Ceremony Heard Around the World

Israel and Egypt signed their historic peace treaty on the White House-lawn shortly after 2 p.m. local time today before some 4000 invited spectators. In the ceremony televised around the world Premier Menachem Begin of Israel and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt solemnly affixed their signatures to the documents of peace and President Jimmy Carter signed as witness on behalf of the United States.

The treaty documents were signed in three versions — English, Hebrew and Arabic. Begin and Sadat began by signing the texts of the agreed minutes which contain clarifications of the peace treaty. After each signed, Carter signed as witness. They next signed the “agreed letter” covering the timetable toward moves for autonomy on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Finally, all three leaders signed the body of the treaty. All of the documents together had the thickness of a yellow pages telephone directory.

A VICTORY OF A PEACE CAMPAIGN

For Israel, its first treaty of peace with an Arab state came just two months shy of 31 years after its rebirth as a sovereign nation. For the first time, an Arab government formally recognized Israel as a sovereign Jewish State. The three leaders–Carter, Sadat and Begin — hailed the momentous event, each in his own words.

Carter, who was the first to speak after the signing, declared: “Today we celebrate a victory — not of a bloody military campaign, but of an inspiring peace campaign. Two leaders who will loom large in history — Anwar el-Sadat and Menachem Begin — have conducted this campaign with all the courage, tenacity, brilliance and inspiration of any generals who ever led men and machines on the field of battle.”

Sadat, who followed Carter, said, “This is certainly one of the happiest moments of my life. It is a historic turning point of great significance for all peace-loving nations…. Today, a new dawn is emerging out of the darkness of the past. A new chapter is being opened in the history of co-existence among nations, one that is worthy of our spiritual values and civilization.”

Begin declared in his speech, “Despite the tragedies and disappointments of the past, we must never forsake that vision, that human dream, that unshakeable faith. Peace is the beauty of life; it is sunshine, it is the smile of a child, the love of the mother, the joy of the father, the togetherness of a family; it is the advancement of men, the victory of a just cause, the triumph of right. Peace is all these and more…”

BEGIN PRAISES CARTER AND SADAT

The Israeli Premier referred to Carter as “an intransigent fighter for peace and of Sadat he said, “In the face of hostility and adversity you have demonstrated the human quality that can change history: civil courage…Now it is the time for all of us to proclaim to our peoples: no more war, no more bloodshed, peace unto you, shalom, salaam forever.” Begin donned a skullcap for his peroration, a reading in Hebrew, of Psalm 126.

Sadat said of Carter, “To me, he has been the best companion and partner along the road to peace with his deep sense of justice and genuine commitment to human rights, we were able to surmount the most difficult obstacles.”

The Egyptian leader, in his speech, omitted a passage addressed to Carter that appeared in his prepared text: “No one is more entitled to your support and backing than the Palestinian people. A grave injustice was inflicted upon them in the past. They need a reassurance that they will be able to take the first step on the road to self-determination and statehood. A dialogue between the United States and the representatives of the Palestinian people will be a very helpful development….”

One impression was that Sadat deliberately avoided that passage while another version had it that he inadvertently passed over it. From the context of his address, however, it appeared that Sadat sought to avoid controversy on this occasion.

Begin introduced the only moment of levity when he said he agreed with Sadat that Carter was an “unknown soldier” in the cause of peace, adding, to laughter and applause, “as usual, with an amendment.” Begin was applauded II times in the course of his address and Carter and Begin were each applauded five times.

While Sadat did not mention Begin by name, there were warm references in his remarks to the” hundreds of thousands of Israelis who remained unwavering in their commitment to peace” and to “hundreds of dedicated individuals on both sides (who) have given generously of their thought and effort to translate the cherished dream into a living reality.” (See separate stories for excerpts from the speeches of Carter, Sadat and Begin.)

As the treaty signing ceremonies were getting underway here, an explosion racked a section of the Old City of Jerusalem injuring 13 persons, most of them tourists. It occurred in a narrow alley near the Lion’s Gate through which Israel forces stormed the Old City during the Six-Day War in 1967.

Meanwhile, Syria and the Soviet Union released a joint communique in Damascus and Moscow today warning that the Israeli-Egyptian treaty would increase tensions in the Middle East. The communique followed three days of talks in Damascus between Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and President Hafez Assad of Syria. It said that both Syria and the USSR “firmly reject separate deals and the attempts of imperialism to expand its military presence in the Middle East region under the guise of the Israeli-Egyptian treaty” which was “directed against Arab interests.” The two countries called for united efforts by all Arab states against the treaty and for implementation of last November’s Baghdad summit decisions which include political and economic sanctions against Egypt if it signed a treaty with Israel.

ANTI-PEACE TREATY RALLY

The ceremonies on the White House lawn were held under sunny skies but a chilly wind snapped the American, Egyptian and Israeli flags. Throughout the ceremony, some 2000 demonstrators, many wearing’ Arab head-dress, shouted anti-treaty slogans from Lafayette Park across Pennsylvania Ave. The demonstrators, organized by an Arab student group, yelled such things as “Shah is gone — Sadat is next” and “Self-determination for the Palestinians.” The demonstrators were surrounded by battalions of police who kept them within the confines of the park for which they had a permit.

Their imprecations could be heard on the White House lawn. Also heard were the bells of St. John’s Episcopal Church, near the park, which rang constantly in celebration of the peace treaty.

TRANSITION FROM WAR TO PEACE

The treaty marked a transition for Israel from a state of peace with its largest and most powerful Arab neighbor after four full-scale wars, and a war of attrition. Egypt is the only one of 22 Arab nations thus to make peace with the Jewish State. But its population of 40 million equals the combined populations of the other 21 countries.

Egyptians were saying in Cairo that not since Sherif Hussein of Mecca has any Arab taken a political action of such historic implications as has Sadat. Hussein’s act was to cast the lot of the Arabs with the Allies in World War I.

Although the road to peace between Israel and Egypt was a tortuous one, fraught with obstacles and crises, the process was not unduly long in the perspective of nearly 31 years of war and belligerency. Only 17 months ago, the Carter Administration was thinking in terms of a renewed Geneva conference and a Soviet-American solution to Middle East problems. But Sadat demolished that strategy with his Historic trip to Jerusalem in November, 1977.