Protect the peacemakers? Supporting the Abraham Accords is a risky business

With a rising number of Arab countries either having normalised relations with Israel or looking to do so, advocates for Arab-Israeli peace in the region and beyond are increasingly able to celebrate success. Unfortunately, they have to do so quietly.

The reason for this is the growing number of examples whereby professionals and advocates suffer detriment either at home or abroad as a result of their support for Arab-Israeli peace initiatives, which can affect their jobs and livelihoods. I speak from experience—and I am not alone.

In the UK, which actively supports peace in the Middle East, politicians have considered the merits of a Bill to protect peacemakers from discrimination. Such peacemakers are typically proponents of agreements like the Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between the State of Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain, in August 2020 (Morocco followed a few months later).

The Accords allow for full diplomatic relations between the states via a series of joint
normalisation statements including reciprocal sovereignty recognition, and act as a template for further normalisations between Israel and Arab countries.

Benefits of normalisation

Prior to the events of October 2023 and the ensuing war, several states were reported to be preparing to sign up. With Donald Trump back in the White House ready to offer inducements, analysts expect that these plans have simply been put on hold, not thrown in the bin.

In the West, Arab-Israeli normalisation is seen as a good thing. In August 2022, the UK’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations called the Accords “an historic milestone that bring us closer to the goal of shared prosperity and peace throughout the region”.

Through events such as panel discussions, exhibitions, and speeches, they explore new pathways for cooperation, cultural exchange, and trade, while bringing together young Emiratis, Bahrainis, and Israelis to learn more from one another. But proponents of normalisation are a minority in many Arab states.

The risk of support

Owing to anti-Israel sentiment, which has increased since October 2023, proponents of peace can be sidelined, marginalised, persecuted, or worse. In some Arab countries, such punitive action is enshrined in law, meaning that it is the mechanisms of the state—not individuals or companies—that persecute those who support a normalisation of relations with Israel.

Politicians in countries like the UK are therefore being asked whether it is enough simply to support the Accords, or whether it is necessary to also support those arguing for them, especially if they risk being attacked for their stance. It stands to reason that peacemakers should not be punished, nor risk hurt or harm.

Pull Quote: Owing to anti-Israel sentiment, which has increased since October 2023, proponents of peace can be sidelined, marginalised, persecuted, or worse

In Westminster, it is far from controversial to support peace between Israel and Arab states, promote Israel’s sovereignty and acceptance in the region, or to see the normalisation of relations between Israel and Arab states as having a positive impact diplomatically, economically, culturally, politically, and scientifically.

Yet overt support for this elsewhere is enough for someone to lose their job—or worse. Most would rather remain anonymous, for the aforementioned reasons, but some cases are well-known. For instance, the Egyptian journalist Khaled Zaghloul was the Paris bureau chief of Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram until he was dismissed after visiting the Knesset (Parliament) in Jerusalem.

Fearing consequences

It is not just journalists, artists, and intellectuals who want to raise their voices in support of the Abraham Accords and a broader peace between peoples, but fear of devastating consequences for doing so prohibits their advocacy.

Several Arab countries, they would face prison or even death at the hands of state or non-state actors, while voices in the media essentially incite violence. Some international organisations nominally committed to free speech and human rights often lose their mojo when it comes to those seen as supportive of Israel.

If the civil peacemakers of the Middle East and North Africa felt more protected, advocacy for peace would gain in volume and depth, and professionals who see the positives in people-to-people relations across the region would grow more confident in saying so. The ideal scenario would be a transnational system of legal, professional, and physical protection.

**Practical protection

In its most practical form, this would require the establishment of a union to protect and fight for peace advocates, including Arab journalists. Representatives would then lobby Arab governments to follow the example of the United Arab Emirates and repeal their own anti-normalisation laws.**

Such a union would provide for members’ legal defence, if required, and to provide for physical security where needed, including temporary accommodation for endangered voices and financial relief if livelihoods are lost as a result of members advocating for peace.

The idea of legal protections for advocates of peace is not new. US Senators Cory Booker and Rob Portman introduced the Strengthening Reporting of Actions Taken Against the Normalisation of Relations with Israel Act, while 85 French lawmakers and officials published a landmark statement endorsing the legislative proposal. Lawmakers in Brussels, Amsterdam, and Berlin are also considering it.

The war in Gaza has caused ill will on all sides, but few expect the general trend towards normalisation to be reversed. On the contrary, there is support for an enhancement and extension of the Abraham Accords, given the regional benefits in trade, investment, tourism, flights, telecommunications, energy, healthcare, water security, and environmental progress. If the prize is worth fighting for, then surely it is also worth protecting for.

*By M I El Dessouki *

Dr. M I El Dessouki, is editor-in-chief of Regional Observer magazine.
CEO and Founder of Media Content Studio, a media platform designed to bring a new outlook of the utmost pressing issues confronting the Arab world on political, social, and religious affairs.
Former editorial manager of Al-Majalla, the renowned pan-Arab news magazine.