Gamal Abdel Nasser - Modernization of Egypt and Internal Dissent

Modernization of Egypt and Internal Dissent

Beginning in 1961, Nasser sought to firmly establish Egypt as the leader of the Arab world and to promote a second revolution in Egypt with the purpose of merging Islamic and socialist thinking to satisfy the will of the general populace. To achieve this, he began enacting several reforms to modernize the al-Azhar Mosque, which serves as the de facto leading authority in Sunni Islam, and ensure its prominence over the Muslim Brotherhood and the more conservative Wahhabism promoted by Saudi Arabia. Nasser used his influence with al-Azhar to create changes in the syllabus, which trickled to the lower levels of Egyptian education. He allowed coeducational schools, introduced evolution as an acceptable subject matter to discuss, amended divorce laws, and merged religious courts with civil ones. He also forced al-Azhar to issue a fatwa readmitting Shia Muslims, Alawites, and Druze into mainstream Islam; for centuries before, al-Azhar deemed them as "heretics" and non-Muslims.

During this time, Nasser became highly concerned with Amer's inability to train and modernize the army, as well as the state within a state he created by transforming the army and the intelligence apparatus—the latter was led by Salah Nasr—into "a separate fiefdom loyal to him personally," according to Aburish. None of Nasser's old colleagues had informed him of the corruption and lawlessness undertaken by Amer and the army officers loyal to him since they thought the relationship between Nasser and Amer, his second-in-command, was solid. Therefore, any claims of power abuse would be dismissed. After realizing the extent of Amer's control in the country, however, Nasser appointed himself Chief of the Armed Forces, replacing Amer, in 1963. Although Amer was officially demoted, he remained in a strong position and many high-ranking officers continued to express loyalty to him. According to Boghdadi, the stress caused by the collapse of the UAR and Amer's increasing autonomy forced Nasser, who had already had diabetes, to practically live on painkillers from then on.

In order to organize and solidify his popular base with Egypt's citizens to counter the influence of the army, Nasser introduced a new constitution and the National Charter in 1964. The latter called for universal health care, the provision of housing, building of vocational schools, widening of the Suez Canal, expanding women's rights, and developing a program for family planning. In addition, he attempted to maintain oversight of the country's civil service to prevent it from inflating and consequently becoming a burden to the state.

Efforts were made during Nasser's time in office to realise the social goals of the National Charter. After 1952, women were granted both the right to vote and to stand in elections, together with wider access to employment and education. Laws were also passed which provided workers with a minimum wage, profit shares, and free education and health care, reduced working hours, and encouraged worker participation in management. Land reforms guaranteed the security of tenant farmers, promoted agricultural growth and reduced rural poverty. The rural poor not only benefited from new tenure relations and land redistribution, but also benefited from improved welfare security and price and crop guarantees. In addition, electrification of villages was carried out, together with the construction of housing for workers.

In January 1964, Nasser called for an Arab League summit in Cairo, with the stated purpose of establishing a unified Arab response against Israel's plans to divert water from the Jordan River to irrigate the Negev Desert. Although he discouraged Syria and Palestinian paramilitary factions from provoking the Israelis, admitting that he had no plans for war with Israel, Nasser nonetheless called for the creation of the United Arab Command (UAC). Nasser blamed the lack of unity among the Arab states for what he deemed "the disastrous situation" regarding Israel's water diversion scheme. In a move to cede or share his responsibility and leadership position of the Palestine issue, Nasser decided to support the establishment of an entity to represent the Palestinians. In May, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), an umbrella group that included various Palestinian factions, was founded and its head was to be Ahmad Shukeiri, Nasser's personal nominee. Nasser aligned himself with the ANM of George Habash and used the PLO to counter the support Fatah (not a PLO member) was receiving among Palestinians. Although Nasser made secret contacts with Israel in 1954–55, he concluded that peace with Israel would be impossible, considering it an "expansionist state that viewed the Arabs with disdain." Later in 1964, Nasser was made president of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and held the second conference of the organization in Cairo that same year.

During the presidential elections in Egypt, Nasser was re-elected to another six-year term, taking his oath on 25 March 1965. He was the only candidate for the position, with virtually all of his political opponents being forbidden by law from running for office and his fellow party members being reduced to mere followers. That same year, he imprisoned Sayyed Qutb, the Muslim Brotherhood's chief ideologue. Qutb wrote a book from his jail cell condemning Nasser as the representative of a "new age of ignorance." Unable to silence Qutb by incarceration, Nasser accused him of conspiring with the Saudis in attempt to assassinate him and had Qutb executed in 1966 as a result; the Muslim Brotherhood consequently sentenced Nasser to death. Sometime during 1966, he suffered, but survived, a massive heart attack.