"We Have No Illusions"

At the ceremonies, the three peacemakers spoke in the same deeply religious spirit about what they had achieved, and each in his own way acknowledged the problems that lie ahead. Excerpts:

PRESIDENT CARTER:

During the past 30 years, Israel and Egypt have waged war. For the past 16 months, these two great nations have waged peace. Today we celebrate a victory--not of a bloody military campaign, but of an inspiring peace campaign. Two leaders who will loom large in the history of nations, President Anwar Sadat and Prime Minister Menachem Begin, have conducted this campaign with all the courage, tenacity, brilliance and inspiration of any generals who ever led men and machines onto the field of battle.

We have won, at last, the first step of peace--a first step on a long and difficult road. We must not minimize the obstacles that lie ahead ... We have no illusions--we have hopes, dreams, prayers, yes--but no illusions.

Let those who would shatter peace --who would callously spill blood--be aware that we three and all others who may join us will vigorously wage peace. It has been said:

Peace has one thing in common

with its enemy, with the fiend

it battles, with war--

Peace is active, not passive;

Peace is doing, not waiting;

Peace is aggressive--attacking;

Peace plans its strategy and encircles the enemy;

Peace marshals its forces and storms the gates;

Peace gathers its weapons and pierces the defense.

Peace, like war, is waged.

It is true that we cannot enforce trust and cooperation between nations, but we can use all our strength to see that nations do not again go to war. Our religious doctrines all give us hope. So let us now lay aside war. Let us now reward all the children of Abraham who hunger for a comprehensive peace in the Middle East. Let us now enjoy the adventure of becoming fully human, neighbors, even brothers and sisters. We pray God ... that these dreams will come true. I believe they will.

PRESIDENT SADAT:

This is certainly one of the happiest moments in 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.

Men and women of good will have labored day and night to bring about this happy moment. Egyptians and Israelis alike pursued their sacred goal... But the man who performed the miracle was President Carter. Without any exaggeration, what he did constitutes one of the greatest achievements of our time ... 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 ... Before anything else, the signing of the peace treaty ... is a tribute to the spirit and ability of Jimmy Carter.

The signing of these documents marks only the beginning of peace. But it is an indispensable start. Other steps remain to be taken without delay ... President Carter once said that the U.S. is committed without reservation to seeing the peace process through... We value such a pledge from a leader who raised the banner of morality and ethics as a substitute for power politics and opportunism.

In his prepared text, Sadat had pointedly asked the U.S. to back the Palestinians' desire for "self-determination and statehood." While he was speaking, however, Sadat accidentally turned past that page. When he realized his omission, he worked the same thought into his toast for the state dinner.

PREMIER BEGIN:

I come from the land of Israel, the land of Zion and Jerusalem. And here I am in humility and with pride, as a son of the Jewish people, one of the generation of the Holocaust and the redemption.

Two prophets, Yeshayahu Ben Amaotz and Micah Hamorashti, having foreseen the spiritual unity of man under God, with his word coming forth from Jerusalem, gave the nations of the world the following vision, expressed in identical terms: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruninghooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war any more."* Despite the tragedies and the disappointments of the past, we must never forsake that vision, that human dream, that unshakable faith.

Peace is the beauty of life. It is sunshine. It is the smile of a child, the love of a mother, the joy of a father, the togetherness of a family. It is the advancement of man, the victory of a just cause, the triumph of truth. Peace is all of these, and more. And more.

It is a great day in the annals of two ancient nations, Egypt and Israel, whose sons met in battle five times in one generation...

It is a great day in your life, Mr. President of the U.S. You have worked so hard, so insistently, so consistently to achieve this goal. And your labors and your devotion bore God's blessed fruit. Our Mend President Sadat said that you are the unknown soldier of the peacekeeping movement. I agree, but as usual, with an amendment. A soldier in the service of peace you are ... But Jimmy Carter, the President of the U.S., is not completely unknown. And so is his effort, which will be remembered and recorded by generations to come.

It is, of course, a great day in your life, Mr. President of the Arab Republic of Egypt. In the face of adversity and hostility, you have demonstrated that human value can change history--civil courage. A great field commander once said, "Civil courage is sometimes more difficult to show than military courage."

You showed both, Mr. President.

But now it is time for all of us to show civil courage, in order to proclaim to our peoples and to others: "No more war. No more bloodshed. No more bereavement. Peace unto you. Shalom. Salaam. Forever.

* Yeshayahu Ben Amaotz is the Hebrew name for the Prophet Isaiah; Micah Hamorashti is the Hebrew name for Micah of the Old Testament. The quotation about beating swords into plowshares appears in both the Book of Isaiah and the Book of Micah.

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