wafd Party, the Progressive Unionist Gathering Party, and other parties.

{Bread Intifada}: It is popular demonstrations and riots against the high price, which took place on the 18th and 19th of January 1977 in several Egyptian cities, rejecting a draft budget that raises prices for many basic materials, where Dr. Abdel Moneim Al-Qaysouni, Deputy Prime Minister for Financial and Economic Affairs, delivered a speech Before the People’s Assembly on January 17, 1977 regarding the draft budget for that year, in which he announced austerity measures to reduce the deficit, linking this to the need to agree with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to procure the necessary additional financial resources. The reaction of the street to the increases was that people took to the streets until the government responded and backed down from the price increase. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat called it the “thieves’ revolution” and the official media came out talking about “a communist plot to cause confusion and unrest in Egypt and overthrow the regime.” A large number of leftist political activists were arrested before the court issued its verdict to acquit them.

His Last Days

By the fall of 1981, the government launched a massive campaign of arrests, including Islamic organizations, Coptic Church officials, writers, journalists, leftist and liberal thinkers, and the number of detainees in Egyptian prisons reached 1,536, following signs of strife and popular unrest rejecting peace with Israel and the state’s economic policies.

Assassinate Him

On October 6, 1981 (31 days after the arrest warrants were announced), he was assassinated in a military parade that was taking place on the occasion of the anniversary of the October War, and he assassinated Khaled al-Islambouli, Hussein Abbas, Atta Tayel, and Abdel Hamid Abdel Salam, who belonged to the Islamic Jihad Organization, which was strongly opposed to the peace agreement with Israel, where they shot President Sadat, wounding him with a bullet in his neck, a bullet in his chest, and a bullet in his heart. The assassination of Sadat came a few months after the killing of Field Marshal Ahmed Badawi and some military leaders in a very mysterious helicopter crash, which opened the door to suspicions about the existence of a conspiracy.
He was succeeded by former Vice President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak in the presidency.