India, Oct. 22 -- On May 10, 1994, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat gave an address in a mosque in the South African city of Johannesburg. He was asked about the Oslo Accords with Israel: "Why did you sign an agreement with the devil?" His answer was short, sharp, and loaded with history: "Remember Hudaybiyyah." All the Muslims gathered in the mosque nodded with instant understanding.

Arafat had compared the Oslo Accords to the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, a temporary peace treaty between Prophet Muhammad and the tribe of Quraysh which controlled Mecca.The agreement significantly decreased tensions and the constant threat of conflict between the two cities. This agreement was later broken by the Quraysh and resulted in the conquest of Mecca by...