Gamal Abdul Nasser, the undisputed leader and most articulate spokesman of the Arab petty bourgeoisie, could not have died at a more inopportune moment as far as imperialism and the Soviet bureaucracy are concerned. Only a few bours before his death he had been photographed supervising the handshake between Arafat and Hussein, which symbolised the "cease-fire" in Jordan. Without doubt the imperialists had hoped that this was only a trailer for the more important handshakes which lay ahead.
Nasser was the only remaining leader in the Arab world with a genuinely anti-imperialist past and it was precisely this that made him a key figure as far as the Rogers-Nix on-Kosygin Plan was concerned: he was the only man who could be relied on to appease the resistance of the Arab masses. In the months to come his presence would have been vitally necessary.
Nasser's heyday was the nationalisation of the Suez Canal ("Let the imperialists choke in their rage," he had declared) and its aftermath. For resisting British and French imperialism, he had become a hero in the eyes of millions of people in the Middle East and in the Tricontinent. Not only had he struggled against imperialism, but he had also played an important role in ridding Egypt of Farouk's despotism. However, he was first and foremost a spokesman of the upper layers of the Egyptian petty bourgeoisie and the regime established after the overthrow of Farouk had a clear right-Bonapartist flavour. From the very beginning the young army officers who had assumed power had no time for the workers. Even a pro-Nasser writer admitted that: "On 12 August 1952, the workers in one of Egypt's largest spinning mills at Kafr el-Dawar near Alexandria rioted and seized control of the factory. Fearing that this action might lead to workers' uprisings throughout the EDITORIAL BOARD: Tariq Ali, Robin Blackburn, Chenhamo Chimutengwende, Peter Gowan, Teresa Ligougne, Branka Magas, Neil Middleton, Felicity country, the junta promptly sent in troops to take back control of the mill, arrested some 200 workers and, after a brief court martial, hanged two of the leading agitators... " (Nasser's Egypt, Penguin, p. 45).
Owing to the complete and abject capitulation of the Stalinist parties in the Middle East, "Nasserism" was able to retain its grip on the Arab masses and Nasser his popularity. This popularity was damaged but not irreparably after the 1967 war. With the death of Nasser, we have the last of the heroes of "neutralism" departing from the stage of history. No matter what the result of the faction fight in Egypt between "right" (Zakaria Moyhedin) and "left" (Saadat, Ali Sabry) turns out to be, of one thing we can be sure. The death of Nasser came at a critical conjuncture. At a time when "Nasserism" as an ideology had been immeasurably damaged by the impact of June 1967 and its consequences and when Arab commandos were, for the first time, publicly denouncing Nasser. The political complexion of the Middle East today reveals clearly that it is the beginning of the end for the petty bourgeois regimes and the mystifying role which they have played. The death of Nasser will heighten this process and will make it much more difficult for the Arab governments to force a settlement dictated by imperialism down the throats of the Arab masses.
A new road is opening up in the Middle East. It is both long and dusty, but there destination: a Socialist Middle East. What Hayter, George Joseph. Dave Kenda is more important is that there exist elements today who have already started on the long journey ahead. The man who could have delayed this journey by conjuring up mirages and sometimes even transplanted oases, no longer exists. There is no one to fill his place.
Published by Relgocrest for The Red Mole, 182 Pentonville Road, London N.I. 01-837 6954, 01-278 2616.
Printed by The Prinkipo Press Lt 82 Pentonville Road, London N.I. 01-837 9987
The Red Mole 1-15 Oct. 1970 Page 3