A real game changer
The signing of the Abraham Accords at the White House on September 15 between the United Arab Emirates and Israel is a real game changer for peace in the Middle East. It signals a strategic shift in Mideast politics.
It also sends a strong signal to Arab nations that the status quo is no longer an option and that they must find the courage and wisdom to pursue bolder initiatives in restoring peace and security to the region.
Instead of being a shining light that emits hope, the center of the Abrahamic religions has ruptured from within and is bleeding like a wounded heart. Until it is healed, it can never save the world or be a light to them. The Abraham Accords are named after Abraham, the father of the Abrahamic religions, for a special reason.
Jews, Muslims and Christians across the world are now being challenged by this accord to be agents for peace. As new wine needs new wineskins, the old misgivings and mistrusts between the Abrahamic religions must become things of the past.
Change: inevitable yet dangerous. The good years of petroleumbased wealth are definitely over. With the dramatic fall in the oil price and the ravaging effect that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on Middle Eastern economies, change was inevitable.
But initiating change in the Middle East is not for the fainthearted, as history has shown. It takes lot of courage, faith and wisdom to overcome the endless deceits of the Machiavellians at play, and their deadly advocacy that the end justifies the means.
From the failed Camp David Accords initiated by Egypt in 1978 to the Oslo Accords initiated by Norway that were signed in 1993, the global effort to help achieve a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has only managed to legitimize the Palestinian Authority as the government for the Palestinians.
The Palestinians' struggle has largely been undermined by the infighting and corruption within the Palestinian Authority, and the political divide between Fatah and Hamas. With each promising more than they could deliver, the talk of