Fatema Al Harbi (; born 1991 or 1992) is a

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

i author,

peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world p ...

, former

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, and the Director of Gulf Affairs at the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

-based organization Sharaka, and CEO of the organization's Bahrain branch. She is also a One Young World/

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

peace ambassador.

Early life and education

Al Harbi is from

Riffa Riffa () is the second-largest city in the Kingdom of Bahrain in terms of area. The city is divided into three parts: , and . All three parts are located in the Southern Governorate. The city is growing fast: during the 2001 census, the p ...

, Bahrain. In 2008, Al Harbi, then 17 years, took part in the Olympic Youth Camp in conjunction with the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, representing the kingdom in Bahrain. The camp was an educational and cultural exchange program under the Olympic flag for young people aged 16 to 18. Al Harbi studied management and political & government studies at

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

in Australia; she later earned an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

in International Management at

SBS Swiss Business School SBS Swiss Business School is a private business school located in Zurich, Switzerland, with affiliated campuses in Latvia, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Argentina, India, Myanmar and Spain. History SBS Swiss Business School ...

in Switzerland, and studied for her second masters degree in human resources at Applied Science University in Bahrain.Jonathan Sacerdoti (7 January 2022)
"Meet the Arab Zionists: a new generation of online pioneers,"
''The Jewish Chronicle''.

Career

She has written five novels in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

about

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

'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. From 2013 to 2020, Al Harbi worked as an employee of the Bahraini Ministry of Education. In late 2020, Al Harbi became involved with Sharaka ("partnership" in Arabic), a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

founded that year by young leaders from Israel, Bahrain, and the UAE promoting the

Abraham Accords The Abraham Accords are bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain on September 15, 2020. Mediated by the United States, the announcement of August ...

(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.Lazar Berman (22 November 2021)
"Young peace activists promote Abraham Accords in California,"
''The Times of Israel''.Andy Nystrom (31 January 2024)
"Sharaka foreign delegates visit Northwest Yeshiva High School; Members from the Muslim and Christian Arab communities connect with students,"
''Mercer Island Reporter''. In November 2020 she visited Israel for the first time as part of a Sharaka delegation of Emiratis visiting Israeli Jews and

Israeli Arab The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925, Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory ...

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

, and

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

. She was the first non-government Bahraini to visit Israel. 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. Following her visit, Al Harbi decided to quit her job to work for Sharaka full-time, advocating for peace. She visited Israel again in October 2021, and said: "As soon as I landed there, ... I saw how friendly the people were...People we didn’t know at all kept approaching us, asking, 'Are you from Bahrain or Dubai?' They kept saying, 'Welcome to Israel!'" She also visited

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

, Israel's memorial museum to

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, and posted about it on Instagram and Twitter. This time upon her return to Bahrain most reactions were positive, with some people approaching her to ask how they could visit Israel. In 2023, Al Harbi became the Director of Gulf Affairs at Sharaka, and is the head of its Bahrain branch in

Manama Manama ( ', Bahrani Arabic, Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and List of cities in Bahrain, largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 297,502 as of 2012. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is ...

. As part of her work with Sharaka, Al Harbi has since visited Israel two other times. She has also visited the United States on Sharaka speaking tours. In 2022 and 2023, she was part of Sharaka's delegation to the

March of the Living The March of the Living (, ; ) is an annual educational program which brings students from around the world to Poland, where they explore the remnants of the Holocaust. On Holocaust Memorial Day observed in the Jewish calendar (), thousands of p ...

in Poland, a

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

commemoration event, and the site of the Auschwitz extermination camp.

Personal life

Al Harbi wears a

hijab Hijab (, ) refers to head coverings worn by Women in Islam, Muslim women. Similar to the mitpaḥat/tichel or Snood (headgear), snood worn by religious married Jewish women, certain Christian head covering, headcoverings worn by some Christian w ...

. She says that she has lost friends due to her efforts to make peace with Israelis. In 2022, she said that she began posting about

on social media in response to widespread

Holocaust denial Historical negationism, Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazi Party, Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: ...

in the Arab world.

Recognitions and honours

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. That year she was also a Scholar-in-Residence at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, Pembroke College, for the ISGAP-Oxford Summer Institute for Curriculum Development in Critical Antisemitism Studies. In 2024, she was nominated by the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

for the

International Visitor Leadership Program The International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) is a professional exchange program funded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The mission of IVLP is to offer current and emerging international leader ...

on "Human and Civil Rights in Marginalized Communities".

References

External links

*Jonathan Sacerdoti (24 December 2023
"Muslim Arab woman condemns Hamas: how could this represent Islam? Tomorrow it could happen to anyone,"
''Peace Talk'' (''video''). *Jonathan Sacerdoti (22 December 2023
"Bahraini peace activist Fatema Al Harbi talks about October 7th plus Prof Kobi Michael,"
''Peace Talk'' (''video''). *Fatema Al Harbi (16 December 2024)
"Bahrain: 53 Years of Peace & Coexistence Leadership,"
''The Times of Israel.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Al Harabi, Fatema Living people 1990s births 21st-century Bahraini people 21st-century Bahraini women 21st-century Bahraini writers 21st-century educators 21st-century Muslims 21st-century novelists 21st-century women educators Anti-war activists Arab supporters of Israel Bahraini activists Bahraini civil servants Bahraini educators Bahraini Muslims Bahraini novelists Bahraini women activists Bahraini women novelists Griffith University alumni Applied Science University Alumni Muslim supporters of Israel Muslim women Muslim writers People from the Southern Governorate, Bahrain Riffa