I was browsing over the Nobel Prize website and came upon the Nobel Lecture given by Anwar El Sadat when he received the Nobel Prize for Peace (along with Begin) in 1978 and I just thought, 'Wow! What if this man had lived longer?'...This is a bit of his Nobel Lecture that I found particularly enlightening, let's see what you think:
It is in the light of all this, that I embarked a year ago upon my initiative aimed at restoring peace in an area where man received the words of God.

Through me it was the eternal Egypt that was expressing itself: Let us put an end to wars, let us reshape life on the solid basis of equity and truth. And it is this call, which reflected the will of the Egyptian people, of the great majority of the Arab and Israeli peoples, and indeed of millions of men, women, and children around the world that you are today honoring. And these hundreds of millions will judge to what extent every responsible leader in the Middle East has responded to the hopes of mankind.

We have now come, in the peace process, to a moment of truth which requires each one of us to take a new look at the situation. I trust that you all know that when I made my historic trip to Jerusalem my aim was not to strike a deal as some politicians do.

I made my trip because I am convinced that we owe it to this generation and the generations to come, not to leave a stone unturned in our pursuit of peace. The ideal is the greatest one in the history of man, and we have accepted the challenge to translate it from a cherished hope into a living reality, and to win through vision and imagination, the hearts and minds of our peoples and enable them to look beyond the unhappy past.

This is part of the ending of the lecture:
I will ask you all to join me in a prayer that the day may soon come when peace will prevail, on the basis of justice and the recognition of the rights of all the peoples to shape their own life, to determine their own future, and to contribute to building a world of prosperity for all mankind.

A truly great man, a visionary, full of courage. Where are his like in the Middle East today?

http://www.historama.com/online-resources/history-collecting-resources/militaria/Anwar_Sadat_Israeli_military_honor_guard_corps_fla gs_1977.jpg
Sadat in Jerusalem

Good thread...Threadlike.

IMO, Sadat is one of the more interesting figures in late 20th century Middle East politics.

I believe he said "it was only when I talked to the Israelis did peace seem possible."

Don't you think that he was given the prize just because Sinai treaty with Israel ? And why do many Egyptians still curse him till now ? And what do you think of his internal policies in the 80s including the deaths of the defense minister Ahmed Badawi and other 13 senior Egyptian army officers in a helicopter crash in 1981 ?

And threadlike, you as an Egyptian, what don't you like about him, during his prsidency period ?

Interesting thread Threadlike :)

I would like to have the link to read the whole thing

He was a really great man, and he did something that most of the Arab ( if not all ! ) haven't the courage to do it !

He created an opportunity that none was able to use rightly :bored:


Don't you think that he was given the prize just because Sinai treaty with Israel ? And why do many Egyptians still curse him till now ? And what do you think of his internal policies in the 80s including the deaths of the defense minister Ahmed Badawi and other 13 senior Egyptian army officers in a helicopter crash in 1981 ?

And threadlike, you as an Egyptian, what don't you like about him, during his prsidency period ?

Every human on earth have good and bad sides, and there is NO president on this earth who is pure with no mistakes :bored:

So let’s not dig in this part !

I didn't even say that what he did was bad or good :p

He created an opportunity that none was able to use rightly

Which opportunity ?

I didn't even say that what he did was bad or good :p



Which opportunity ?

The Israelis had thought that peace with the Arabs was either impossible or generations away. They were just going to hunker down and live with failure.

But Sadat's gesture seemed like a miracle out of a blue sky. It changed attitudes in Israel completely and showed that peace was not a pipedream but a possible reality.

When people believe that, they will be willing to take risks for peace. And they will try to make peace.

That doesn't mean they'll always do it perfectly. But they'll at least have it as a goal.

Now, if one is a rejectionist--if one believes that the only solution is total war against Israel until it is gone--then obviously one won't be an admirer of Sadat.

Storm,
For the complete lecture, click here (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1978/al-sadat-lecture.html) :)
Don't you think that he was given the prize just because Sinai treaty with Israel ? And why do many Egyptians still curse him till now ? And what do you think of his internal policies in the 80s including the deaths of the defense minister Ahmed Badawi and other 13 senior Egyptian army officers in a helicopter crash in 1981 ?

And threadlike, you as an Egyptian, what don't you like about him, during his prsidency period ?

haha, so many questions and each of em pretty big :p
I'm not an expert on Sadat but I have my personal opinion on him that may affect my judgment on his presidency period so I'll take your questions one by one and tell you what I think. You don't have to agree and I don't aim to convince you but it's simple what I think.

