It is the People Who Protect the Struggle

Translated by Mohaned Mohammed

Naturally, meeting with the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions touches the soul and stirs great emotions. If the Confederation of Arab Trade Unions is an actual union, not just a union on paper, it can achieve a great deal for the Arab nation.

The working class, or Arab workers today, represents the vanguard of the entire Arab nation. Workers today have a struggling role to play, and it is the people who are capable of fulfilling all aspirations. Workers must be at the forefront of the people in order to realize these aspirations.

All I hope is for the Confederation of Arab Trade Unions to serve as an example and a role model for the whole Arab nation. This model serves as a union that is dedicated to high ideals and to the hopes of working people throughout the Arab nation.

When I say "working people," I mean precisely that: working people. A non-working population cannot feel ideals, nor can it possess true aspirations. It is the working people whose hopes and dreams are fulfilled. The working people include both workers and all individuals who labor throughout the Arab nation. They have aspirations and ideals. The Confederation of Arab Trade Unions can prove through its struggle and by setting an example through its struggle and by setting an example, can prove that these aspirations can be realized.

Intellectual unity among Arab workers aids Arab unity. Unity of struggle among Arab workers, and you have great examples of this, aids Arab unity. Arab unity in its broader sense may not necessarily be a unity of constitutions, but rather a unity of goals and a unity of feelings.

The opposite of this is for each Arab people to isolate itself within its own country, indifferent to and unconcerned with what occurs across the Arab nation. Therefore, Arab unity in its broad and comprehensive sense is the unity of peoples and the unity of goals, regardless of constitutional unity; for constitutional unity may face many obstacles and might not be achieved over a long period.

It is thus more fitting for us to work toward Arab unity in a way that every Arab people feels the hopes and aspirations of other Arab peoples, feels their issues, and defends them if necessary. This was evident in 1956, during the Tripartite Aggression against Egypt. There was no constitutional unity, yet the Arab people took to the streets in every Arab country because actual unity bound them together. The Arab people took to the streets in Iraq during the rule of Nuri al-Said, who supported the aggression and wished for the end of the regime in Egypt, and the Iraqi people faced bullets, with many falling as martyrs.

All of this demonstrates that there is a genuine Arab unity bringing together the sons of the entire Arab nation, from its east to its west, regardless of constitutions.

There is another point I wish to make: reactionary forces and the agents of colonialism throughout the Arab world are uniting strongly in an alliance of shared interests to strike at nationalist and progressive forces in the Arab world. Who will defend the achievements of the Arab peoples? Who will fight for the outcomes of the struggle of the Arab peoples against reactionaries and colonial agents?

It is progressive, nationalist Arab action that is free from fanaticism. This means it is the duty of all progressive elements and forces across the Arab world and in every Arab country to unite to face the agents of colonialism and reactionary forces. All nationalist forces must unite and set aside their selfishness; otherwise, colonial agents and reactionaries will succeed in striking nationalist and progressive forces in their strongholds.

Who protects the struggle? It is the people who protect the struggle. The working people are the vanguard, and workers are the vanguard. Progressive principles and working for progress mean that working people and the working class obtain their rights, which were stolen through exploitation or foreign capital. It means the working class and working people receive an equitable share, transforming society into one where all people are equal, with no class privileges. These are the aspirations of the working class, and these are the aspirations of the Arab people.

Therefore, if you have aspirations, you must be at the forefront of the struggle. Leaders who have reached good positions must not isolate themselves from the working base. Isolating oneself from the working base drops the workers into the clutches of reactionaries and colonial agents.

We all know that the working class consists of good-natured people who can be content with little; their thinking is simple. Reactionaries, colonialism, and its agents might strike progressive forces using the working class itself by misleading workers, diverting them from their goals, and beautifying false concepts and ideas. I am sure all of you have experienced this.

It is our duty to mobilize the workforce. It is our duty to be the vanguard of the struggle. Workers throughout the Arab homeland must confront reactionaries, colonialism, and colonial agents. Workers across the Arab world must play a fundamental role in uniting progressive and nationalist forces, taking on a vanguard, fighting role. Any setback will harm workers first and affect them most. When the secession occurred in Syria and brought reactionary rule, the first to be harmed under that secessionist regime were the workers. I believe our Syrian brothers present here, from factories that were nationalized, then denationalized, losing the privileges workers had gained—know that as soon as reactionaries seized power, they abolished all worker achievements.

So, who is harmed by the success of reactionaries and colonial agents? The working people... the working class.. the workforce.. the peasants. These are the forces for which progressive and nationalist forces work. And who must preserve the Arab revolution, Arab achievements, and the Arab struggle? The people alone can safeguard the revolution, its goals, and its aspirations. The people alone can struggle to secure these gains.

The Syrian delegation told me, "You are responsible for unity." I tell the Syrian delegation: No, I am not responsible for unity. The Arab people in every Arab country are responsible for unity, for a simple reason: individuals come and go; every person lives their assigned days and life, then passes away. But peoples do not end. Peoples endure from the beginning of creation until the end of life. Peoples can work miracles.

It is your duty as Arab workers to truly be the vanguard of the Arab struggle, the vanguard of progress, and the vanguard of Arab nationalism. Set an example for all Arab peoples through sacrifice, redemption, and dedication to the elevation of the Arab nation. You are the soldiers who can truly raise the Arab nation. We have soldiers in the field who achieve victories and defend our lands, but workers are the soldiers who can build the Arab homeland, construct Arab capabilities, and advance the Arab nation from an underdeveloped state to a developing and advanced one: Enabling it to achieve what it desires without relying on any foreign power.

May God grant you success.

Peace be upon you.
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Speech of President Gamal Abdel Nasser welcoming the members of the General Conference of the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions