Writing the Next Chapter of the Abraham Accords
As a part of a special Abraham Accords series in the Khaleej Times, I was honored to contribute this op-ed, written together with my colleagues and friends at the Gulf-Israel Policy Forum - Dr Majid Al Sarrah, Dr Nir Boms, and Dr Najat Al Saied.
We note that in an otherwise tough year, the Abraham Accords can be seen as a huge silver lining. We compare the current peace accords with those that Israel signed with Egypt and later Jordan in 1978 and later 1994. Those turned out to be cold, government-to-government peace deals while this, so far, seems to be warm and on a people-to-people level. It is our duty, we write, as intellectuals, scholars and policy makers, to bolster this agreement and grant it the legitimacy it needs to survive and thrive. "Through access to modern technology, average citizens and intellectuals from the UAE, Bahrain, Israel and other parts of the Arab world are already coming together, building relationships and exchanging ideas. While Jerusalem, Abu Dhabi, and Manama are sure to support such efforts, we, a group of Emiratis, Bahrainis, Arabs and Israeli intellectuals, are making sure to play our part from the beginning. We believe that such relations form the foundation for a "people's peace", granting it public and intellectual legitimacy and depth." "We sincerely hope that the Abraham Accords are writing a new chapter in the region's history. We are determined to do our own part by building deep people-to-people relations and creating a real civic, intellectual and cultural engagement between our peoples, between the children of Isaac and the children of Ishmael."
