Aryeh Green: Is Middle East Peace Possible?

Aryeh Green, a Middle East policy expert who serves as chief strategy officer of Gigawatt Global, is author of Finding Peace in the Promised Land: From Hatred to Humanity: A Transformative Approach to the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Green spoke to a June 15 Middle East Forum podcast (video). The following summarizes his comments:

The five proposed steps to transform the “culture of hatred that permeates, unfortunately, too much of Arab and Muslim society,” germinated after the signing of the Abraham Accords. The project took on more urgency after the “barbarity of the Hamas attack” on October 7, particularly in light of the widespread support for the attack among the Palestinian Arabs and, more broadly, on college campuses in the U.S. and Europe. The Jew-hatred that erupted in the aftermath of Hamas’s massacre was a “frightening wake-up call,” but “liberating” in a way. The fact that the signal event occurred and garnered so much support unambiguously exposed the “evil of the ideology” calling for Israel’s destruction.

Prior peace agreements between Israel and Arab and Muslim entities promoted interests that benefited Egypt and Jordan as well as the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Signed to gain land, or autonomy, or economic and diplomatic support of the U.S., those agreements differed from the Abraham Accords. In those accords, Arab and Muslim signatories recognized the Jews as “the natural and indigenous people” of the land. The accords acknowledged that “the Jewish return to sovereignty in the land of Israel in the Levant in the Eastern Mediterranean was seen as a natural part of the history, culture, [and] the civilizations of our region.”

The Abraham Accords “are expressions already of the theories that I’m proposing.” Those steps require humility in understanding our place in the universe, gratitude for our blessings, forgiveness for real and perceived grievances over the past hundred years held by both sides in the conflict, and a sense of purpose that gives our lives meaning. Those elements are “diametrically opposed” to the “ideology of resistance and violence” exhibited in the terror attacks of October 7, and in the missiles from Iran and Hezbollah, the Houthis, or elsewhere.

Applying these steps means acceptance of “the other,” acknowledgement of the gratitude for achievements thus far, and humility in realizing that all problems cannot be solved immediately. Reconciliation requires each side’s forgiveness—Israel for Arab leaders’ denial of Israel’s legitimacy and for the historical trauma of Arab Muslim terror and violence perpetrated globally against Jews and supporters of Israel. Arab Muslim forgiveness encompasses the consequences of Israel’s defensive military operations in a conflict that caused much loss and displacement.

Rather than granting absolution for either side, one can look to past conflicts for evidence that it is possible to move from victimization towards a constructive future. Forgiveness was no doubt necessary for healing after the two horrific world wars fought in Europe, the “Troubles” in Ireland, and the South African anti-apartheid struggle. This is why the Abraham Accords represent forward momentum towards regional peace. In particular, the Gulf leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain bravely signed the accords that recognized the Jewish state.

The complexities of the Arab-Israeli conflict are a challenge most effectively tackled through practical steps undertaken by organizations, religious leaders, and institutions at both the grassroots and governmental levels. They can empower “those Arab and Muslim voices” of moderation advocated by too few today. Islamic, Christian, and Jewish sources “going back centuries” contain theological and ideological examples of a pragmatic approach to modern dilemmas.

The plea is directed towards the Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and Iranian leaders who share an ideology of hatred and rejection of Israel, Jews, Christians, and the West. Acceptance and forgiveness of “anybody who’s not a believer according to them” are prerequisites for achieving “a sense of purpose.” The goal is to share reconciliation while still retaining our specific identities. “Clearly, the goal cannot be the destruction of another civilization or another people.”

There is a small but important movement towards moderation in both Sunni and Shia Islam among Arab and Muslim scholars and practitioners. Called the Wasatia Initiative and headed by Palestinian Arab Professor Muhammad Dajani Daoudi, the term wasatia (meaning “the middle path”) is borrowed from the Quran to legitimize the concept of moderation. The movement’s principles oppose the antisemitism that permeates Palestinian society, “one of the most antisemitic societies on the planet, according to the Pew research and BBC polls.” The book was written not only to address the Arab-Israeli conflict, but also to establish neighborly relations with regional countries. It is “for policymakers to recognize that, without supporting those voices of moderation throughout Arab and Muslim society, there is no chance, no chance of real peace.”