There are fascinating parallels between recent events and Egypt's past, according to Hoda Abdel-Nasser. Gamal Nkrumah sounds the chief seraph of her father's legacy out "This is the most uplifting, invigorating and exhilarating historical experience since the days of the Suez Crisis. The parallel with the people's power, the spontaneous uprising that brought my father to power, especially heartens me. And above all when my father resigned in the aftermath of the Six Day War of 1967 only to be urged by the masses to continue in office," Hoda Abdel-Nasser, daughter of the late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser and political science professor at Cairo University told Al-Ahram Weekly. "I am particularly proud of the youth of this country. People thought that the youth of today are apolitical but they proved their detractors wrong. My father would have been ecstatic. He would have been proud of the people who demonstrated in Tahrir Square chanting slogans urging radical political reform and social change," she emphasised. "Nasser remains at the core of Revolutionary mythology in Egypt and the Arab world at large. That is why you saw the portraits of Nasser hoisted high in Tahrir Square. You did not see the portraits of other previous leaders of Egypt. Only Nasser's portraits were visible. Young people who were not even born when Nasser was in power held his portraits high. I do not point this out because I am a daughter of Nasser, nor because I am a firm believer in his cause. I am saying this in my capacity as a historian and as a political scientist," she explained. The Dubai-based Pan-Arab satellite television station Al-Arabiya showed a beaming Abdel-Hakim Abdel-Nasser, the youngest of Nasser's sons, being held shoulder high by fans of his father. "The image of Abdel-Hakim and the tremendous love and affection of the people was very moving," his sister explained. "Tears welled up in my eyes. This was history in the making and I was humbled to see the genuine love and respect that my father still commands. We, Nasser's progeny, are being honoured today not particularly for our own political activism, but for the lasting love that the people of this country have for my father," she explained. On 9 June 1967, Nasser delivered a televised nationwide address in which he assumed full responsibility for the military setback of the Six Day War and promptly submitted his resignation. "The people of Egypt rejected Nasser's resignation. They insisted that he lead the country in his capacity as president. They adamantly refused to have it any other way. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary Egyptians rushed to the streets in support of their leader, their president." Inevitably, Hoda Abdel-Nasser draws parallels with another episode in Egypt's history. "What a contrast with the momentous developments we witness today of the people demanding the president's resignation, dissolution of parliament -- the People's Assembly and the Shura Council -- among other demands." Hoda Abdel-Nasser expressed her strong conviction that Egypt will weather this historical storm. "My father took the courageous decision to nationalise the Suez Canal and we suffered the consequent Tripartite Aggression against the country. These were momentous days. The people of Egypt then, like now, demonstrated unprecedented courage and bravery. The difference, in my humble opinion of course, is that at that time the enemy was a foreign aggressor. Today, unfortunately, domestic reactionary forces are the adversary of the people and the focus of the people's wrath." According to Hoda Abdel-Nasser, an important consideration is the stance and very nature of the Armed Forces. "The relationship between the people demonstrating in Tahrir Square and the members of the Armed Forces has been amicable. The troops are protecting the people from hooligans and thugs." By the same token, the interaction between the demonstrators, ordinary Egyptian citizens, and the police force at large has been less than harmonious," Nasser extrapolated. "I would like to see a situation where the Armed Forces, a contrite police force and the protesters work in conjunction for the betterment of the lot of the people of this country. The symbols of authority in this country are obliged to show respect for the people of the land." The history of the Armed Forces is inextricably interwoven with the history of the people of Egypt. The Free Officers, Hoda Abdel-Nasser noted, were an indispensable part of the people and an integral segment of the masses. To apprehend the specificity of the Armed Forces in modern Egyptian history means that we must view the military institution as a pivotal force. "The Egyptian Armed Forces were traditionally on the side of the masses and we hope that that venerable tradition continues today." "I think it is safe to argue that the role of the Armed Forces in contemporary Egypt, in the current Revolution, has to be assessed on that basis. The army, just like the rest of the people of this country, is going through a new phase of democratisation. This is one of the issues that I intend to tackle in my forthcoming book about Nasser's legacy." The threat of the use of force attests to the contempt by the powers that be for the revolutionary zeal of those who masterminded the current Revolution in Tahrir Square. The forces of reaction are trying hard to "sabotage the people's will," she warned. As a leading historian on her father's legacy, Hoda Abdel-Nasser made comparisons between the involvement of her father with the Misr Al-Fatah (Young Egypt), a movement established in October 1933 by Ahmed Hussein, and the current youth movement organising the protest movement in Tahrir Square. "The Free Officers, too, were a secret group of dissenting officers," she elaborated. "In all these cases, the common factor was the activism and determination of the youth. I have faith in the power of the youth of Egypt to make history." Nasser was recently selected as a member of the so-called Committee of the Wise, a concept of which she is highly critical. She dismisses it as something out of Plato's Republic. "The youth made this revolution. They must be directly involved in the decision-making process." I pondered Nasser's words and decided to pull Plato's Republic off my bookshelf for a reappraisal. She had a poignant point. "Democracy is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequal alike." Tactics of trickery are well understood by the youth, Nasser insinuated. "There are those who wish to hijack the current Youth Revolution. I believe that their machinations will be thwarted," she concluded.
