Those In Authority In This Nation Must Work To Elevate The Industry Standard And Manufacturing

Translated by Alyaa Hossam

Reviewed by Mariam Essa

My fellow brothers, laborers,

Greetings, I would like to congratulate you on this union and I anticipate it will be a good beginning for valuable, productive and continuous work in the service of the public interest of the nation and its citizens.

My fellow brothers, listen closely! I want to listen and speak rationally, clearly and undoubtedly. Let us stop chanting for a while and take this opportunity to understand certain points by which we were misled in the past.

and If I’m being honest, when we look at the current circumstances, not everyone fancies them. We must learn and spot what factors and reasons have brought us to this condition. If we learn these factors and spot these reasons, we can overcome them and at the same time build a strong nation where the laborer, the farmer and the citizen have their rights and everyone has freedom, justice and equality. If we spot these reasons and if we know them and if we work to avoid falling into them again as we did in the past and if we work to avoid being deceived again as we were deceived in the past and if we work to avoid being misled as we were misled in the past and if we act upon all of this, God willing, we will be able to move the nation forward. The nation, as a whole made up of its working citizens, can advance and we will feel pride, dignity, strength, the right to life, the right to equality, and justice. All these factors have accumulated over the past years in our country.

My brothers, listen closely!

We spent long centuries under colonial rule and under the rule of the colonizers’ collaborators. The colonizers and their collaborators were constantly trying hard by all means to spread ignorance, to restrict education and at the same time to sow doubt, making everyone doubt their brother, making everyone doubt their country and their country’s ability. They were always working to create division, to divide the citizens, to split the people into sects and parties. So that they could dominate, control and exploit.

They always used some Egyptian traitors to mislead you, to deceive you, and at the same time to pacify you with false promises and twinkling hopes. But by doing this, they were strengthening the foothold of colonialism. They knew for certain that if a person were safe and sound in body and soul and if they were secure in their life, they would firmly contemplate their freedom and the freedom of their country and they would think about preventing the exploiters from exploiting them and preventing the oppressors from oppressing them. For this reason, they were always seeking to keep each individual preoccupied with their own affairs to keep each person absorbed in themselves. Poverty diffused across the country; poverty was widespread so that all citizens would remain poor. A poor person, struggling to find their daily bread and worrying about feeding their children, would never have the privilege of time or mind to think about freedom, independence, dignity or honor.

These were the pillars that some traitors among the Egyptians supported; these are the pillars on which colonialism was established. The reactionaries always utilized to prevent the citizens from feeling pride so that they could secure their foothold and colonialism constantly backed the reactionaries in this work to strengthen its own position. The reactionaries collaborated with colonialism through various methods. After the previous revolution, they began to pacify the people with the constitution, with democracy, and with freedom. The Egyptians felt that a new era of liberty, justice and equality was beginning. But did the reactionaries get deceived? Or did colonialism get deceived? Or did they backtrack and retreat? Absolutely not, my fellow brothers. They continued in their policies and followed their path, exploiting freedom, exploiting the constitution, and exploiting democracy, aided by the Egyptian traitors, those few traitors who preferred to elevate themselves above the citizens and those who wanted to gain as much loot as possible. These are the people who helped the colonizers. It was this reactionary class that brought us to the state we were in when this revolution occurred.

When this revolution took place, my fellow brothers…when this revolution took place, each of you was complaining and everyone in this country was suffering and we all felt as though we were heading toward the abyss. Everyone sensed poverty and helplessness, and no efforts were made to resist poverty, to resist exploitation, or to resist oppression. These were the methods on which colonialism and the reactionaries allied themselves, methods that enabled them to place their hands on this country, that allowed them to lead people around by their noses and ultimately to ensure that only they held pride, sovereignty and dignity. Making the citizens humbled people; each preoccupied with their own affairs, each absorbed in their own destiny.

And when this revolution took place, did the reactionaries give up? Or did they lose hope? The same reactionaries who misled the 1919 revolution and the same colonial powers that misled it? The same reactionaries are still attempting to mislead people during this revolution, and colonialism continues to deceive in the same manner.

The colonial powers that deceived us after the 1919 revolution and misled us under the name of democracy and under the name of freedom and led us into parliamentary dictatorship and party dictatorship will not back down. The reactionaries who benefited, exploited others, and controlled people's minds and wealth will not give up either. But they will always try under different names and under any name: under the name of freedom, under the name of democracy, and even under the name of communism.

