The Assassinations of John Lennon and Anwar Sadat

STORY BY: Antoinette S.
YEAR: 1981
LOCATION: Cairo, Egypt

Antoinette, born in BC, tells a story that occurred not long after John Lennon was assassinated in December 1980. In October 1981, she remembers very clearly when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated in Cairo. Sadat was promoting peace with Israel, and was instrumental in the peace process in the Middle East. At the time, Antoinette was living in Edmonton, and her son was born the following year. She remembers how unfortunate Sadat's death was, as it delayed the possibility of peace for many years to come. Thanks for sharing, Antoinette.

Further info online: "After the Yom Kippur war of 1973, Sadat began to work toward peace in the Middle East. He made a historic visit to Israel (November 19–20, 1977), during which he traveled to Jerusalem to place his plan for a peace settlement before the Israeli Knesset (parliament). This initiated a series of diplomatic efforts that Sadat continued despite strong opposition from most of the Arab world and the Soviet Union. U.S. Pres. Jimmy Carter mediated the negotiations between Sadat and [Israeli Prime Minister Menachem] Begin that resulted in the Camp David Accords (September 17, 1978), a preliminary peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. Sadat and Begin were awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1978, and their continued political negotiations resulted in the signing on March 26, 1979, of a treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel—the first between the latter and any Arab country." https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anwar-Sadat