Top 10 speeches that shaped the Arab world

Arabs are a Vocal Phenomenon is either the title of Saudi writer Abddalla al-Qasimi’s most famous book or a statement made by former Israeli defence minister Moshe Dayan. For some reason empty rhetoric seems to be really effective in influencing Arab people – or, as one former Iraqi diplomat once told NOX, “Arabs are moved by their leaders like other people in the world are moved by Mozart.” Whether it is the stature of the man delivering the speech, the strength of the content, the significance of the occasion, or in case of our favourite Libyan, its unintentional comedy, these are our most memorable Arab public addresses that helped shape our region.

9.“Nurse” Nayirah’s testimony to the US Congress in 1990

The pretty, fragile and tearful Kuwaiti nurse offered compelling testimony. The shock on the faces of the US members of Congress, as the youthful woman offered first-hand accounts of Iraqi savagery was genuine; the brutality of Saddam Hussein’s regime was real and needed to be dealt with. Except, of course, it wasn’t true. None of it. The Kuwaiti nurse was the 15-year-old daughter of Saud bin Nasir Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ambassador to the USA, and was put up to the job by PR firm Hill & Knowlton, whose clients were Citizens for a Free Kuwait. But, much like the wholesale lies of 2002 and 2003, the truth was only reported when Iraq was in ruins. The role of spin in the selling of a war had reached frightening new levels. And it set the tone for Bush MkII.

7.Bachir Gemayel’s inauguration speech

“Reaching office on the back of an Israeli tank” does not get more literal than in the case of Bachir Gemayyel, the far-right-wing militia leader who rode an unholy alliance with war criminal Ariel Sharon all the way to the Lebanese presidency. In the Lebanese Phalange party, unsavourily modelled on European fascist ideology of the 1930s, Bachir Gemayyel played the role of Hitler: a charismatic speaker with a bigoted message that rallied his base: “We will transform refugee camps to zoos and tennis courts,” he screamed, “once we kick the Palestinians out.”

Karim Pacradoni and the late George Hawi, both respected voices in Lebanese politics, believe it was the Israelis who blew their former ally to shreds after he backtracked on his promises for a quick Lebanese-Israeli treaty. Unfortunately, Bachir Gamayel’s assassination led to the Israeli invasion of West Beirut, the Sabra and Chatilla massacres, and the elongation of Lebanese civil war for 10 more years.

5.Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatens Tel Aviv and Haifa

Now a part of resistance folklore, the Hezbollah leader’s threat to launch attacks deep into Israel changed the nature of the conflict between the two – a threat that Israel failed to counter in five weeks of savage bombardment

3.Anwar Sadat speaks at the Knesset

Whether one chooses to view Anwar el-Sadat as a visionary leader not afraid to take a risky initiative even if it cost him his life, or a CIA-agent traitor who sabotaged any hope of reaching a fair compromise in the Arab-Israeli conflict, his historic speech in front of the Knesset proves he is, if nothing else, a barefaced liar. “First, I have not come here for a separate agreement between Egypt and Israel. This is not part of the policy of Egypt,” claimed el-Sadat in his address that shocked the world. Less than 10 months later, of course, he signed the Camp David Peace Accords that lead to the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty.

What seemed to have started as a piece of rhetoric that Arabs are known for, Sadat claimed to his own parliament that he was willing to go to the end of the world – and even to Jerusalem – to achieve peace. It became a painful reality when Israel extended an invitation for him to do so. Following the speech, the Eastern European bloc threatened to launch a war against Egypt, the Arab world boycotted it and kicked it out of the Arab Council, and the Arab-Israeli conflict was never the same.

1.Abdel Nasser steps down following the defeat of 1967

Throughout the mid 50s to the early 70s, any time the charismatic icon of Arab pride addressed the masses, it was a memorable occasion; look no further than the radio address that announced the nationalisation of the Suez Canal in 1956 (“In the name of the nation, I announce the nationalisation of the international navigation company of the Suez Canal as an Egyptian company”), or his May 1958 Damascus speech following the Qasem/Aref military coup against King Faisal in Iraq (“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 Arab flag of freedom.”)

There are a dozen more occasions when Jamal Abdel Nasser not only captivated his Arab audience, but also mapped the policies of the region. But in June 1967, sitting sombrely behind three microphones, his head slightly beneath his shoulders, dropping it significantly whenever he looked at the script, and raising it to face the camera as infrequently as possible, Nasser delivered his most significant speech to mark a moment that was never and will never be matched: An Arab leader assuming full responsibility for a disaster and willingly standing down from office – and against the clear wishes of the majority of his people.

However, Nasser stayed true to the later part of the speech: “This is a time for action, not grief”. So when tens of thousands of Egyptians and Arabs spontaneously flooded the streets of Cairo and Arab capitals in demonstrations rejecting the resignation, he went back to work, commencing the War of Attrition and rebuilding his armed forces.

For a full version of this article, see NOX39.