I am alive, and even if I die, all of you are Gamal Abdul Nasser!

Gamal Abdel Nasser (January 15, 1918 – September 28, 1970; Arabic: جمال عبد الناصر, name also transliterated as Jamal Abd al-Naser , "Jamal Abd An-Nasser", and other variants) was the leader of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. He is considered one of the most important political figures in modern Arab history, and in Developing World politics of the 20th century. He was well-known for his nationalist policies and his version of pan-Arabism also referred to as Nasserism, which won a great following in the Arab World during the 1950s and 1960s. Many in the general Arab populace still view Nasser as a symbol of Arab dignity and freedom.

Quotes

Gamal Abdel Nasser giving a homeless Egyptian man a job
  • My countrymen, my blood spills for you and for Egypt. I will live for your sake and die for the sake of your freedom and honor. Let them kill me; it does not concern me so long as I have instilled pride, honor, and freedom in you. If Gamal Abdel Nasser should die, each of you shall be Gamal Abdel Nasser ... Gamal Abdel Nasser is of you and from you and he is willing to sacrifice his life for the nation.
    • Stephens, Robert Henry (1972), Nasser: A Political Biography, New York
  • The holy march on which the Arab nation insists, will carry us forward from one victory to another ... the flag of freedom which flies over Baghdad today will fly over Amman and Riyadh. Yes, the flag of freedom which flies over Cairo, Damascus, and Baghdad today will fly over the rest of the Middle East
    • Aburish, Said K. (2004), Nasser, the Last Arab, New York City
  • You are from Britain. Would you accept to give Manchester to some other people? And if you are American, I ask the same way, do you accept to give California to some other people? Or would you accept the 'status quo' of occupying Manchester by some other people, by the Chinese for instance? And then reach agreement after expelling the people of Manchester from their homes, depriving them of their property, of everything? This is the question of Palestine.
  • We are awaiting aggression by Israel and any supporters of Israel. We will make it a decisive battle and get rid of Israel once and for all… This is the dream of every Arab.
    • As quoted in the Washington Post (27 July 1959)
  • If the refugees return to Israel – Israel will cease to exist.
    • As quoted in A Mandate for Terror : The United Nations and the PLO (1989), by Harris O. Schoenberg, p. 239
  • Let them kill Nasser! What is Nasser but one among many? I am alive, and even if I die, all of you are Gamal Abdul Nasser!
    • To his followers during the assassination attempt by the Muslim Brotherhood, as quoted in The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright ISBN 978-0375414862
  • The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves which make us wonder at the possibility that there may be something to them we are missing.
    • As quoted in Copeland, Miles (1970). The Game of Nations (4 ed.). Simon and Schuster. p. 216. 
  • Our path to Palestine will not be covered with a red carpet or with yellow sand. Our path to Palestine will be covered with blood… In order that we may liberate Palestine, the Arab nation must unite, the Arab armies must unite, and a unified plan of action must be established
    • In a re-election speech (1965), as quoted in Islamic Imperialism : A History (2007) by Efraim Karsh, p. 162
  • If the Jews win this battle, then the Arabs had better go bury their faces in the mud!
  • No person, not even the most simple one, takes seriously the lie of the six million Jews that were murdered [in the Holocaust].[1][2]
  • If anyone thinks we have become tired, let me say that we are a struggling nation, a fighting nation, a patient nation.
  • We knew that by closing the Gulf of Aqaba it might mean war with Israel. [If war comes] it will be total and the objective will be to destroy Israel.
    • As quoted in the Washington Post (27 May 1967)
  • We have to go along a road covered with blood. We have no other alternative. For us it is a matter of life or death, a matter of living or existing. We have to be ready to face the challenges that await us.
    • Gamal Abdel Nasser, speech to Egypt's National Assembly, Cairo (November 6, 1969), as reported by The Washington Post (November 7, 1969), p. 1.
  • We must fight our way to victory on a sea of blood and a horizon of fire.
    • As quoted in the Wall Street Journal (14 November 1969)
  • I believe that we now have a duty to remove the aggressor from our land and to regain the Arab territory occupied by the Israelis. We can then engage in a clandestine struggle to liberate the land of Palestine, to liberate Haifa and Jaffa.
    • In a meeting with King Hussein, as quoted in the in Efraim Karsh, Islamic Imperialism: A History (2007), p. 172

Quotes about Nasser

  • Lyndon's gone and dragged Nasser away from the fireplace and onto the balcony again. Once you get him out there, it's a helluva job to get him back to the fireplace again.
  • When I met Nasser, he said to me, "I see myself when I was young in you. You are the future for the Arab revolution." This meant very, very much to me.
    • Muammar Gaddafi, as quoted in "Gadhafi, the man the world loves to hate" by Marie Colvin (UPI) in The Pittsburgh Press (3 August 1986)
  • I have learned by experience that a tragic end awaits anyone who dares cross swords with me; Nasser is no more, John and Robert Kennedy died at the hands of assassins, their brother Edward has been disgraced, Krushchev was toppled, the list is endless.

References

  1. ↑ Satloff, Robert (2007). Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust's Long Reach Into Arab lands. PublicAffairs. p. 163. ISBN 9781586485108.
  2. ↑ Laqueur, Walter (2006). The Changing Face of Antisemitism: From Ancient Times to the Present Day. Oxford University Press. p. 141. ISBN 9780195304299.
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