Today in History：March 26
March 261979: Israel and Egypt shake hands on peace deal
The peace treaty was sealed with a handshake on the White House lawn
1979: Israel and Egypt shake hands on peace deal
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Israel and Egypt have ended 30 years of war with an historic peace treaty
brokered by the United States.
The ceremony on the White House lawn in Washington was broadcast live on
television. The two leaders sealed the deal with a firm handshake, watched by a
smiling President Jimmy Carter.
Both President Anwar al-Sadat of Egypt, and the Israeli Prime Minister,
Menachem Begin, described the ceremony as an "historic turning point".
Mr Sadat praised President Carter as "the man who performed the
miracle".
"Without exaggeration," he said, "what he did constitutes one of the
greatest achievements of our time".
Mr Carter, however, was more cautious, saying the treaty was "a first step
on a long and difficult road."
"We must not minimalise the obstacles that lie ahead," he said.
Deep divisions between the two sides remain, and even in their speeches
following the ceremony the two presidents revealed how far there is still to
go.
Mr Begin spoke emotionally of how the city of Jerusalem could never be
divided; while Mr Sadat wasunreservedlyfrank about the question of Palestinian
autonomy.
News of the signing ceremony was greeted with angry demonstrations
throughout the Arab world. Crowds stormed the Egyptian Embassy in Kuwait, and
there was a strike in the West Bank.
The PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, told a rally in West Beirut: "Let them sign
what they like. False peace will not last."
He accused President Sadat of betraying the Egyptian people, and said they
would eventually eliminate him.
The normally moderate King Hussein of Jordan has now joined President Assad
of Syria and President Hassen al Bakr of Iraq in calling a summit conference of
opponents of the treaty.
Egypt is thought likely to be expelled from the Arab League as a symbolic
gesture of anger at the decision to go it alone in negotiating peace with
Israel.
Even in the West, the response to the treaty has been lukewarm. A statement
from the nine European Community nations praised the efforts of President Sadat
and President Begin to make peace.
But, in a comment bound to anger the Israelis, it added that a settlement
could only happen if the Palestinian people were given a homeland.
Pope John Paul II meeting religious leaders in Jerusalem
2000: Pope prays for Holocaust forgiveness
Artificially 1969:
The Pope John Paul II has prayed for forgiveness of the sins of those
involved in the Holocaust.
However, he avoided any admission of Church "guilt" over alleged
complicity.
Since arriving in Israel as part of his Millennium Pilgrimage, the Pope has
been under growing pressure to apologise for the Vatican's failure to speak out
during the Holocaust.
The 79-year-old placed a prayer into the crevices of the Western (or
Wailing) Wall, asking for God's forgiveness for "the behaviour of those who in
the course of history have caused these children of yours to suffer".
"I assure the Jewish people the Catholic Church ... is deeply saddened by
the hatred, acts of persecution and displays of anti-Semitism directed against
the Jews by Christians at any time and in any place," the Pope said.
Thepontiffadded that there were "no words strong enough to deplore the
terrible tragedy" of the Holocaust.
A spokesman for the pontiff said he had paused for a moment of private
prayer - "something personal" - and laid a hand on the wall.
By placing his prayer, which was typewritten and signed by the Pope, in the
wall he echoed the custom of Jewish worshippers over generations.
The prayer was taken from the wall by a government spokesman and placed in
the archives of Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial for the six million Jews
killed by the Nazis.
Israeli cabinet minister Rabbi Michael Melchior, who hosted the Pope's
visit, said he was "very moved" by the Pope's gesture.
The Pope is visiting the most sacred sites in Jerusalem at the climax of
his week-long Millennium Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He is the first pontiff to
go there in 36 years.
John Paul II had repeatedly said he had dreamt of visiting the region since
he was elected pontiff in 1978.
The visit to the holiest site of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, saw
around 7,000 Israeli security forces deployed in the ancient city.
City police arrested several extreme right-wing Jewish residents amid fears
of disturbances.
Earlier, the pontiff visited the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest Islamic
shrine. He was greeted by the top Islamic cleric in Jerusalem and other
Palestinian clerics and dignitaries.
Outside the mosque, more than a dozen Muslim protesters screamed at PLO
officials after they met the pontiff.
Vocabulary:
unreservedly: Given without reservation; unqualifiedly(率直地)
pontiff: The pope.(罗马教皇)
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