Group+5.1+GamalAbdel+Nasser

** PERSONAL LIFE **

Gamal Abdel Nasser was an Egyptian politician and revolutionist who drove the British outside Egypt after years of ruling. He was born on January 15th of 1918 in Banny Mor Asyout, Egypt. Gamal was born in a peak time of Egypt, just before the English colonization revolution. At the age of 8 he moved to Asyout city after being enlightened with the Southern Egyptian strict and traditions in Banny Mor. However, Gamal kept moving from one city to another, Alexandria then Cairo because of his father’s job as an inspector in the ministry of post. Gamal obtained his high school diploma in Cairo at the age of 18, 11 years after his mother passed away, Later in 1923 Gamal ran a post office in Asyout. Around that age Gamal was part of many demonstrations against the English colonization where he joined the military school and graduated in 1938 as a second lieutenant where he then he met Anwar El Sadat (3rd president of Egypt after Gamal) when he joined the third platoon in Asyout. In 1939 Gamal met Abdul Hameek Amer in Alexandria who influenced Gamal’s life. Years passed and in about the 1938 Gamal and Abdul Hakeem Amer became very good friends and they were both transferred to a post in Sudan as volunteers where they started discussing the future of Egypt. During the service in Sudan, Gamal and three others founded the “secret Free Officers revolutionary organization. Their objective was the overthrow of the British occupying regime and the puppet Egyptian king”. “In 1943 Nasser became an instructor at the military academy and then at the army staff college. Nasser was part of the Egyptian force that invaded [|Israel] in the 1948 [|Arab-Israel War] and was bitter about the poor organization and performance of the army. He was trapped along with other Egyptian soldiers in the Falluja pocket (in the area of Plugot and Qiriat Gat in what is now Israel) and taken prisoner by the Israelis. This experience was not the start of his political involvement, which already had a long history, but it most likely intensified it. In 1949 Nasser formally organized the "Free Officers group from among his friends and confidantes.” In 1954, Gamal forced Naguib out of presidency and office of prime minister where Gamal became the president. Nasser helped the arab world to improve and had an influence on the nation. “In 1958, Nasser attempted to form a union between [|Syria] and Egypt. The dream of Arab unity had existed for many years, and Pan Arabists believed it had only been prevented after World War I by the machinations of the imperialists”, and also he “joined the Syrian president Shukri al-Quwatli, in announcing the formation of the United Arab Republic (UAR)”. Also, “In January 1962, Nasser began supporting the anti-Royalist Free Yemen Movement. This also served to combat the Saudis, who Nasser saw as his rivals for Arab leadership.” Lastly after the deterioration of the Arab - Israeli situation in 1967, Gamal died in the 1970 from a heart attack, but even after his death he was memorized by muslims and arabs because of his achievements.

**SOURCES**

1. Aburish, Said K. (2004), Nasser, the Last Arab, New York City: St. Martin's Press, 2. Alexander, Anne (2005), Nasser Life and Times (illustrated ed.), Haus Publishing 3. Gamal Abdel Nasser, Middle East Resources Encyclopedia, March 5th 2011, URL "http://www.mideastweb.org /Middle-East-Encyclopedia/gamal_abdel_nasser.htm" 4. http://www.famousmuslims.com/Gamal%20Abdul%20Nasser.htm

