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AWARD-WINNING businessman Suhail Algosaibi has been travelling the world for a better insight into piecing together peace as he attempts with others to help rebuild trust and create harmony in his adopted homeland.
He has already visited two former hotbeds of hate, mistrust and misery where people have made progress towards lasting reconsolidation and despite suffering a barrage of abuse from extremists the father-of-three is determined to carry on with the cause.
Suhail is chairman of the Bahrain Foundation for Reconciliation and Civil Discourse (BFRCD), a private, non-profit foundation borne out of the 2011 Bahrain crisis, which aims to help bridge the sectarian and social divide in the kingdom.
Meddling in local political matters can be a dangerous pursuit as some businessmen have found to their cost. So why bother? “How can I stand by when my country is hurting? The real question is; how can I not bother?” he said.
“Let me answer this with a quote that perfectly describes my feelings. Edmund Burke, the Irish politician said ‘all that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing’.
“As you know, the crisis caused a massive social and sectarian rift, and our mission was – and still is – to reduce that rift.”
With the endorsement of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier, the organisation, which was launched in June, 2012, has a long-term view focused on social reconciliation, plus dialogue, and has no political affiliations.
It currently has around 20 members from different backgrounds and sects, all of whom have a passion for helping Bahrain. Also on its board are Amin Al Arrayed, Ehsan Al Kooheji, Leena Al Olaimy and Noor Haji.
“Since our launch we’ve had over 50 events ranging from workshops, to public lectures, community outreach initiatives and Dialogue Dinners,” said Suhail, who has Saudi and German heritage. He has been living in Bahrain on and off since 1985, and was ‘honoured’ to get Bahraini nationality in 2008.
“The Dialogue Dinners are our Crown Jewel events – here we bring people from different backgrounds, ideologies, sects and political affiliations to have a civil chat over dinner in my late father’s house.
“We keep these out of the media’s eye. They are hugely successful and the feedback we get from them is overwhelmingly positive.
“We’ve also signed Memorandums of Understanding with the Causeway Institute for Peace-building and Conflict Resolution in Northern Ireland, and Search for Common Ground, probably the world’s largest peace-building NGO. The agreement with Causeway involves helping them choose participants to visit Northern Ireland to learn from its experience.”
The BFRCD board went on one of those trips and its members met with politicians, activists, civil servants, law enforcement officials, academics, and former IRA and Unionist terrorists.
The Troubles is the common name for the ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that spilled over at various times into the Republic of Ireland, mainland UK and mainland Europe. More than 3,500 people were killed in the conflict. The Troubles began in the late 1960s and are deemed by many to have ended with the Belfast ‘Good Friday’ Agreement of 1998, although there has been sporadic violence since then.
“I remember hearing about the IRA bombings growing up in the 1980s and 1990s and I never dreamt I’d ever be sitting face-to-face with a former IRA member. It was fascinating.
“When we first launched BFRCD I was attacked online almost daily by the extremists, but over time that has died out and we’ve managed to create a lot of trust in the Bahraini community.
“We’re very proud of the little we’ve achieved, but we still have a long way to go. I’m particularly concerned about the polarisation and radicalisation of our youth, we therefore have special programmes aimed at the youth of Bahrain.”
The journey has continued. “When my colleagues and I started the BFRCD our intention was to help Bahrain, but an unexpected benefit was the moral support we got from international conflict resolution non-governmental organisations (NGOs),” revealed Suhail.
“It turns out conflict resolution and peace building is a huge field internationally with many players, big and small. One of the NGOs that we’ve struck a friendship with is Beyond Conflict. They arranged a trip to South Africa to learn from its reconciliation process.
“Firstly, it has to be said that Bahrain and South Africa are not the same in any way. But the trip was probably the most impactful and inspiring trip I’ve ever had. My fellow BFRCD board members and I met with some truly inspirational people.”
