19/4/1990, Sabah El Kheir

Dr. Adel Amer, the illustrious Egyptian, disappeared amid general indifference and without any notice in the media. But if Dr. Adel Amer had been a barely known football player, or an obscure artist, the news of his death would have been widely publicized in all the newspapers.

Four medals awarded to Dr. Adel Amer

As soon as I was informed of the death in Paris of this international pioneer of information, I took the first plane to be at the side of a man I knew and I loved since we started a quarter century journey together. During this journey, we worked, struggled and dreamed to overcome the international media battles fought to defend the reputation of Egypt, “Dean of Nations”; the Arab cause, “the most just of causes in the hands of the worst lawyers”; and Islam to which we adhere, an Islam that is “a religion of mercy, tolerance and dialogue” but some of whose followers, wanted to turn it into a “fanatic religion, and intellectual and physical terrorism against their enemies.”

We do not know whether the State forgot to award to Dr. Adel Amer the medals he deserves, but Sabah El Kheir, in dedicating this page to him today, awards him for the following four:

1. For his acts as an unknown soldier in the media a battle of 1956. In fact, thanks to his honorable contribution and creative capacity, he managed to mobilize international public opinion against the aggressors. He discovered hundreds of international associations, corresponded with them all, and pushed them to take a stand alongside Egypt.

2. For managing to break the Israeli monopoly over the mass media during its war of harassment and during the war of October. A series of “Arab Folders” was widely distributed from Paris to other Arab capitals thanks to the French publishing house Cujas. Indeed, Dr. Amer won the friendship of this publishing house, and its backing to defend the Arab’s right to free its lands from occupation.

3. For his realization, deserving of a medal, allowing him to discover before all others, the rules concerning the interplay of politics and economics. Also, he was the brain and the motor for the establishment of Arab-European economic enterprises in Paris. In doing so he confronted Arab narrow-mindedness by defending the largest European-Arab bank – the UBAF.

4. For having succeeded with merit to create an Islamic-Christian dialogue organization, an initiative welcomed by twenty countries. He received a letter from the Catholic Pope stating: “Your initiative arrives at an opportune moment.” Indeed, this initiative was timely, that is to say, it came before blind fanaticism killed the mind, the heart and all intelligence.

With these four medals, we invite Dr. Adel Amer’s daughter Ikbal “Lola”, who is immersed in sorrow and pain, to dry her tears. We tell her that Egypt is with her, at her side, and that it is proud of his father.