Walla Zaman Ya Selahy Walla Zaman Ya Selahy "Walla Zaman Ya Selahy" () was the national anthem of the United Arab Republic (UAR), a federation of Egypt and Syria, from 1960. Though the UAR broke up in 1961, Egypt retained the official name of the union until 1971, and the official anthem until 1979. Prior to being adopted as the UAR anthem, it was a nationalist song performed by Umm Kulthum during the Suez Crisis in 1956, known in Egypt and the Arab world as the Tripartite Aggression, when Egypt was invaded by the United Kingdom, France, and Israel. Due to its strongly nationalist
Suez Crisis blockaded the Gulf of Aqaba, in contravention of the Constantinople Convention of 1888. Many argued that this was also a violation of the 1949 Armistice Agreements. According to the Egyptian historian Abd al-Azim Ramadan, the events leading up to the nationalization of the Suez Canal Company, as well as other events during Nasser's rule, showed Nasser to be far from a rational, responsible leader. Ramadan notes Nasser's decision to nationalize the Suez Canal without political consultation as an example of his predilection for solitary decision-making. The nationalisation surprised Britain and its Commonwealth. There had been no discussion of the canal