(Foreign Policy) Steven A. Cook - A critical consequence of the Abraham Accords is the normalization of Jews and Judaism in an Arab and Muslim society. That is a big deal. During my time in Cairo in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I was struck by the anti-Semitism that was part of the cultural discourse. When I was a student in Damascus, Syria, 26 summers ago, agents of the regime regaled me one evening with a long and exhaustive string of anti-Semitic canards because they felt it was important that they teach me what I did not learn in the U.S. With the signing of the Abraham Accords, the Emiratis have flipped the narrative. Their outreach to Israel has generated an interest in Jews and Judaism that is refreshing. The writer is a senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
2020-10-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive