Summary
The one-page declaration signed on 15 September 2020 in which the undersigned recognize the importance of maintaining and strengthening peace in the Middle East and around the world based on mutual understanding and coexistence and respect for human dignity and freedom, including religious freedom, encourage interfaith and intercultural dialogue to advance a culture of peace among the three Abrahamic religions and all humanity, seek tolerance and respect for every person, support science, art, medicine and commerce, seek to end radicalization and conflict, pursue a vision of peace, security and prosperity, and warmly welcome the progress already made in establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and its neighbors in the region under the principles of the Abraham Accords, encouraging the ongoing efforts to consolidate and expand such friendly relations (The Abraham Accords Declaration (15 September 2020), PDF p.1). The declaration names no Palestinian, Palestine, occupation, Jerusalem, refugees or Palestinian state.
What the file is
The signed declaration as a scanned one-page PDF, its file titled Abraham Accords signed Final 15 Sept 2020, 1 PDF page, about 245 words in the text copy. The original is a scan with four handwritten signatures under “Signed:” and no printed signatory names, date or place in the body. The text copy is clean apart from one text-layer slip: it reads “effmis” where the original page, read in the PDF image, prints “efforts”.
Section by section
- Opening recognition (PDF p.1). “We, the undersigned, recognize the importance of maintaining and strengthening peace in the Middle East and around the world based on mutual understanding and coexistence, as well as respect for human dignity and freedom, including religious freedom.”
- Dialogue (PDF p.1). Efforts to promote interfaith and intercultural dialogue are encouraged “to advance a culture of peace among the three Abrahamic religions and all humanity.”
- Cooperation (PDF p.1). The best way to address challenges is through cooperation and dialogue, and developing friendly relations among States advances the interests of lasting peace in the Middle East and around the world.
- Tolerance, knowledge and children (PDF p.1). Tolerance and respect for every person so all can enjoy a life of dignity and hope, no matter their race, faith or ethnicity; support for science, art, medicine and commerce to inspire humankind, maximize human potential and bring nations closer together; an end to radicalization and conflict to provide all children a better future.
- Vision and welcome (PDF p.1). “We pursue a vision of peace, security, and prosperity in the Middle East and around the world.” In that spirit the undersigned welcome progress already made in establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and its neighbors under the principles of the Abraham Accords and are encouraged by ongoing efforts to consolidate and expand such friendly relations based on shared interests and a shared commitment to a better future.
- Signatures (PDF p.1). “Signed:” followed by four handwritten signatures, unnamed in the file.
Key passages
- “We, the undersigned, recognize the importance of maintaining and strengthening peace in the Middle East and around the world based on mutual understanding and coexistence, as well as respect for human dignity and freedom, including religious freedom.” (PDF p.1)
- “We seek to end radicalization and conflict to provide all children a better future.” (PDF p.1)
- “based on shared interests and a shared commitment to a better future” (PDF p.1, closing words; the full sentence’s word “efforts” is read in the original page — the text copy’s text layer reads “effmis” there, a text-layer artefact only)
Evidence the work relies on
- The declaration cites no documents, statistics, testimony or sources; it is a statement of principles signed by the undersigned.
Analysis
A principles-only declaration: it states values — coexistence, dialogue, tolerance, cooperation — and welcomes diplomatic relations between Israel and its neighbors under the Abraham Accords, without operative provisions, obligations, timelines or any reference to Palestinians or to a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its claims are aspirational and are supported in the file by no evidence beyond the signatures themselves.
People, organizations, places and events
Concepts
How it relates to other sources
- This is the declaration text itself for the Abraham Accords that other ingested sources discuss: Rethinking Statehood in Palestine dates the Accords’ signing, as printed in that work, to August 2020 and in its Conclusion to September 14, 2020 at the White House; the file here is dated 15 September 2020 in its file name and metadata. The differing dates are held side by side, not reconciled.
- Unlike the Arab Peace Initiative and Beirut Declaration (Beirut summit, 27-28 March 2002), which conditioned normalization on ending the occupation and a Palestinian state, this declaration welcomes Israel’s diplomatic relations with its neighbors with no Palestinian condition stated.
Open questions
- The four signatories are not named in the file; the signatures are handwritten only.
- No date or place of signing is printed in the body of the declaration; 15 September 2020 comes from the file name and PDF metadata.
- Farsakh (2021) gives August 2020 and September 14, 2020 for the Accords’ signing in different passages; this file is dated 15 September 2020. Held open, not reconciled.
Coverage
PDF p.1 of 1, read in full