“I took this decision after long thought, knowing
that it constitutes a great risk, for God Almighty has made it my fate to
assume responsibility on behalf of the Egyptian people, to share in the
responsibility of the Arab nation, the main duty of which, dictated by
responsibility, is to exploit all and every means in a bid to save my Egyptian
Arab people and the pan-Arab nation from the horrors of new suffering and
destructive wars, the dimensions of which are foreseen only by God Himself.”—Egyptian
President Anwar al-Sadat, Speech to the Israeli Knesset, November 20, 1977
Four years after launching the Yom Kippur War, Anwar Sadat (1918-1981) took the
extraordinary “great risk” of peace by breaking with other Arab leaders in that
region. The statement and the act reminds me of what Michael Collins, saddled
with the responsibility of negotiating an end to Ireland’s war of independence
with Britain, said at the conclusion of the process: “I may have signed my
death warrant tonight.”
Following his public repetition, in a televised
interview with CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, that he was prepared to discuss
directly with the Knesset (Israeli’s Parliament) his desire for peace—even within
a week of receiving the invitation—Sadat found himself before that body
outlining his goals and his passion to end the suffering of countless Israelis
and Egyptians. That opened the way for a meeting between him and Israeli leader
Menachem Begin that resulted in the Camp David accords between their countries.
In 1981, Sadat incurred the full measure of the “great
risk” he described to the Knesset, when he was assassinated by Muslim
fundamentalists. In the violent statis of today’s Middle East, his overture to
Israel remains the most significant step for peace in that troubled region. That
is the most tragic commentary of all concerning that area.
(Photograph of
Sadat taken at Andrews Air Force Base, January 1, 1980, upon his arrival in the
United States for a visit.)
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