Abraham Accords historical stamp exhibition unites US, UAE, Israel

The exhibit presents five categories of philatelic items, with each country boasting nine collections, over half of which depict the Middle East.

The collections in the first category, traditional philately, show stamps from a single country during a particular historical era. An Israeli collection includes stamps from early Mozambique, while the US offers early Israeli stamps such as the "Doar Ivri," (Hebrew mail), artist proposals, early productions, stamp separation trials, and full stamp sheets.

An underground stamp on the establishment of the State of Israel writes "Judah" beneath a trowel and sword, representative of the biblical account in Nehemiah, where it was written that the Children of Israel were both builders of the wall around Jerusalem and the city's protectors, armed with  "spears, shield, bows," so that "one hand [was] doing the work and one holding the sword (Nehemiah 4:10-11). 

Other historical Israeli stamps display a drawing of the Jaffa Railway Station, the first stamp issued by Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) in Vienna in 1901 and a stamp with a Jewish and Arab state partition following the approval of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine on November 29, 1947. 

The second category, postal history, contains letters sent to and from Israel in the Ottoman period, as well as those sent throughout the Mediterranean vis-a-vis airmail planes and the UAE's letters under the British "Trucial States" era. 

In the third category, themed stamps exhibit palm trees from the US and chess stamps from Israel, among other concepts. 

The next category pictures postcards revealing images of Israel during a pilgrim tour in the 19th century, along with Shanghai in the same period, and a collection of "Shana Tova," Jewish happy new year wishes.

In one such Shana Tova card a woman dressed in an American flag dress opens a gate to welcome Jewish refugees, with Hebrew words from Psalms 118:19, "Open up the gates of righteousness."

A card with an Israeli flag waving, a backdrop of the Old City, and children playing as the sun shines reads "A new generation has come to the land that has not known the burden of exile," playing off of the Exodus quote, "A new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph," just before the biblical narrative of the Jews enslaved in Egypt.

The final category shows philatelic exhibits from each country that have previously won global awards. 

The Israeli Philatelic Federation (IPF), a nonprofit organization that encourages stamp collecting in Israel, organized the exhibit, which will be judged by a panel of experienced collectors and exhibitors from the three countries.

To view the exhibit, click here.