Abraham Accords vs. Iranian manipulation

Before the Hamas envoys of death struck Israel on October 7th, Israel and Saudi Arabia were, for all intents and purposes, on the cusp of signing a historic peace agreement christened the Abraham Accords.

Abraham Accords constitute a series of peace agreements between Israel and a number of Arab countries with United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan already being signatories.

The accords aptly draw their name from Abraham, the revered patriarch of the Middle East from whom both Jews and Arabs trace their ancestry. Through the Accords, Abraham is conceptually telling his children that too much sibling blood has been unnecessarily spilt in this fight over inheritance. That the rivalry, pain and strife must end in order for Jews and Arabs to enjoy their bequest piece of real estate in peace and fraternity.

The accords’ textual content is probably the most inspiring anthem of peace in the Middle East in a long time.

One of the key features of the accords is recognition of Israel and normalization of diplomatic relations. It calls for maintaining and strengthening peace in the Middle East based on mutual understanding and coexistence, respect for human dignity and freedom, including religious freedom. A resolve to end radicalization is a clear demonstration of commitment to confront the twisted ideology of terror and violence in the region.

Promotion of interfaith and intercultural dialogue in order to create a culture of peace and tolerance among all Abrahamic religions. Cooperation and dialogue as means of resolving issues would yield a paradigm of tolerance, respect, dignity and hope in the region. Science, art, medicine, and commerce are exulted as means to maximize human potential and bring nations closer.

Now Saudi, a regional powerhouse was about to append its signature on the agreement. On the other hand, Iran treats Saudi Arabia as a regional rival. In its burning ambition to extend hegemonic theocracy, Iran uses terror and mayhem as primary tools of engagement. Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and Houthis are some of Tehran’s tentacles of violence and destabilization. In that regard therefore, Iran knows that Saudi signature would be a significant boost to the accords. A communion of Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain, Sudan and Saudi on top…working in cooperation and peace with Israel presents a painful political and egoistic downgrade of Iran.

In that case, Iran had every reason to activate Hamas as a matter of urgency. The caliphate was aware that reaction of Israel after the October 7th massacre would raise massive anger and emotions across the Muslim umma and galvanize Arab nations in isolation of Israel. They knew no Arab leader would go against the grain of popular Islamic rhetoric and survive in power. That way, the progress of the peace accords would be delayed or completely destroyed. Hamas leadership also fear that the prospect of peace between Israel and Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia would remove their grievances against Israel from the top of the priorities list. So, according to myopic thinking by both Iran and Hamas, genocide in Israel would serve their interests.

On the side of Iran is Turkey and Qatar, not forgetting Russia and China as they cynically take lead in calling for ceasefire at the UN general assembly and security council. This is despite the fact that Putin, a fugitive indicted by the ICC is still committing war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. Also, the blood of Uighur Muslims of China is yet to dry from Xi’s hands. The two guys are calling shots at the UN as leading Palestinian rights activists. We are living in a world where evil is taken as good and vice versa.

Going forward, Israel must win the war against Hamas terrorists. A victory for Israel is a strong repudiation of tyranny, crime, bigotry and savagery.

America, having been at the forefront in facilitating Abraham Accords should give Israel all the support she requires till successful execution of the stated goals. A win against terrorism is the only way to achieve the epiphany envisioned in the accords.