Sadat (1983) TV
Director: Richard Michaels.
Cast: Louis Gossett Jr. (Anwar al-Sadat),
John Rhys-Davies (Gamal Abdel Nasser), Madolyn Smith Osborne (Jihan Sadat),
Jeremy Kemp (Thompson), Reuven Bar-Yotam (Sibai), Eric Berry (Rashad), Anne
Heywood (Mrs. Raouf), Ferdy Mayne (Mullah), Barry Morse (Menachem Begin), Thaao
Penghlis (Amer), Nehemiah Persoff (Leonid Brezhnev), Pepe Serna (Atif Sadat),
Paul L. Smith (King Farouk), Jeffrey Tambor (Sharaff), Aharon Ipalé
(Israeli Man).
Life of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat who went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize
after he negotiates peace with Israel.
Historical Background:
Egypt a virtual British colony at the time.
1918 -- born into a family of 13 children. His father was a local hospital clerk.
He grew up in Mit Abul Kom, 40 miles to the north of Cairo, Egypt.
In his youth, Sadat admired the courage at facing death of a man named Zahran hanged by the British for participating in a riot in which a British officer died.
He also admired Kemel Ataturk, winner of th battle against the British at Gallipoli and creator of the modern state of Turkey. Ataturk was a progressive who established several civil service reforms in his country.
1932 -- India's Mohandas Gandhi tours Egypt. He becomes an influence on Sadat.
1936 -- he is one of the first students at the newly created military school
in Egypt.
After graduation, he serves in a distant outpost, where he meets the future
president of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser. Sadat joins in with Nasser and other
young officers to form a group devoted to throwing the British out of Egypt. He
is thrown in jail twice for his efforts.
Out of prison, he returns to civilian life. During this time, he meets his
future wife Jihan.
1952 -- the Free Officers Organization overthrows the monarchy. As Nasser's trusted lieutenant, Sadat oversses the official abdication of King Farouk. He also is made Nasser's public relations minister.
1956 -- Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal. The British, French, and
Israelis attack Egypt. The U.S.A. pressures the allies to withdraw, thus
letting Egypt retain control over the canal.
debacle of the Six Day War, in which the Israelis completely destroyed the
Egyptian air force and swept through to the Suez Canal, killing at least 3,000
soldiers.
1969 -- when Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol dies, Meir (now 71 years old) becomes the prime minister.
1970 -- Nasser dies. Sadat succeeds him. Sadat offers a peace treaty with the Israelis in exchange for the return of the Siani, but at first they refuse the offer.
1972 -- Sadat expels 15,000 Soviet advisers and experts in Egypt.
1973 -- Yom Kippur War. Egypt attacks into the Sinai driving the Israeli army into the desert. Syria attacks in the Golan Heights. The Israelis pushed them back, but it change the Israelis mind about the peace offer.
1974 -- since Golda Meir could not get her cabinet to agree on policies, she resigns in favor of Yitzhak Rabin.
1977 -- Israel's Menachem Begin, head of the Likud party, wins the Knesset elections and becomes Prime Minister of Israel.
1977 -- he speaks o the Egyptian parliament about desiring peace with Israel, even to the point of personally going to Israel. Israel responded positively and Sadat makes a speech to the Israeli Knesset.
1978 -- American President Carter invites Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to meet with him at the presidential retreat, Camp David, Maryland. The Camp David Accords hammers out an approach to peace between Israel and Egypt.
1979 -- final peace treaty with Israel. Sadat wins the Nobel Prize for Peace.
1980 - 1981 -- makes several reforms and outlaws protest. He also declares that the Shari'a as the basis of all new Egyptian law.
1981 -- Sadat is assassinated by religious fundamentalists, the extremist Muslim Brotherhood, during a military review celebrating the 1973 Suez crossing.
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