Nothing is more common to all faiths than the duty to stand beside those who suffer oppression and injustice. It is a theme that recurs with striking frequency and insistence. Wherever power crushes the vulnerable, the teachings of the Prophets of Israelites in Judaism, those of Jesus Christ in Christianity and the Quranic injunctions of Islam all insist and prescribe resistance. The drums of the Abraham Accords, being beaten as a salute to peace between Israel and a few Arab states, actually sound hollow when heard against the ethical core of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Far from embodying the call to lift up the oppressed, these agreements normalise relations without addressing the oppression as a result of the infamous Nakba, i.e., the dispossession of Palestinians. The intricacies need to be understood by taking an all-round view of the common ethical legacy of these Abrahamic faiths.
Judaism, one of the world’s oldest monotheistic faiths, teaches compassion and empathy not only in worship but also in how to treat the vulnerable. While some use Jewish sufferings to justify Israel’s existence, scripture actually challenges Israel when it denies Palestinians their dignity. The command from the Hebrew Bible “Tanakh” reminds its followers repeatedly by stating “remember you were strangers in Egypt,” and is based on empathy for others and not on defending the creation of a modern state. Jewish law’s cardinal principle of “tikkun olam”, repairing the world, obliges every generation to come, to uphold human dignity, ignorance of which actually betrays the memory of bondage that shaped Israel’s covenant with God.
The drums of the Abraham Accords, being beaten as a salute to peace between Israel and a few Arab states, actually sound hollow when heard against the ethical core of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Christianity further built upon this tradition and expanded through Jesus, the call from “love your neighbour” to “love even your enemy.” At the heart of these teachings is the Sermon on the Mount, blessing the poor, meek, and persecuted. Jesus Christ identifies himself with those vulnerable when he says, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me.” Early Christians became known for their care of the sick, widows, orphans, and abandoned infants, propagating communities based on equality. Liberation movements from Latin America to apartheid South Africa drew strength from this ethic of siding with the oppressed. Christianity measures peace not by treaties between rulers but by justice for the powerless and victims of history.
Islam likewise weaves justice into its core. Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH), who once led a persecuted minority in Makkah, made solidarity with the oppressed central to faith, declaring in his Farewell Sermon the equality of all races and nations. Holy Quran condemns greed and oppression, declaring “Persecution is worse than slaughter” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:191). Islamic law views tyranny as corrosive for a society, making resistance obligatory. From the Muslim community protecting Christians in Abyssinia to modern-day solidarity with liberation struggles, the message of Islam is constant and consistent; neutrality in the face of repression is complicity.
Therefore, it can be concluded that Abrahamic faiths together denounce oppression unequivocally. They differ in theology, but converge in ethics: to recognise suffering, to lend voice to the silenced and to align with the dispossessed. Each of these faiths was born out of struggle and carries forward the lesson that power must be checked by assuming moral responsibility. This is precisely why the Abraham Accords, named after a common interfaith lineage, jar against the very Abrahamic tradition they claim to honour. Rather than confronting injustice, the accords risk sanctifying it.
The Abraham Accords of 2020 were celebrated as a diplomatic breakthrough, normalising ties between Israel and several Arab states while sidestepping the Palestinian question. They shifted focus from conflict to markets, opening airspace and economic deals in technology and tourism. Yet beneath the fanfare, they departed from the moral compass of the Abrahamic faiths; instead of solidarity, the accords pursued expediency. It sought what could be traded for economic advantage for the rest of the world, while ignoring the reality of checkpoints, demolitions, homelessness and statelessness in Palestinian lives.
The real issue is not whether governments follow prophetic values; they rarely do, but whether Abrahamic faith-based communities will speak out against this distortion or not. Though they too have sometimes failed their own ideals, peace without justice is a counterfeit peace. Invoking Prophet Abraham while forgetting his legacy disrespects the prophetic tradition. Claims of accords bringing in concessions for Palestinians are refuted by history, wherein silence had failed justice and emboldened injustice.
The threat posed by the Abraham Accords is not only that they bypass justice, but that they tend to reshape moral thought. They make believe that peace is merely the absence of open war, that dignity can be sidelined for the sake of commerce, and that oppression can be normalised if it is efficient. Treaties signed in gilded halls mean little if mothers in Gaza keep burying children, if farmers in the West Bank keep losing land, and refugees keep languishing without status. To praise and be motivated by a common Prophet Abraham while forgetting his lineage and its followers is, in fact, a disregard for the sanctity of Prophethood. To forget this is to morph religion into ornament, whereas it is a means to shake the human conscience.
The real Abrahamic Accord rides the sea waves, united not by politics but by empathy and compassion. The flotilla sails to Gaza to offer relief to innocent Gazans who are braving a cleansing, in fact, a genocide. In doing so, it revives the spiritual legacy of what Abrahamic faiths stand for, not sheer lip service or treaties between states, but through action grounded in the shared moral core of the three faiths. This living accord speaks louder than diplomacy as it declares that the sanctity of human life transcends faiths, borders and doctrines. The Global Samud Flotilla, bringing together participants from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, represents the real Abrahamic Accord for humanity. Each sea wave, hitting the shores, carries along a clause of hope for Gaza.
The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at zulfiqar.shirazi @gmail.com