“July 23 every year gives rise in our hearts to feelings of pride and dignity,” was President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s expression of the endearment with which Egyptians continue to feel towards the July 23 Revolution. In a nationally-televised statement marking the Revolution’s 69th anniversary, President Sisi hailed the July 23, 1952 Revolution for having managed to change the realities of life on the land of Egypt and for having introduced such substantial changes that placed the country right on the world’s political map. Sixty years after its launch, it is in fact almost effortless to draw a picture of the social, political, economic and cultural accomplishments that the July 23 Revolution made in the direction of dedicating national action to the aspirations of the people following a long march to realise national independence in all its forms and manifestations.
In a historical perspective, the transitioning of Egypt from a monarchy to a republic, the attainment of national independence and adopting the principles of social justice, freedom and equality constituted the framework of the July 23rd Revolution’s national action in both domestic and foreign policies. The introduction of fee-free education, making elementary education compulsory, carrying out agrarian reform, promoting industrialisation and the pursuance of a non-aligned foreign policy in a time of the division of the world into two rival blocs suffice to identify the multiple social, economic and political effects that the July 23 Revolution brought about to the core of and direction of national action.
Enacting fee-free education and making elementary education obligatory were instrumental in fighting illiteracy, spreading learning and encouraging the rise of a knowledge-based social setting. It also helped in changing the economic character of Egypt from a predominantly or mainly agricultural country to one that can tremendously diversify the bases of production and enjoy solid potentials for multi-faceted growth. Agrarian reform helped widen the scope of arable land ownership and facilitated the social and economic empowerment of farmers and agricultural workers. Concomitantly, the promotion of industrialisation served as a major asset for the reinvigoration of the national economy and the creation of a reliable and efficient base for the production of several goods and commodities.
In foreign policy, the credit goes to the July 23 Revolution for having initiated, in co-operation and coordination with India and former Yugoslavia, the policy of non-alignment which developed into an international movement that sought to maintain for the then newly-independent countries of the world a capacity to follow their own visions whilst the bi-polar system almost dominated international relations under the conditions of the post-WWII’s Cold War with its multiple complexities and risks. Mention should be made in this context to the late Nasser’s “Philosophy of the Revolution” book that presented the three-circle approach for Egyptian foreign policy. By virtue of that approach, Egypt sought to place marked emphasis in the pursuance of its foreign policy on the Arab circle, the African circle and the Islamic circle. The legacy of that approach was noticeably felt in Egypt’s support of joint Arab action, its efforts to promote pan-Africanism especially as was reflected in the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity, and the consolidation of cultural links with Islamic countries.
These and other landmark accomplishments assert the historical value, worthiness and importance of the July 23rd Revolutionat all national, regional and international levels. And the legacy of the Revolution continues to reverberate generation after generation in the many challenges that the country has come to face, including the recent challenge of terrorism which the Armed Forces has managed in co-operation with the civilian Police to besiege and weaken. All through the stages of national action and in responding to various challenges, as President Sisi noted in his address last Friday, the people of Egypt has been up to its responsibilities, demonstrating remarkable belongingness and allegiance to the homeland.
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