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Draft:Fatema Al Harbi

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Fatema Al Harbi
فاطمة الحربي
Born1991 or 1992 (age 32–33)[1]
Riffa, Bahrain
Alma mater
OccupationPeace activist
EmployerSharaka
TitleDirector of Gulf Affairs, and CEO of Bahrain branch

Fatema Al Harbi (Arabic: فاطمة الحربي; born 1991 or 1992) is a Bahraini author, peace activist, former civil servant, and the Director of Gulf Affairs at the UAE-based organization Sharaka, and CEO of the organization's Bahrain branch.[1][2][3]

Early years

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Al Harbi is from Riffa, Bahrain.[4] In 2008, Al Harbi took part at 17 years of age in the Olympic Youth Camp in conjunction with the 2008 Summer Olympics, representing the kingdom in Beijing.[5] The camp was an educational and cultural exchange program under the Olympic flag for young people aged 16 to 18.[5]

Career

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Al Harbi is a Bahraini author, peace advocate, and One Young World/European Commission peace ambassador.[6][7] She studied management and political & government studies at Griffith University in Australia; she later earned an MBA in International Management at SBS Swiss Business School in Switzerland, and studied for her second masters degree in human resources at Applied Science University in Bahrain.[6][7][8] She has written five novels in Arabic about women's issues in Bahraini society, which incorporate love stories as they deal with issues such as gender equality, women empowerment, and mental health, and founded a podcast in Arabic.[6][7][9][8]

From 2013 to 2020, Al Harbi worked as an employee of the Bahraini Ministry of Education.[8][1]

In late 2020, Al Harbi became involved with Sharaka ("partnership" in Arabic), a non-governmental organization founded that year by young leaders from Israel, Bahrain, and the UAE promoting the Abraham Accords (bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain), peace and cooperation in the region, and mutual dialogue, understanding, cooperation, and friendship.[10][11][1][2] In November 2020 she visited Israel for the first time as part of a Sharaka delegation of Emiratis visiting Israeli Jews and Israeli Arab Muslims, Christians, and Druze.[1] She was the first non-government Bahraini to visit Israel.[8] When she returned to Bahrain she found that she had achieved notoriety as "the girl who went to Israel," and she was subject to death threats.[12][8][13]

Following her visit, Al Harbi decided to quit her job to work for Sharaka full-time, advocating for peace.[1] She visited Israel again in October 2021, and said: "As soon as I landed there, ... I saw how friendly the people were. Arabs, Muslims, Jewish people, all from different backgrounds. They were even more happy than we were that we’d come. We wore our traditional clothes, so it was easy to spot us in the streets of Israel. People we didn’t know at all kept approaching us, asking, 'Are you from Bahrain or Dubai?' They kept saying, 'Welcome to Israel!'"[8] She also visited Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial museum to the Holocaust, and posted about it on Instagram and Twitter.[8][14][12] This time upon her return to Bahrain most reactions were positive, with some people approaching her to ask how they could visit Israel.[8][15]

In 2023, Al Harbi became the Director of Gulf Affairs at Sharaka, and is the head of its Bahrain branch in Manama.[2] As part of her work with Sharaka, Al Harbi has since visited Israel two other times.[2][16] She has also visited the United States on Sharaka speaking tours.[10][11][1][17][18] In 2022 and 2023, she was part of Sharaka's delegation to the March of the Living in Poland, a Holocaust commemoration event, and the site of the Auschwitz extermination camp.[1][2][3][14][19]

Personal life

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Al Harbi wears a hijab, and says that she has lost friends due to her efforts to make peace with Israelis.[17] She said that most people in the Arab world say that the Holocaust never happened, so she began posting about it on social media.[20]

Recognitions and honours

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She was nominated by the U.S. State Department for the International Visitor Leadership Program on "Human and Civil Rights in Marginalized Communities."[7]

In 2022, Al Harbi was named a One Young World and European Commission Peace Ambassador; the program supports young people working to prevent and counter violent extremism in their communities.[21][6] That year she was also a Scholar-in-Residence at Oxford University, Pembroke College, for the ISGAP-Oxford Summer Institute for Curriculum Development in Critical Antisemitism Studies.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Leichman, Abigail Klein (18 June 2023). "Young influencers put a human face on the Abraham Accords". ISRAEL21c. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Bahraini peace activist's experiences shatter Israel apartheid narratives". The Jerusalem Post. 20 January 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b Al Harbi, Fatema (7 May 2023). "A new chapter for Arabs and Jews – at Auschwitz". The Times of Israel.
  4. ^ Rudee, Eliana (1 January 2021). "Bahraini, Emirati activists in Israel feel 'like family returning home". Israel HaYom.
  5. ^ a b "Youngsters for Olympic games camp". Gulf Weekly. 6 August 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d "One Young World Peace Ambassadors". One Young World.
  7. ^ a b c d Al Harbi, Fatema (16 December 2024). "Bahrain: 53 Years of Peace & Coexistence Leadership". The Times of Israel.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Jonathan Sacerdoti (January 7, 2022). "Meet the Arab Zionists: a new generation of online pioneers," The Jewish Chronicle.
  9. ^ Dave Lavalee (March 28, 2024). "Sharaka: Building peace in times of war, Middle Eastern delegation to speak at URI on April 1," Rhody Today.
  10. ^ a b Lazar Berman (November 22, 2021). "Young peace activists promote Abraham Accords in California," The Times of Israel.
  11. ^ a b Andy Nystrom (January 31, 2024). "Sharaka foreign delegates visit Northwest Yeshiva High School; Members from the Muslim and Christian Arab communities connect with students," Mercer Island Reporter.
  12. ^ a b Isaac, David (29 April 2022). "In groundbreaking step, Muslim delegation participates in 2022 March of the Living". Jewish News Syndicate.
  13. ^ Starr, Michael (13 October 2021). "Bahraini activists find common ground with Israelis on country-wide tour; During the first delegation of Bahrainis organized by the NGO Sharaka, young Bahraini influencers had their preconceptions of Israel challenged - and laid the foundation for more meaningful peace". The Jerusalem Post.
  14. ^ a b Sacerdoti, Jonathan (28 April 2022). "Arab delegates join the March of the Living for the first time". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  15. ^ Schwartz, Yaakov (28 April 2022). "Muslim influencers visit Auschwitz, seek to bring truth of Holocaust to Arab world". The Times of Israel.
  16. ^ Hasten, Josh (8 October 2021). "In eight-day trip, Bahraini influencers see the reality, and warmth, that is Israel". Jewish News Syndicate. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  17. ^ a b Stutman, Gabe (9 November 2021). "Arab and Israeli delegates tout Abraham Accords on Bay Area visit". J. Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  18. ^ Levi D'Amato (13 September 2023). "Peace conference in Gainesville: Bridging divides in the Middle East". WUFT. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  19. ^ Starr, Michael (27 April 2022). "Next generation ready to bear Holocaust survivors' memory at March of the Living". The Jerusalem Post.
  20. ^ Andraos, Zuhair (30 April 2022). "Completing normalization in Poland: Arab and Muslim influencers from Lebanon, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Morocco at Auschwitz to convey the truth to the Arabs". Rai Al-Youm.
  21. ^ "One Young World; Final Evaluation Report; One Young World and European Commission Collaboration" (PDF). 2022. p. 11.
  22. ^ "Summer Institute on Curriculum Development in Antisemitism Studies, 2022" (PDF). Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy.
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Category:Living people Category:Bahraini civil servants Category:Bahraini educators Category:Bahraini women activists Category:Bahraini women novelists Category:Griffith University alumni Category:21st-century Bahraini women

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