On March 26, 1979, the Egypt-Israel peace treaty was signed by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin. The signing took place in Washington, D.C., and was witnessed by U.S. president Jimmy Carter.
About a week later, on April 3, triplets were born to Israeli-Arab parents Ibrahim and Hitam Kidasa at a hospital near Tel Aviv.
In honor of the treaty, they named their three newborn boys Sadat, Begin, and Carter.
“When the boys were born I truly believed in coexistence,” Ibrahim said in 2010.
(Unfortunately, 2010 was also the year Ibrahim’s son Begin was shot and killed. By that time, “Ibrahim [had] lost the hope that drove him to name his three sons after a historic peace.”)
Sources:
- “Babies Named for Peacemakers.” Gazette [Montreal] 5 Apr. 1979: 2.
- “Three for peace.” Daily Colonist [Victoria, BC] 6 Apr. 1979: 1.
- Egypt–Israel peace treaty – Wikipedia
- Azoulay, Yuval. “Menachem Begin Shot Dead, Sadat in Jail, Carter Walks Free.” Haaretz 18 Mar. 2010.