In what is expected to be a moving ceremony, Bill Clinton on Thursday will speak out on behalf of slain journalist James Foley, nominated by the former president to receive a hero’s Oxi Day Award, created to honor pro-democracy advocates in memory of Greece’s refusal to cave in to Hitler’s Axis forces.
Foley was executed by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria forces in Syria on Aug. 19. His parents, Diane and John Foley, brothers Michael and John, and sister Kathryn are planning to accept the award during the Washington Oxi Day Foundation’s gala at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Clinton will introduce Foley via video at the black-tie gala.
“Foley, the first American citizen killed by ISIS in response to American airstrikes in Iraq, was selected for this award because he showed the same extraordinary David-vs-Goliath courage for freedom and democracy against ISIS that Greece showed against the Nazis in World War II,” said the group.
Also honored:
• Ruslana Lyzhychko, the “soul of Ukraine’s revolution,” and recipient of the 2014 Secretary of State’s Women of Courage Award. She will receive the group’s 2014 Battle of Crete Award.
• Former President of Israel Shimon Peres (via video) with the Chrysostomos Award.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
