50 years after Suez: Egypt looks forward and back

Egypt held mixed, low-key celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the seizing of the Suez Canal today.

The most energetic response to the occasion appeared to come from Islamist opposition newspapers and nationalist groups, keen to make comparisons between the current conflict in Lebanon and the four-month crisis that ended Britain and France's claims to authority in the Middle East.

The readiest link was made between Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian leader (above) who nationalised the canal on July 26, 1956, and, with his vision for a united Arab world, became a hero in the region; and Hassan Nasrallah, the charismatic leader of Hezbollah who is fast gaining cult status during the group's heavy fighting with Israel.

Al-Karama, a Nasserist weekly newspaper, published a full-page picture of Nasrallah, who has led Hezbollah for the last 16 years, with the words: “Nasrallah, in Nasser’s footsteps”. Al-Arabi, another opposition newspaper, made a special supplement and called it: “Nasser 1956 — Nasrallah 2006: We will fight and not surrender."

“Until his last gasp, Abdel Nasser refused to be corrupted... Nasrallah is the same, he is not talking about peace but about war. He does not negotiate and seeks to recover lost national pride,” wrote al-Arabi.

Nasser's speeches from the summer and autumn of 1956, as Israel, Britain and France orchestrated the botched invasion to retake the canal, remain eye-catchingly defiant. From this collection at Fordham University in the US:

"Those who attack Egypt will never leave Egypt alive. We shall fight a regular war, a total war, a guerrilla war. Those who attack Egypt will soon realize they brought disaster upon themselves. He who attacks Egypt attacks the whole Arab world. They say in their papers the whole thing will be over in forty-eight hours. They do not know how strong we really are."

Nostalgia for Nasser has even prompted the liberal newspaper, Al-Wafd, to ask for his next incarnation: “The Arab nation needs a new Nasser to unify it. The glory of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s era is cruelly absent from our divided nation," the daily said yesterday.

Popular hunger for some kind of expression of Egyptian power in the present crisis has forced the current Prime Minister, Hosni Mubarak, to insist that he is doing enough, that fighting is not the answer.

In non-Nasser terms he said last night: “Those who urge Egypt to go to war to defend Lebanon or Hezbollah are not aware that the time of exterior adventures is over... Those who are asking for war will make us lose all of that in a blink."

For a good summary of the Suez Crisis, try this US State Department article, for something snappier, this timeline will help. The Times original coverage of the canal seizure is here. Even if you cannot understand Arabic, Nasser's nationalisation speech still raises the hackles. William Rees-Mogg looks back at America's refusal to support the tripartite plan.

There wouldn't have been a crisis without a canal. Have a look at this fantastic satellite picture of the isthmus and find out more about the building of the waterway here. The hero of the piece is Ferdinand de Lesseps, the diplomat, engineer and visionary immortalised in the 1938 film, Suez: "Driven by the love of two women... He tore continents apart that ships might sail the desert."

Comments

[F.Bonmati]

I will compare Nasrallah to the nazi leaders of the 30's. Antisemite youth groups with their fascist salute? paramilitary parades on the street of Lebanon? Nasrallah, is closer to Hitler than to Nasser. The allies bombed Berlin to the ground to destroy the nazi party, and yes there was civilians suffering the consequences. The war was not against the germans but against the nazis, or I should say Hezbollah.

[michael c]

OK - re last comment - but its not about the release of arab prisoners in israeli jails, or 'territory'even, Nasrallahs' motive is the Islamic fantasy of the wholesale destruction of Israel, every man woman and child, by whatever means. This is pure evil. The elders of the world - the UN - decided in 1948 to create Israel, and the world has to live with that fact.

[Thanh]

I think all the people who express admiration for Hezbollah and especially Nasrallah and his promulgations of resistance appear to be all confused individuals. They all seem to sweep under the carpet the fact that him and his followers (and puppet masters) bring on "aggression" so that they are still in the job to "resist". Lets not selectively forget that this present crisis all started with the murder of eight and the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers. Lets also not forget the hundreds of Lebanese and Israeli civilians that have been killed and the hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebabese and the flattening of southern Lebanon - all this curtesy of Hezbollah. So, I think it quite peculiar and particular of individuals who glorify such acts of inhumanity.

[alan jelley]

As a pure 'middle englander' supposedly with all the moderate views that that implies I have to say enough is enough. I now fully support your fight against the the Israelis. They have lived for 60 years on western guilt about the second world war and we have completely ignored the way that they are using Nazi tactics to subjugate the Middle East. I feel that the Muslim world has challenges of extremism within itself, but without the issue of Israel as a focal point I feel confident that you can deal with them in a mature way .. as Nassar would have led you to do.

[Dr. Louis A. F. Wetzler]

The only way to reach a cease fire in Lebanon and Israel now is just good will from all parties involved in this conflict. What means good will, in first place Israel has to stop this ruthless and bloody campaign, which are killing more civilians than guerrillas from Hezbollah, the fact of the matter is that Israel has been bombing Lebanon, without destroying the capacity of Hezbollah to launch attacks against Israel. Meanwhile hundreds of people are dying, or being injured, including United Nations officials as happened yesterday. The big problem is the blindness of the White House in this case, they are repeating the same mistakes that they had committed in Iraq. Instead of looking for solutions they continue with their idée fixe about smashing all their enemies, without taking into account civilian casualties or even the international public opinion, which is in majority against this kind of wars. The threat of terrorism will increase exponentially, and the radicalisation of Islamic groups in Northern Africa, Asia and even in Europe and other places will be worst that it is now. Huntington will be right; we shall have a bloody clash of civilizations. By the way, what we can see right now, is that Israel is not respecting the Geneva Conventions, on the other hand the United Nations doesn’t have the power to impose a cease fire without the approval of Mr. Bush and his hawks who are looking for a Israeli fast victory in this campaign and a humiliation of Iran, and a neutralization of Syria. I am afraid that they are utterly mistaken; we shall see more bloodshed and we must forget about any cease-fire, if worst comes to worst, which is happening, this war will last for years like it is occurring in Iraq nowadays. Ever since the invasion to Iraq, what we have witnessed a more radicalised Iran and any chance of change in Syria just vanished. From the initial goal of promoting Western style democracy in the Arab world had failed, in Palestine Hamas won and in Iraq every day we are seeing more and more massacres. It is time to rethink the whole strategy of Western powers in the Middle East before is too late.

[eissa]

He Was a very good leader

[wasami]

I do not think that Nasrallah has the same status as Nasser, but he is obviously going the same way, trying to recover what has been lost: both dignity and territory. The West seem reluctant to understand that the key is Palestine and the people of Palestine. Asked recently about their main problem, the Moroccans, although poor and illeterate, has instinctively answered: Palestine. And we are so far from the middle east. Can a westerner understand the language of the heart? We do. And that's why no arab will look at Nasrallah as a terrorist, but as a freedom fighter. As far as he intends to free Arab people in Israel's prisons. He could fail, but he tried. And everyone among us will be grateful. anyway.