CAIRO: On Nov. 8, 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat announced in the Egyptian parliament — in the presence of Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization — that he was prepared to travel to Jerusalem to begin negotiations for a peace process with Israel.
The announcement shocked all those present and, as word spread, surprised the whole world, including Israel itself; if Egypt recognized Israel diplomatically, it would be the first Arab state to do so.
Things moved fast after that. Just 11 days later, Nov. 19, Sadat arrived in Jerusalem for a three-day visit. On Nov. 20, he addressed the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
“Today, I have come to you with firm steps, to build a new life and to establish peace,” he told the assembled members.
“We all on this Earth, Muslims, Christians and Jews alike, worship God and nobody but Him. God’s teachings and commandments are love, sincerity, purity and peace.”
How we wrote it
Arab News featured Anwar Sadat’s visit to Israel on its front page, capturing events leading to the historic peace deal.
He had, he said, consulted no one before making his decision, either among his colleagues or fellow Arab heads of state.
He spoke of the families of the “October 1973 war victims … still in the throes of widowhood and bereavement for sons and the death of fathers and brothers.”
It was, he said, his duty “to leave no stone unturned to spare my Egyptian Arab people the harrowing horrors of another destructive war, whose extent only God can know.”
Certain facts, Sadat added, had to be faced by Israeli authorities “with courage and clear vision.” They had to withdraw from Arab territories they had occupied since 1967, he said, including Jerusalem. Furthermore, any peace agreement must secure “the basic rights of the Palestinian people, and their right to self-determination, including the right to establish their own state.”
Key Dates
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1
Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to visit Israel and addresses the Israeli parliament the next day. “Before us today,” he says, “lies the … chance for peace … a chance that, if lost or wasted, the plotter against it will bear the curse of humanity and the curse of history.”
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2
At the invitation of US President Jimmy Carter, Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin arrive at Camp David for 10 days of talks.
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3
The two leaders sign a framework for peace, the Camp David Accords, at the White House in Washington.
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4
They are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
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5
Sadat and Begin sign Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in Washington.
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6
Sadat assassinated in Cairo by Islamist extremists.
Sadat’s bold gamble sparked anger at home and abroad. Ismail Fahmy, Egypt’s foreign minister, resigned from his position two days before the visit. In his memoirs, he described Sadat’s initiative as “an irrational move in a complicated and long game of peace.” Sadat appointed Mahmoud Riad as the new foreign minister, who resigned as well.
Indeed, there was no shortage of critics in Egypt, including prominent politician Fouad Serageddin and the author Youssef Idris, who described Sadat’s gesture as “a submission and humiliation of the victorious Egyptian will in the face of a defeated enemy,” a reference to the October 1973 victory of Egyptian and Syrian forces over Israel in the Sinai and the Golan Heights.
Many Arab countries in the region put relations with Egypt on hold, and froze joint projects and investments in the country, which was also expelled from the Arab League.
This anger was mirrored in streets across the region, with demonstrations taking place in several Arab cities including Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad, Aden, Tripoli and Algiers.
US President Jimmy Carter (C) congratulates Sadat (L) and Begin (R) at the White House lawn after signing of the historic peace treaty. AFP
Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem was the first step in a two-year process of negotiations between Egypt and Israel, brokered by the US, which ended with Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin signing a peace treaty in Washington on March 26, 1979, in the presence of President Jimmy Carter, following the Camp David Accords in September 1978.
Sadat effectively had signed his own death warrant. Among the individuals and organizations that called for his death were Omar Abdel Rahman, leader of an extremist Islamist group active in Egypt at the time; the Muslim Brotherhood; and Ayatollah Khomeini, leader of the Iranian revolution.
On Oct. 6, 1981, while he attended the annual military parade in Cairo to celebrate Egypt’s 1973 victory in the Sinai, Sadat and 10 other people were gunned down by members of Tanzim Al-Jihad, an Egyptian Islamist group.
- Hani Nasira is an Egyptian academic and political expert, as well as the director of the Arab Institute for Studies. He is the author of more than 23 books.
