On March 3rd, I went to a gala event organized by the American University in Cairo Press at the historic Manasterly Palace, located in Cairo on the bank of the Nile. The event was held to celebrate the upcoming international release of Mrs. Jehan Sadat’s new book, My Hope for Peace.

It was remarkable to see hundreds of Cairo’s most prominent citizens gathered together to have their advance copies signed.

Mrs. Sadat, the widow of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, wrote this eloquent book to commemorate the signing of the Camp David Accords 30 years ago, and to shed light on the historical and religious background of the peace process. I was so happy to see so many people there to support her in her quest to encourage peace and understanding in this region. I hope that everyone will read this book, and enjoy learning from Mrs. Sadat’s unique experience and remarkable voice. I was very happy to receive a signed copy of my own from her, in which she wrote that she was very proud of my good work all over the world.

After the event, I went to Mrs. Sadat’s beautiful home by the Nile with Ahmed Rageb, a famous Egyptian writer who is also a good friend of mine. Ahmed writes an excellent short column in the El-Akhbar newspaper called “Nus Kelma,” which means “half a word.” In it, he makes fun of current events of Egypt, and sometimes he even writes funny things about me! Ibrahim El Muallim also went with us. He is the owner of the El-Shurouq publishing house, which has published many of my Arabic-language books. We had a delicious lunch by the Nile, and met all of Mrs. Sadat’s daughters. Mrs. Sadat was a most gracious hostess, and we had a wonderful time.