Jews, of course, can argue that God's covenant with Abraham requires them to circumcise their boys, thus making the practice a matter of religious freedom.

ECONOMIST: Banning circumcision

Like the Muslims, the Mormons believe God's covenant with Abraham, and the message of Jesus of Nazareth, were distorted by later generations only to be corrected by their own prophet.

ECONOMIST: The Mormon faith is spreading. But is it a world religion?

From God's covenant with Abraham to his promise to Muhammad, from the Balfour Declaration to the Sykes-Picot Agreement, from Israel's War of Independence to the Nakba, which is the Arabic term for "catastrophe" commonly used for Israel's birth, the role of history as narrative resonates deeply among both Arabs and Jews.

NPR: Historian Robert Satloff