The Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2015 Thursday for peacefully establishing an alternative political process that saved the country from civil war and enabled it to form a constitutional government.
However, it was not the first time the best-known of the Nobel prizes was awarded to a Middle Eastern cause or a Middle Eastern figure. To reflect on this joyous honor, we take a look at six other times the Nobel Prize committee highlighted an achievement of peace in the Middle East.
1. The 1978 Peace Prize to Anwar El-Sadat and Menachem Begin
The Egyptian president shared the prize with the Israeli prime minister for their work on one of the most pivotal events in the Middle East's modern history, signing the Camp David Accords which directly led to Egypt and Israel signing the 1979 peace treaty that ended the state of war between the two countries.
2. The 1994 Peace Prize to Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres
The Palestinian leader shared the prize with the two Israeli leaders for their work on the Oslo Accords that started the Oslo peace process that led to the recognition of the State of Israel by the Palestine Liberation Organization and the recognition of the PLO by Israel as the official representative of the Palestinian people and as a negotiation partner.
3. The 2003 Peace Prize to Shirin Ebadi
Ebadi, the lawyer who founded Iran's Defenders of Human Rights Center and was the first ever Iranian to win the prize, received it for her peaceful and pioneering contribution to promoting democracy in Iran, as well as her significant efforts for women's, children's and refugees' rights in Iran.
4. The 2005 Peace Prize to Mohamed El-Baradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency
El Baradei, who served as the Director General of the agency from 1997 till 2009, shared the prize with the U.N.-backed organization for their joint efforts in promoting the peaceful and safe use of nuclear technology and their efforts for preventing nuclear energy from being used for destructive purposes.
5. The 2013 Peace Prize to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
The international organization was awarded the prize for their increased efforts to eliminate chemical weapons following the the use of chemical weapons in Syria and their contribution to the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons through a number of international agreements.
6. The 2011 Peace Prize to Tawwakkol Karman
A Yemeni journalist, politician, and human rights activist, Karman was the first Arab woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize. She works to achieve freedom of speech in Yemen, and founded the campaign group Women Journalists Without Chains in 2005. She led a series of protests calling for the overturn of corrupt governments, from Yemen to Egypt. Karman has also donated the $500,000 she received from the Nobel Prize for those wounded and the families of people killed during Yemen's uprising.