The Flag March and the Abraham Accords

The UAE’s justified rebuke of last week’s events in Jerusalem calls for a new approach

I haven’t written anything about the Jerusalem Flag March before because I try to avoid topics about which there’s nothing new to say. In this case, the scenes of teenagers and young men marching through the Muslim Quarter chanting ‘Death to Arabs’ and other similar songs are appalling and obviously indefensible. Nor does the “few bad apples” claim hold up to scrutiny. As my fellow tour guide Robby Berman writes on his Facebook page:

Imagine Muslims in Berlin have a Muslim pride march once a year celebrating Islam. The overwhelming majority of them, let’s say 99,000, peacefully and joyfully march through Berlin holding a Quran singing beautiful songs about the Quran and Islam. But 1,000 of them choose a path to march that is davka in front of all the synagogues of Berlin of Berlin yelling “death to the Jews” and “we are going to burn down your synagogues and houses.” They also beat up some Jews and do damage to their shops.

Indeed, this has precisely been the point accurately made about some of the rallies held around the world since the war started; that while many of the participants have simply called for an end to the war, a significant minority have openly displayed antisemitism, without the organizers taking any action. The scenes from Jerusalem last week, as in previous years, are as bad if not worse (in terms of the numbers involved and the brazenness of the violent racism) than many of the Gaza rallies.

In short, this is an open-and-shut case, unless you’re in favor of violent Jewish racism on the streets of Jerusalem. What makes this year’s march particularly significant, however, it how it has strained one of Israel’s most important new diplomatic relationships, with the United Arab Emirates issuing an unusually sharp response: “It is utterly unfathomable that, amid the ongoing carnage in Gaza, the Israeli government – underscored by the presence of one of its ministers – continues to permit [the flag march].” Israel’s ambassador to the UAE was also summoned for a reprimand, the second time this has ever happened, and the first time since the war in Gaza began. “This is not an isolated incident,” the official said. “It happens every year, and year after year, they allow it to unfold without consequence. We have made it clear – in no uncertain terms – that we expect them to take decisive steps to put an end to this. They would do well to take that expectation extremely seriously.” In another statement, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “these provocative, arbitrary practices represent dangerous incitement against Muslims, and are a flagrant violation of the sanctity of the holy city.”

The intensity of this rebuke becomes clearer when viewed against the backdrop of what the UAE has invested in Jewish-Muslim reconciliation. When signing the Abraham Accords, the Gulf state knew that, as long as Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians remained unresolved, the potential for violence remained high, even if it couldn’t quite have imagined an October 7 scenario or what followed. But the Abraham Accords was built on the promise of improving Jewish-Muslim relations. Following the signing of the agreement, the UAE officially recognized the local Jewish community. Thousands of Israelis and Jews visit the Gulf state every year, where kosher food is widely available. It established working groups focused on religious coexistence, partnering with Israel and the United States to promote interfaith dialogue and combat religious extremism. It became the first Arab country to introduce the Holocaust into its education curriculum. Finally, it built the Abrahamic Family House, which includes the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue, named after the Rambam.

Given this record of concrete steps towards Jewish-Muslim reconciliation, many were delighted with the UAE’s approach of establishing relations with Israel without conditioning them on the Palestinian question. They were equally delighted by the warmth with which Jews have been greeted, in both word and deed. This context is vital for understanding the Emiratis’ justified anger over the Flag March. Because what the annual spectacle of racism in the Muslim Quarter shows is the complete lack of reciprocity shown by Israel. While, given history and the massive demographic imbalance, most of the burden in improving Jewish-Muslim relations naturally falls on Muslims, this doesn’t mean that Israel and the Jewish community shouldn’t respond in kind. The question is no longer whether Israel should reciprocate the UAE’s efforts, but how.

What concrete steps could Israel take to demonstrate its own commitment to the spirit of the Abraham Accords? Most obviously, it can ban the flag march from passing through the Muslim Quarter and demonstrate a zero-tolerance policy towards violent racist chanting. But there’s much more that can be done. Take the example of tourism and heritage sites. There are plenty of Islamic sites in the country that could be upgraded and branded as ‘Abraham Accords’ sites. Places like the Sidna Ali Mosque in northern Herzliya (formerly the Palestinian village of Al-Haram), reputed to be the tomb of a local saint, or the Hassan Bek Mosque on the border of Tel Aviv and Jaffa. Tombs of Jewish figures from Arab countries could also be included, like Sidna Baba Sali in Netivot, which could definitely do with an upgrade or a museum. Or, one could be even more ambitious: How about a Dhaher el-Omar walking trail in the Galilee to complement the Jesus Trail and the Sanhedrin Trail? A local ruler who carved out an independent territory from the Ottomans in the eighteenth century, he’s seen as a forerunner of Palestinian nationalism, but he also invited Jews to settle Tiberias, his pragmatic approach combining economic investment with religious tolerance, making him a perfect figure for some Abraham Accords-style tourism branding.

These tourism initiatives would have more than an economic goal. The aim shouldn’t be to sentimentalize or falsify the past, to pretend that the history of Jewish-Muslim relations has been rosy. But it should aim to build a better vision for the future in the spirit of the Abraham Accords, to avoid zero-sum games in favor of a more pluralist understanding of history that can better carry the weight of present conflicts and contradictions. Most importantly, it would show that Israel is taking up the baton laid down by the UAE and its courageous steps to root out radicalism in its society, and its understanding that Jew hatred is something to be opposed regardless of the wider political context, that societies where antisemitism dominates rarely flourish.

It would also provide a more fitting narrative for Jerusalem Day. In a recent essay on Substack, Shaul Magid discussed the late Rav Shagar’s views on the city, quoting him as follows:

The deep problematic that Jerusalem presents us with points to a solution that will require new vessels, and a new light. Jerusalem can be a city of all peoples, where all religions can call on God’s name. A national place – the inheritance of our ancestors – and an international place – in one. The messianic vision merged with the general vision of universal peace merges in this city. The spiritual essence of the Jewish people, that merges with the other who is also created in the divine image. These two merge in Jerusalem, “a city of righteousness, a city of faith.” (Isaiah 1:26).

As Magid convincingly argues, Jerusalem Day has come to represent the opposite approach. By reimagining the festival, Israel could honor both its national aspirations and its commitment under the Abraham Accords. The alternative – allowing annual displays of racist chanting to define Israel’s approach to Jewish-Muslim relations – risks not only undermining regional partnerships but betraying the very values that make Jerusalem truly worthy of celebration. The choice is clear: Jerusalem can embody Isaiah’s vision of a city where all peoples (who want to) call on God’s name, or it can remain trapped by the zero-sum thinking that has brought so much suffering to its streets. The UAE has shown the courage to choose partnership over prejudice. Can Israel now do the same?