Sada'ts efforts in establishing a peace treaty with Israel were one of the reasons he got the Nobel Prize but not the ONLY reason. Before he was assassinated he was taking steps towards peace in Palestine. In his Nobel Lecture, he implies that it was one of his goals:
The peace process comprises a beginning and steps towards an end. In reaching this end the process must achieve its projected goal. That goal is to bring security to the peoples of the area, and the Palestinians in particular, restoring to them all their right to a life of liberty and dignity. We are moving steadily towards this goal for all the peoples of the region. This is what I stand for. This is the letter and the spirit of Camp David.

Regarding 'Egyptians cursing him'. I have never met an Egyptian person up to now who had 'cursed' Sadat, called him a bad name or a traitor or whatever. Every Egyptian I've met have stated that he was a very clever leader who (like all leaders) had his virtues and had his mistakes. For his supporters, the virtues of what he did to and in Egypt outnumber and outshine the mistakes he did. The only Egyptians I can think of who might have 'cursed' Sadat would be the people from the Nasseri Party who thought that the peace treaty was horrible for Egypt and Arabs.

I don't know what you're hinting at about the tragedy of Ahmad Badawi's death but I'm assuming you're hinting at the rumor which spread at the time; that those officers were planning a coup on his regime to cease control of the presidency. If that was true, Sadat would have never trusted one of them to be the Defense Minister, Sadat would have never placed that very same man as the leader of the Third Army in October 1973. The plane crash was purely accidental and Sadat himself paid tribute to the dead minister and his colleagues calling their role in the war to be 'historic and heroic'.

As an Egyptian, I never lived at the time of his presidency at all. But I heard of his actions and I read many articles on him. As an Egyptian, I think he did a lot for EGYPT at the time than many other leaders did and the worst thing that happened in his presidency was that it ended with an assassination. He misjudged the power of the extreme Islamists, a misjudgment that proved fatal.

My father, however, lived through both Nasser's and Sadat's regimes. He was part of the Egyptian Army in the 1973 war and I yet have to ask him of what he thought of Sadat's regime in Egypt. So if you give me some time, I'll do it and PM you his answer though he's probably gonna talk for hours :D

what is wrong with peace?

The Israelis had thought that peace with the Arabs was either impossible or generations away. They were just going to hunker down and live with failure.

But Sadat's gesture seemed like a miracle out of a blue sky. It changed attitudes in Israel completely and showed that peace was not a pipedream but a possible reality.
When people believe that, they will be willing to take risks for peace. And they will try to make peace.

That doesn't mean they'll always do it perfectly. But they'll at least have it as a goal.

Now, if one is a rejectionist--if one believes that the only solution is total war against Israel until it is gone--then obviously one won't be an admirer of Sadat.

Which peace you're talking about jeff ? Or you mean just treaties on papers ? I still see it a pipedream. The killing never stopped. Smashing Palestinians houses never stopped.

Well, thanks Threadlike for the infos. I would love to know your dad's opinion.

I remember this man when I was a kid and thought even then at my tender age how impressive he was.

I didn't even say that what he did was bad or good :p



Which opportunity ?


The Film of 'The Execution of the Pharaoh'; Sadat's Family Threatens to Sue Film Producers (http://www.almasry-alyoum.com/article2.aspx?ArticleID=112256)


This part of the article might give a simple answer. Your mind can do the remaining calculations ;)



The project of Iranian film 'the execution of the pharaoh' about the assassination of the late President Anwar Sadat stirred wide controversy among Egyptian pundits and cinema professionals, as well as Sadat's family.

They all expressed their indignation of the Iranian film, which was showed on the sidelines of the festival of the international committee to honor martyrs of Islamic renaissance.

The film of the execution of the pharaoh points out that the reason of assassination is that the 'traitor', as the film describes the late president, signed Camp David treaty
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For his side, a top leader of the Islamic group organization, which participated in the assassination of Sadat, declared the organization rejection of describing Sadat as traitor, stressing that he was the great man of October victory. He said that Khalid Islambouli, killer of Sadat, was a righteous man and killed the president thinking it was the right thing.

But the group sees now that if days were to come back, such things would have never happened. He added that Sadat was the only president who gave great freedom on his own to Islamic movements but the movement did not utilize such freedom at best

Even the fly looks big under a magnifying glass.

+Salam