International Activist for Peace to Speak at Phi Theta Kappa International Convention
"Peace. Who can see the things I have seen and not believe in peace?"
Jehan
Sadat, A Woman of Egypt
Jehan
Sadat, former First Lady of Egypt, and activist for women, children,
and world peace, will provide a Middle Eastern perspective on global affairs
in her address to Phi Theta Kappa's International
Convention. She will particularly focus on present conflicts
in the Middle East and approaches to an equitable resolution.
An
internationally known lecturer, educator and social activist, Mrs. Sadat
has become a role model for women everywhere, and has helped change the world's
image of Arab women. She works to teach both the Arab and non-Arab worlds
that discrimination against women is prohibited by the Islamic faith.
"As
Phi Theta Kappa establishes a presence in colleges located around the world,
including the Middle East, we must ensure that our programs are global in
scope" said Rod Risley, Phi Theta Kappa Executive Director. "It is so very
important to give Phi Theta Kappa members access to leaders like Jehan Sadat,
who can provide from personal experience invaluable insight and understanding
about a culture and faith that today is so widely misunderstood in many parts
of the world."
"It is appropriate that her presentation at the
Phi Theta Kappa Convention will be the first made by a former First Lady of
any country," Risley said.
Mrs. Sadat promotes education in
all aspects and stages of life, particularly for women, as the major way
for any nation to achieve lasting economic, social, and political equality.
She is the widow of Anwar Sadat, known as one of most important
and influential Egyptian and Middle Eastern figures in modern history.
As president of Egypt from 1970-81, Anwar Sadat sought to end the constant
armed conflicts between his country and Israel.
In 1977 Sadat
demonstrated his commitment to peace by making a historic visit to Israel,
a move applauded by the West but condemned as traitorous by most other Arab
leaders. Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin shared the 1978
Nobel Peace Prize for their Camp David Accords, negotiated with the assistance
of U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
Three years later Anwar Sadat
was assassinated by religious extremists who opposed peace with Israel.
Mrs.
Sadat was only 19 years old in 1952 when her husband and others staged a military
coup to oust Egypt's King Farouk, a ruler of Albanian origin and an ally of
the British, who had effectively controlled Egypt's government since
the 1800s.
Anwar Sadat quickly rose in the ranks of the new government,
while his wife launched efforts to improve the lives of women and the fellaheen,
the Egyptian agricultural workers. She later established centers to care
for and retrain war veterans and the disabled, and established group homes
for orphans. But women's rights became her primary cause.
"Women.
All my energies and projects kept coming back to advancing women," Mrs.
Sadat wrote in her autobiography, A Woman of Egypt. Improving the
lot of women would improve the lot of Egyptians overall, she believed. One
of her earliest actions was a rural cooperative, organized to help the women
in her husband's native village. She later caused even more controversy,
becoming the first Muslim leader's wife to make a state visit alone, and
allowing her photograph to be used in newspapers as a means of endorsing
women's equality.
Her efforts were rewarded in 1979, when civil
rights legislation known as "Jehan's Laws" secured political and personal
liberties for the women of Egypt.
Her work as a social activist
was unique and harshly criticized in the male-dominated Arab world, but
Mrs. Sadat courageously defended her ideas. A devout Muslim, she turned
to the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, to refute the claim that subservience
of women is decreed by the faith. Years later, after September 11, she would
also emphasize that Islam is a religion of peace.
She became
a proponent of peace, with her husband, after seeing firsthand the devastating
effect of war. Egypt and other Arab nations have been in conflict with Israel
since the Jewish state was established in 1948.
Since her husband's
death Mrs. Sadat has honored his legacy by continuing to work for peace and
other social causes, and to promote global understanding. She has received
numerous humanitarian awards for her work for peace and for women and children.
Mrs.
Sadat received master's and Ph.D. degrees, with honors, from Cairo University.
To encourage other women to educate themselves, and to prove that she deserved
her degree, Mrs. Sadat consented to have her oral exams for her master's
degree carried live on Egyptian television.
Currently Mrs.
Sadat is Associate Resident Scholar at the University of Maryland where
The Anwar Sadat Chair for Development and Peace was established and fully
endowed in 1997.
