Parties Convene to Recognize 25th Anniversary of Camp David Accords

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Deanna Congileo 404-420-5108
                  Kay Torrance 404-420-5129

ATLANTA…..Members of the Egyptian, Israeli, and U.S. delegations to the 1978 Camp David negotiation will gather in Washington, D.C., Sept. 17 on the 25th anniversary of the accords to discuss lessons learned for Middle East peacemaking.

"Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egypt President Anwar Sadat were heroes who showed that, when leaders are willing to take enormous risks, peace is possible," said former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 in part for his work brokering the 1978 agreement.

The all-day symposium, open to the media, is sponsored by the Atlanta-based Carter Center and will be held at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Participants will discuss their respective strategies and negotiating styles during the 13-day negotiations, and reconsider achievements and missed opportunities. The event is by invitation.

Panelists will include: President Carter, former U.N. Secretary -General Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt, Egyptian Presidential Foreign Policy Advisor Osama el-Baz, Israel Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein, and Israeli Supreme Court President Aharon Barak. Participants from the U.S. delegation include former Vice President Walter Mondale, former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Council Staff for Mideast Affairs William Quandt, former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs Harold Saunders, former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Hermann Eilts, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Samuel Lewis, former White House Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan, and former White House Press Secretary Jody Powell.

"Comparing the negotiation at Camp David to processes in place for resolving conflicts in the Middle East today might help us find some approaches that work. History may provide us with some lessons learned that are useful today," Matthew Hodes, Carter Center Conflict Resolution Program Director.

Media intending to cover the symposium should contact Deanna Congileo or Kay Torrance at The Carter Center by Friday, Sept. 12. A schedule of the day's events is attached for media planning purposes.

Camp David Materials Declassified

In conjunction with the Sept. 17 symposium, the Carter Presidential Library and Museum will release Wednesday, Aug. 27, the previously classified briefing books used by U.S. participants during the negotiations. To obtain these materials, please contact the library at 404-331-3942.

In addition, the Library and Museum has created a collection of historical materials on the Web to assist researchers and journalists covering this milestone event. The service features 25 of the most important documents on the Mideast peace process from 1977-81 and 25 photographs related to the negotiations from Sept. 5-17, 1978. View the special Camp David Web collection.

Symposium Schedule
Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2003

9 a.m. - noon Panelists review the Camp David negotiation, assessing both its challenges and achievements

1:15 p.m. Luncheon remarks by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter

2-3:15 p.m. Members of the 1978 U.S. delegation discuss how lessons from the Camp David process might be applied to the current Road Map for Peace

3:30-4:30 p.m. Open forum with invited guests and panelists

4:30-5:15 p.m. Press conference

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The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, the Center has helped to improve life for people in more than 65 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; improving mental health care; and teaching farmers to increase crop production.