DUBAI – The Abraham Accords are a way to increase tolerance and respect in the MIddle East, Dr. Ali Al Nuami of the United Arab Emirates’ Federal National Council for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Defense Affairs, Interior and Foreign Affairs committee told The Jerusalem Post and Khaleej Times Global Investment Forum on Wednesday.
“Since the announcement of the Abraham Accords, we saw how we were able to build bridges of respect and trust,” Al Nuami said. “The message that I take from this event is that the Abraham Accords is not history, it’s our future. It’s not Emirati and Israeli future, it’s the whole region’s future.”
Al Nuami spoke in favor of initiatives to counter hate by promoting coexistence and tolerance.
“We in the UAE believe that terrorism and extremism are not a threat to a single nation or to a single region; it’s a threat to the whole world. No single nation is able to counter it by itself,” he stated.
When it comes to countering terrorism and extremism, Al Nuami said, the key is to “think globally and act locally.”
One way in which the UAE did that is to do the groundwork to prepare its population for ties to Israel through messages in its education system and rhetoric from religious leaders.
“Public leaders promoted a narrative of coexistence and respect,” Al Nuami said.
Paul Packer, Chairman of the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Overseas, said the UAE is more tolerant of Jews than Western Europe.
Packer quoted the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan as saying “nations are not measured by their material wealth alone, but their cultural heritage.”
“Coming here you see mutual respect,” Packer said, pointing to a newly-opened exhibit in Dubai meant to educate the local population about the Holocaust. “Education is where it all happens...When people learn, we will not forget.”
Packer praised the UAE’s leaders’ vision and work to teach tolerance to the younger generation.
UAE-Israel ties “are not about F-35s…[they’re] about people to people and that is what will make it go forward,” Packer said. “If we all live together we will realize there is a lot more that unites us than divides us.”