American Red Magen David for Israel (ARMDI), the U.S. support arm of Israel’s Red Cross (MDA), honored President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, Premier Menachem Begin of Israel and President Carter with the 1979 ARMDI Humanitarian Award at the ARMDI annual luncheon attended by 800 guests at the Sheraton Centre here last Thursday.
Accepting the awards were Deputy Consul Abdul Hamid Tabak of Egypt, on behalf of Sadat Consul Paul Kedar of Israel on behalf of Begin and Ambassador Richard Wilson Petree, U.S. Alternate Representative to the UN for Carter.
In making the presentation on behalf of the 100.000 members of ARMDI, Joseph Handelman, national president, paid homage to the three award recipients as “great and good men who have learned the severe lesson of history. They have set the precedent that leaders of nations can travel the road to glory by words instead of guns, by friend-ship instead of bombs, by living instead of dying.”
In accepting the awards, each of the diplomats recognized the historic nature of the treaty between Israel and Egypt. Kedar expressed his joy at facing Tabak in peace instead of in battle. Tabak echoed this sentiment and offered his prayer that it would be a “comprehensive peace for all human beings.” Petree stressed pride in this great achievement as well as the need for the peoples of all three countries to demonstrate their support of these leaders of vision.
In a related action, Carter was awarded, and accepted, the American Mizrachi Women’s “America-Israel Friendship” Award, it was announced by Sarah Shane, the national president of AMW, following her return from the signing ceremony in Washington of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. The Award cites Carter’s “courage, humanity and vision in bringing together the two neighbor nations, so long at war.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