I want to tell you, my fellow brothers: the revolution took place on July 23, the king left on July 26, and in the first week of August, some people, under the name of communism, attacked this revolution. No one in this country really knew who these people were, but the communists or those using the name of communism as their banner in this country, published leaflets in early August saying that this revolution was a revolution that supported colonialism and a revolution that helped strengthen colonial rule.

Rationally, of course, did they really need to wait until they knew who carried out this revolution to govern? But all the existing evidence shows that the people claiming communism, those using flashy slogans and sweet promises, trying to deceive the citizens under the name of communism and giving them false hopes under this name, are the biggest supporters of the reactionaries in this country. All the information and all their legal cases have proven that their foundation is rooted in Zionism. Zionism is the one spreading communist propaganda, creating communist organizations in this country and operating under the name of communism, which nobody really understands. They can deceive some citizens into thinking that its goal is freedom or that its goal is democracy. Under this new, appealing and flashy name and with this propaganda, they can deceive us again, just as we were deceived after the 1919 revolution under the names of freedom and democracy.

Today, they are deceiving some young people and some citizens under the name of communism. But can we really believe that this communism, which has been proven without a doubt to be a branch of Zionism? The largest communist organization in the country was organized by a Zionist named "Curiel," who funded it. Curiel was one of the wealthiest people in this country and he financed communism. However, they would meet with citizens and tell them that they were working to liberate them. I cannot understand at all how a Zionist or any single group could work to free this country. But, my fellow brothers, this is the new method now being used for deception, misleading, and fooling naive minds and simple hearts. They look for people and give them flashy names and appealing goals. And then, global Zionism can take control of them; the Zionism that hopes to expand from Israel to take over the Nile Valley, parts of Iraq, and parts of Saudi Arabia.

This is the Zionism that is functioning in this country to deceive some people and mislead them under the name of communism. They tell them charming things: communism will bring equality, improve the situation of laborers, improve the situation of farmers, and improve the situation of the poor. Under these sweet and flashy words, some people might be misled or deceived. But, my brothers, this is deception; this is misleading; this is falsehood. This is the new method being used now, following the methods of democracy and freedom after the 1919 revolution, which they were able to undermine.

But the people who were misled and deceived in the past will not be misled or deceived again. Everyone, my fellow brothers, who calls for communism and promotes it, you will find living in comfortable and luxurious housing and speaking charming words. The main figure of communism in this country, originally a Pasha, was called the “Red Pasha,” his name was Al-Bandari, and he gathered a few people around him. He lived in the Sun Building, enjoying a comfortable and prosperous life, and then he would speak about communism, about communism leading the country, and about people’s democracy. Just charming, flashy and appealing words. I met him once and found that he had prepared a program full of charming and sweet words during the time of organizing the parties, intending to use it to propose the establishment of his party. I went to him, to his house, and said, "The words you are saying are very charming: improving the condition of laborers, the conditions of farmers, the conditions of citizens, providing housing, and so on. But tell me: how will you actually do this? I am here to learn from you and learn a lesson. I have the opportunity to implement what you say. How will I implement it? We have heard many words like these before, and we have been deceived many times by such charming words. You say all these things written on paper, and we have consumed much of this talk in the past. Today, I want you to explain how this can be applicable.” And, my fellow brothers, all I heard from him was the same thing: “Never… we will work to improve the conditions of the farmers, and we will work to improve the conditions of the laborers.”

To improve the conditions of the farmers, my fellow brothers, and to improve the condition of the workers, I must increase the wealth of this country. The money that each of you receives is part of the country’s wealth divided among us all. I cannot increase the money that individuals receive unless I increase the country’s wealth. I cannot increase the country’s wealth unless production increases in agriculture and work in industry. Anyone who tells you otherwise is deceiving you, misleading you, and has only one goal: the goal of those claiming communism, which is chaos. Chaos leads to setbacks and it results in every citizen having a dreary future. No country in the world was ever built through chaos, never. Every nation in the world has been built through work, through sweat, and through effort. Every person who believes in their nation, who works hard, struggles, puts in effort and contributes to increasing the country’s wealth. Unless the country’s wealth increases, individual income cannot increase, and the number of unemployed laborers cannot decrease. But no country in the world was ever built with words alone, no country was built through deception, and no country was built through misleading. This is what each of you must recognize and this is what each of you must understand.