//Done by Rakan Bayouk//



// **__Rise of Pan- Arabism during Gamel Abdel Nasser__** //

// Pan- Arabism is the term used to expose the Arab world. It is to unite Arabs as a single nation. Before the 1950’s Egypt was not interested in Pan- Arabism; in 1960 the president Gamal Abdel Nasser was very into Pan-Arabism. Egyptians did not see themselves as Arabs. They saw that their language, culture and traditions as Egyptian and not Arab. Gamal Abdel Nasser forced upon them to unite the Arab nations together including Egypt. He alone believed to unite the Arabs and fight their enemies as a nation. // // Although it was stated that Gamal Abdel Nasser has weakness as an Egyptian president he was most influential as during the Jordanian civil war in September 1970 the Arab leaders such as King Hussein and Yasir Arafat went to Cairo get resolve the issue through Gamal Abdel Nasser. The Six- Day war culminated to his weakness. This was when Israel launched an attack which destroyed most of the Egyptian air forces on the ground. Thus, Egypt quickly asked their air forces to come back, but Israeli forces continued their attack. It started with Iraq’s denial to join the United Arab Republic (UAR). One of his major obstacles is the increasing loss of imperialism as Egypt’s Arab nationalist mission. In 1952 during the Egyptian revolution there were very few independent Arab countries. This imperialism was needed for Arab nationalism. The imperial forces were outsiders who were violating their rights against the Arab people and deserved the abuse the abuse that was upon them. // // In 1960 the presence of the British in Egypt and Iraq was no longer, Gamal Abdel Nasser who was in charge of the Arab nationalist narrative had to find new targets. Thus, he turned the Arab nationalist against Arab nations that were against the political changes. In 1967 Gamal Abdel Nasser there was military defeat of Egypt. With this being said he had issues that followed. He had masses of Israeli soldiers that held camp on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal which was not that far from Cairo. The problem was that if they make that trip Gamal Abdel Nasser did not have an army to stop them. // // **__Gamel Abdel Nasser military Career__** //

// Gamal Abdel Nasser military career started after his high school diploma in 1937 where he joined the Royal Military Academy. At this time they were excepting sons of //// lower income families. This was when he was on his way in becoming an army officer. A year later he joined the Egyptian Army. With the help of Ibrahim Kheiry Pasha he was on his way in becoming one after being turned down. During this time he met Anwar el-Sadat and Zakaria Mohyi El Deen of whom served as vice president and Abdul Hakeem Amer who became minister of defense. In 1942 he was transferred to Sudan and later became an instructor at the Royal military Academy. Later in 1948 while in the Egyptian army he was sent to Palestine to help prevent the establishment of Israel. // // In 1952 Gamal Abdel Nasser and his free Officers got power and got rid of the king. The free officers of which he met in Sudan are a group opposed to the British occupation in Egypt. The abolishment of the monarchy declared Egypt a republic. Gamel Abdel Nasser held power through the control of Revolutionary Command Council. In 1956 he was elected as president pg Egypt. //

//**Sources**// // 1. Adeed Dawisha(2003) Requiem for Arab nationalism, The Middle East Quarterly. [] // //2. Paul Berman(2003) The Philosopher of Islamic Terror**,** New York Times. []// //3. "Nasser, Gamal Abdel." __International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences__. 2008.// Encyclopedia.com. //(March 14, 2011). []//

//Done By Dana Al- Nasrallah//


 * __Nationalization of the Suez Canal__**

//

One of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s most critical political moves while in office was creating a law to nationalize the Suez Canal. This law that was set in place on July 26, 1956 removed all outside control and influence of the canal (mostly British and French) and made it so Egypt had complete ownership and operation. The main importance of the canal is that it connects the Mediterranean Sea at Port Said with the Red Sea and the surrounding area is the only land connecting Asia and Africa. Prior to the nationalization, the canal provided Britain a way to defend and communicate with its colonies in Asia and more currently has served as a transport system for oil and other goods. Although Nasser angered Britain and France, it was very hard for them to get international support to forcefully regain the canal because Egypt made a promise to compensate the Suez Canal Company and give rights of access to the ships. The then enraged British Prime Minister, Anthony Eden, called the nationalization “theft” and felt Nasser was a major threat to France and Britain’s remaining interests in the Middle East and Africa. Thus, nationalization of the Suez Canal in the 1950s was a very critical political move for Nasser in a time when European colonial empires were falling and the world dependence on oil was exponentially growing. Due to growing tension between the Arab states and Israel and many other nations, the nationalization of the canal threatened peace throughout the world and sparked the Suez Crisis of 1956. Some other results of Nasser’s law was increasing Nasser’s role in the pan-Arabism movement, and providing the foundation for implementing more Egyptian military control of the Sinai Peninsula, which in 1967 led to the Six-Day War with Israel.

