Fatema Al Harbi | |
|---|---|
فاطمة الحربي | |
| Born | 1991 or 1992 (age 32–33)[1] Riffa, Bahrain |
| Education | |
| Occupation(s) | Peace activist and author |
| Years active | 2020–present |
| Employer | Sharaka |
| Title | Director of Gulf Affairs, and CEO of Bahrain branch |
Fatema Al Harbi (Arabic:فاطمة الحربي; born 1991 or 1992) is aBahraini author,peace activist, formercivil servant, and the Director of Gulf Affairs at theUAE-based organizationSharaka, and CEO of the organization's Bahrain branch.[1][2][3] She is also a One Young World/European Commission peace ambassador.[4][5]
Al Harbi is fromRiffa, Bahrain.[6] In 2008, Al Harbi, then 17 years, took part in the Olympic Youth Camp in conjunction with the2008 Summer Olympics, representing the kingdom in Bahrain.[7] The camp was an educational and cultural exchange program under the Olympic flag for young people aged 16 to 18.[7]
Al Harbi studied management and political & government studies atGriffith University in Australia; she later earned anMBA in International Management atSBS Swiss Business School in Switzerland, and studied for her second masters degree in human resources atApplied Science University in Bahrain.[4][5][8]
She has written five novels inArabic aboutwomen'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.[4][5][9]
From 2013 to 2020, Al Harbi worked as an employee of theBahraini Ministry of Education.[8][1]
In late 2020, Al Harbi became involved withSharaka ("partnership" in Arabic), anon-governmental organization founded that year by young leaders from Israel, Bahrain, and the UAE promoting theAbraham 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 visitingIsraeli Jews andIsraeli ArabMuslims,Christians, andDruze.[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...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 visitedYad Vashem, Israel's memorial museum tothe 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 inManama.[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.[11][17][18] In 2022 and 2023, she was part of Sharaka's delegation to theMarch of the Living in Poland, aHolocaust commemoration event, and the site of theAuschwitz extermination camp.[3][14][19]
Al Harbi wears ahijab. She says that she has lost friends due to her efforts to make peace with Israelis.[17] In 2022, she said that she began posting aboutthe Holocaust on social media in response to widespreadHolocaust denial in the Arab world.[20]
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.[4][21] That year she was also a Scholar-in-Residence atOxford University,Pembroke College, for the ISGAP-Oxford Summer Institute for Curriculum Development in Critical Antisemitism Studies.[22]
In 2024, she was nominated by theU.S. State Department for theInternational Visitor Leadership Program on "Human and Civil Rights in Marginalized Communities".[5]