Nasser's Schoolmasters

In the tiny Persian Gulf sheikdom of Kuwait, Arab boys end a strenuous schoolyard military drill by hauling down an Israeli flag from a makeshift pole, trampling it exultantly. At a school for royalty in Saudi Arabia, King Saud's sons dress up as modern Egyptians, act out a playlet called Heroes of Port Said by fiercely vanquishing the "cowardly" British and Israelis, and--stretching a point--Americans. Behind these and similar exercises in Arab nationalism are hundreds of Egyptian schoolteachers, exported to education-hungry Mid-East nations by Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser, paid partly by local governments, partly by Egypt.

At latest count, Egypt had some 400 teacher-agitators in Kuwait, 1,000 in Saudi Arabia, 400 in Libya and 100 in Syria. Iraq's Premier Nuri asSaid, killed in the July 14 revolt, had thrown Egyptian teachers out of his country, but last week, after the revolution, Cairo announced that a new detachment of 300 would be sent to help out the now friendly Iraq government. For Egypt, which has more teachers than it can use (the University of Cairo turns out huge classes of B.A.s each year, and there are too few schools to provide posts for all of them), the openhanded export of learning is a wise investment. Mideast observers reckon that Nasser's schoolmasters are more effective propagandists than the screaming Cairo radio.

Before children in schoolrooms and their parents in the coffeehouses, the teachers refrain from much direct praise of Nasser, instead tell of the achievements of his regime. They come equipped with stacks of picture postcards showing modern developments to be seen in Egypt, and, when pressed, admit that Nasser is the author of these wonders. They stress the awakening of Arab nationalism, the need for Arab union under Nasser's general direction, and the doom of the imperialist West. Children are told they must fight for complete emancipation of the Arab people from all foreign control and political influence. The teachers file regular reports to Cairo, and villagers are further impressed with Nasser's farseeing wisdom when radio broadcasts beamed from Egypt describe their local affairs in detail, and with sympathy.

As propaganda efforts go, Nasser's have been hugely successful. His teachers had infiltrated Jordan and Lebanon before governments in those countries got wise and started throwing them out. In Kuwait, said a British businessman, "there isn't a pro-Western child of school age left."

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