Message from President Gamal Abdel Nasser to the Secretary of War, General Mohamed Fawzi, and the Officers and Soldiers of the Egyptian Armed Forces on August 22, 1969

Translated by Malak Ahmed

Reviewed by Mohaned Mohammed

"The enemy will not be moved by blame or condemnation, nor will they budge a single inch from the positions they occupy simply because we say they are unworthy of their responsibilities. They will not pause for a moment to listen to the voice of any party calling for investigation and justice.

I want our men, officers and soldiers of the Armed Forces, to contemplate the feelings of the past two days and to internalize their meanings. I want them to link their hearts and consciences to the heart and conscience of their nation, and to know in the depths of their souls that they carry a responsibility and a trust unlike any carried by soldiers since the divine messages descended as guidance and mercy to the earth.

In their coming battle, they are not only the soldiers of their nation, but they are the soldiers of God, the protectors of His religions, His mosques, and His holy books. Their coming battle will not only be a battle of liberation, but it has now become necessary for it to be a battle of purification as well. We are facing an enemy that was not content with defying humanity, but went beyond that out of arrogance and madness, extending its defiance to the sanctities that God ordained as His mosques and blessed their surroundings.

Our armies shall return to the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Jerusalem shall return as it was before the era of colonialism, which imposed its control over it for centuries until it handed it over to these players with fire. We shall return to Jerusalem and Jerusalem shall return to us. We shall fight for this, and we shall not lay down our arms until God grants victory to His soldiers, exalts His truth, honors His mosque, and true peace returns to the City of Peace."

Message from President Gamal Abdel Nasser to the Secretary of War, General Mohamed Fawzi, and the officers and soldiers of the Egyptian Armed Forces on August 22, 1969.