The Abraham Accords: Working Towards a New Middle East, Writing a Positive Story Together

The Abraham Accords were signed by governments. Sharaka was started by young Israelis and Gulf Arabs who want the peace to reach ordinary people too. The name means partnership in Arabic. Five of its people came to Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs for this panel.

Yahya Mahamid grew up in Umm al-Fahm with a bad picture of Israel. What changed it was a Chabad rabbi who asked him to shake the lulav and etrog on Sukkot, and told him he didn’t need to be Jewish, just a good person. Omar Al Busaidy, who is from the UAE and runs Sharaka USA, said the accords didn’t surprise him, because the two countries had been talking for years. Sumaiiah Almheiri, Dr. Najat Al-Saied of Zayed University, and Dan Feferman, a former IDF intelligence officer, filled out the panel. They kept coming back to one point: you can sign as many papers as you like, and it won’t be a real peace until people are taught it and get to know each other.

Rabbi Alexandria Shuval-Weiner of the Atlanta Rabbinical Association moderated, and Israel’s Consul General, Anat Sultan-Dadon, traced the line from Egypt and Jordan to the accords. AIC hosted with the Consulate, the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, and the Rabbinical Association. The recording is above.