**Sources**
 * 1) **"Nationalization of the Suez Canal in Egypt in 1956."//Wars of the World//. N.p., 16 Dec 2000. Web. 14 Mar 2011. . **
 * 2) **O'Neal, Michael J. "Gamal Abdel Nasser on the Nationaliztion of the Suez Canal." //Milestone Documents//. Shlager Group Inc, 2011. Web. 14 Mar 2011. . **

Writen by Emily Berlin

** //Political Life// ** Garnal Abdel Nasser came to power within the Egyptian Government after a coup d'etat ousting the former king during the summer of 1952. He along with the generals and other commanders who planned the coup sat on a war council with Nasser as the leader. While others of the counsel favored executing King Faruq and certain members of his court, Anwar el-Sadat being most notable among those who sought execution for the king, Nasser would not permit it and allowed the king and the others to go into exile from Egypt. Two short years later in 1954 Nasser claimed the office of President of Egypt. As president Nasser introduced several large changes which helped shape the country, and bring a measure of equality to Egypt. Nasser issued land reforms in which he requisitioned almost a quarter of a million hectares (940 square miles) of farm land from a small group of rich land owners and gave it to the people. The president also took on projects such as: the building of the Aswan High Damn, the nationalization of the Suez Canal, and the unification of the Arab peoples. He was not successful in all that he did, but it is still worth while to recognize his devotion to the causes of his people. The Nationalization of the Suez Canal served a duel purpose when Nasser chose to reclaim it for the Egyptian people. The canal is a prime shipping lane through which millions of barrels of oil are sent on a daily basis. The importance of the canal is that it removes the necessity of traveling around the tip of Africa in order to ship goods and effectively cuts the distance traveled in half. The control of the canal had rested within the hands of European and Colonial powers for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. This was one of the most important and possibly weighty signs of Imperialism left for the Arab people, a great weight on the mind and soul. By taking back the canal Nasser sent a message of strength on the behalf of his people. 

** //Aswan High Damn// **

The later building of the Aswan High Damn helped to increase the middle class of Egypt by expanding the agrarian society and producing more farmers and more farm land. The building of the damn was not an easy task and had many road blocks along the way. The original plan for the damn's construction came with backing from both Britain and the United States. Both countries however backed out before even the first stages of the damn's construction were complete. Nasser announced five days later that he had found another way to fund the build – the Nationalization of the Suez Canal. The money brought into Egypt from the Nationalization of the Suez along with the backing from Soviet Russia allowed the damn to be built and finished. The damning of the Nile River allowed for irrigation of barren lands upstream which allowed for the land to be cultivated and used to produce crops. The damning of the river also formed a lake which was named after the man who began the project – Lake Nasser.

There were many good things brought by the building of the damn: a lake, electric power and industrialization in the area, irrigation and farm land being produced. But there is always a price to be paid when gaining so many positive things. The annual flooding of the Nile which used to bring fresh furtile silt to the lower Nile basin and farm lands was cut off. Forcing the farmers to have to use artificial fertilizers and increasing the cost of their food production. Even the one million tons of artificial fertilizers used by the farmers is a poor substitute for the forty million tons of fresh fertile silt once brought yearly by the river. The lake formed through the damning of the river also flooded many ruins and ancient sites of Egyptian History, some of which were over three thousand years old. There were efforts to save some of the more well known sites such as the Temple of Abu Simel, a shrine dedicated to Ramses II and his queen. The efforts to save this one site alone were extremely costly, and the unique and priceless history lost through the flooding of the other sites can not be given any monetary value. The building of the Aswan Damn also forced the relocation of around a hundred and forty thousand people. **Sources** 1. [] 2. [] 3. [] 4. [] 5. [] 6. [] 7. [] 8. [] 9. [] ~ Nathaniel Ballard ~