Rare audio of Nasser and Gaddafi sparks debate over Palestine, Arab unity

A rare 1970 audio recording of a conversation between former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has gone viral this week, reigniting debate over Arab unity, the Palestinian cause, and approaches to peace with Israel.

The recording, shared widely on YouTube by the channel 'Nasser TV', has amassed millions of views. It captures a candid exchange between the two leaders, covering sensitive topics including Israel's occupation of Arab territories following the 1967 war, the ongoing War of Attrition, as well as the broader Arab-Israeli conflict.

It also reveals Nasser's growing frustration with Arab rulers and Palestinian organisations, who he accused of engaging in political grandstanding without offering real support to Egypt or the Palestinian cause.

"If anyone wants to fight, let them fight; if anyone wants to struggle, let them struggle," Nasser said, criticising Arab leaders, particularly from Iraq, Syria, Algeria, and South Yemen, for their "hollow slogans".

He also warned that calls to "liberate Palestine from the river to the sea" would, in reality, only hasten the loss of the West Bank and Gaza, just as the 1948 Arab-Israeli war had led to the loss of historic Palestine.

The conversation, recorded on 3 August 1970, occurred shortly after US Secretary of State William Rogers proposed a second ceasefire plan between Egypt and Israel, aimed at ending the War of Attrition and initiating political negotiations.

Egypt accepted the Rogers Plan, with the ceasefire scheduled to begin a few days later. Against this backdrop, Nasser met twice with Gaddafi in Cairo before and after Gaddafi's trip to Baghdad and Damascus to attend a summit of frontline states.

Nasser's remarks came at a time of heightened tensions within the Arab world. In particular, Iraq's Baathist regime launched a propaganda campaign accusing Nasser of betraying Arab honour by agreeing to the Rogers Plan. Nasser, in turn, dismissed these accusations during a summit in Tripoli, calling them internal political manoeuvres by Iraqi leaders.

The viral recording has reignited debates over Nasser’s complex legacy, hailed by some as a revolutionary leader who championed Arab nationalism and anti-colonialism, and criticised by others for miscalculations that weakened the Arab position, particularly after the 1967 defeat.

Some critics accuse Nasser of prioritising personal legacy and compare his stance to that of Anwar Sadat, who later signed the 1979 Camp David Accords with Israel.

Others defend Nasser, suggesting that his remarks reflected the intense pressure he faced in 1970 over accepting the US-brokered Rogers Plan - a plan he reluctantly agreed to in order to strengthen Egypt's air defences against Israeli air superiority.

The recording is the latest in a series of archival materials released by the YouTube channel as part of the Gamal Abdel Nasser Heritage Documentation Project launched by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in cooperation with the Gamal Abdel Nasser Foundation, chaired by Nasser's daughter, Huda Abdel Nasser.