The Washington Oxi Day Foundation today released the statement below made by the First Oxi Day Award winner, Jamel Bettaieb, the Tunisian activist who helped light the spark for the historic Arab Spring. Bettaieb will be honored before many of Washington’s top policy-makers and opinion leaders who were previously unaware of the story of Oxi Day. Bettaib’s statement reads as follows:
“I am honored to have been chosen to receive the Oxi Day Award on behalf of the people of Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia. We appreciate being described as having given birth to the recent demonstrations for freedom and democracy in the Middle East and North Africa, commonly known as the Arab Spring.
“It is also a great compliment to be characterized as carrying into today’s world the courageous spirit of the Greek people on Oxi Day in WWII. Likening the courage of our fight for freedom and democracy to the extraordinary degree of courage shown by the people of Greece – who gave one-in-ten of their lives fighting against Hitler’s Axis forces – is welcome.
“We are flattered as well by the comparison knowing that this Oxi Day courage enabled the small country of Greece in WWII to greatly impact the world’s freedom and democracy. We are aware of the statements of Winston Churchill and others crediting Greece as being crucial to Hitler’s defeat. It is our hope that the actions of the people of the small town of Sidi Bouzid will likewise have an enduring impact on freedom and democracy in our region.”
Bettaieb and the people of Sidi Bouzid will be honored for the great courage they showed — in the spirit of Oxi Day — to promote democracy and freedom. The courage of the young people in this small town lit the spark that ignited Tunisia’s revolution, which led to the overthrow of Tunisian dictator Zine Ben Ali, and began a wave of revolutions that swept through the Arab world.
The Oxi Day Award is inspired by the David vs. Goliath story of Greece’s actions during World War II and the incredible courage displayed by the Greek people. The Greeks inflicted a fatal wound on Hitler’s forces at a crucial moment in WWII and inspired the world with their bravery and courage.
This award will be presented at the Washington Oxi Day Celebration black tie dinner on Thursday, October 27 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, DC before hundreds of America’s top policy makers and opinion leaders. Participants will include policymakers from the White House, State Department, Defense Department, US Congress, top US think tanks and human rights groups, leaders and Ambassadors from numerous countries involved in WWII, as well as Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America Demetrios along with Greek-American leaders from across the country and WWII veterans. The Master of Ceremonies will be one of America’s most far-reaching television journalists and author Chris Matthews.
Also honored on this evening will be the recipient of the Oxi Day Battle of Crete Award, honoring a woman for courageous action for freedom and democracy, in memory of the role women played against the Axis Forces in the Battle of Crete in World War II. The recipient will be Burmese pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.