We have heard many times, my fellow brothers, about the Aswan Dam, the electrification of the Aswan Dam, and the extraction of iron from the Aswan Dam. Ever since one was young, even in secondary school, this is what we heard. But what was their policy? Was their policy to improve your conditions? Was it to improve the conditions of the laborers and the farmers? They knew very well that if they raised the conditions of the laborers and educated the farmers, they would never be able to exploit them, to control their livelihoods, to take the sweat of their brows. Therefore, they always worked to restrict agriculture and industry, so that the general conditions would remain miserable. Because if the conditions raise, if the laborers become educated, and if the farmer becomes enlightened, they will no longer be able to deceive or exploit him. This was the policy they followed from the beginning, and they carried it out under flashy words and charming slogans.

If we want to build our nation, if we want our children to grow up and find a decent and honorable life, we must never allow ourselves to be deceived or misled under any name, whether it is democracy, party politics or the sweet words they speak. There may be democracy, there may be freedom, but first we must free ourselves from exploitation, despotism and slavery.

I cannot understand how freedom can exist when people are not liberated to earn their bread or their living! People are not liberated to find work to do! Work and the land are controlled by some people. The people who control the land and work are the ones calling for freedom. I cannot understand at all, if they were the ones calling for freedom, why didn’t they liberate the individual? Why didn’t they liberate them to find their food? Why didn’t they liberate them to earn their living? Why didn’t they liberate them from the exploitation they were subjected to? This is the freedom they promoted for twenty years.

Today, if we want true and real freedom, we must liberate ourselves from exploitation and liberate work from control, the work that the laborer does and the land that the farmer works on. The control of exploiters and landowners. This is real freedom and this is the freedom we must work for. This is the freedom that the revolution began.

If every individual is free, then the country itself must be free. We must liberate ourselves from the people who controlled us in the past, whose effects are still present, who led us along this long path, and who would have taken us to the fate and the abyss we would have reached before this revolution. This is freedom. After that, we must find people to represent us; representatives who are from the people, who feel the people’s concerns, who understand the people’s hopes, and who have suffered as the people have suffered. These are the ones who will lead the people to freedom and preserve that freedom. We must never bring back the old rulers; the people who controlled us, exploited us, and oppressed us. Because if these people live or exercise any political rights in this country, this revolution will relapse. They will mislead you again, deceive you with charming words, flashy words, and sweet words.

This is the lesson, my fellow brothers, that we must understand. Each of you must know that you will gain your freedom through work, and through work alone, because freedom is built on livelihood, and livelihood is built on work. Work requires each of us to put in effort, to raise our own conditions, to create job opportunities for fellow unemployed laborers who cannot find work. Those in authority in this nation must work to elevate the industry standards and manufacturing. To raise the standard of industry, to build this country, the country must operate in a stable state; that is why there must be full cooperation between the laborer and the employer, because the employer is the one who establishes the industry. The laborer must engage with them and cooperate to establish this industry. At the same time, we must increase agricultural land and empower the farmers, giving them the opportunity and guidance to increase their crop, because increasing the farmers’ yield increases the wealth of this country.

This is the path on which this revolution was established, and this is the path on which it continues. It moves forward without deception, without misleading, and without empty words. I will not give you flashy promises or speeches; I will give you work. I want each of you to widen your horizons, understand clearly and not give anyone the chance to deceive or mislead you. At the same time, I want each of you to work and to consider that your effort, your full, long, and hard work, is a building block for this country, for yourself, for your fellow brothers, and for your children.

This is the path we must follow, and this is the path we must pursue for many years without turning back, finishing it to the end. So that we can build a strong nation and so that we can create a proud and honorable Egypt, not just in words, but through action and work. And so that we can create for our children after us a country that is proud and honorable, where no one exploits them, where no one oppresses them, where each one of them can find work, earn a living, have sustenance, and be able to work, without experiencing the hardships of life as we did, and as our fathers did in the past.

                       Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you.

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Speech of President Gamal Abdel Nasser at the celebration of the Transport Workers Union on the inauguration of their new union hall, their cooperative hospital and the Institute for Studies in El Sebteya

On April 29, 1954