On this Thursday, September 21st, the International Day of Peace was celebrated in Nice. In the grand salon of Villa Masséna, three individuals were recognized for their peaceful acts. Catherine Camus, Mustapha Chérif, and Jean-Pierre Raffarin are the three laureates.
The Emir Abd-El Kader award for “the promotion of coexistence and peaceful coexistence in the Mediterranean and the world” was presented to three laureates.
To start the ceremony, Catherine Camus was awarded the distinction of the host city of the Emir Abdelkader prize. The daughter of Albert Camus has dedicated her life to managing her father’s work. She was chosen for her embodiment of “an ideal that was Abdelkader’s and that your father Albert Camus also defended. That of dialogue, exchange, and mutual understanding,” said Christian Estrosi mayor of Nice.
“No, peace does not fall from the sky“
The second laureate for the southern shore of the Mediterranean is Professor Mustapha Chérif. The 73-year-old Algerian intellectual dedicates his life to interreligious dialogue, as a writer, philosopher, and researcher in human sciences. He is described by the president of the Nice Côte d’Azur metropolis as “a great craftsman of peace.” In his speech, the professor chose to quote Emir Abdel Kader who was celebrated that day. “The best or the most useful in a human being is the one who is the most useful to humanity,” he stated.
To close the ceremony, a former Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic was chosen to represent the northern shore. Jean-Pierre Raffarin was first a European deputy and then a senator. In 2002, he was appointed Prime Minister by President Jacques Chirac. The former president of Leaders for Peace proclaimed that “No, peace does not fall from the sky. Peace is work, it is effort, it is will. Peace deserves that we make efforts.”
