Bahrain's success in promoting tolerance praised

Many religious clerics affirmed that the Kingdom of Bahrain, with its rich history and values of tolerance, peaceful co-existence and religious freedom, has been able to convey to the world from the United Nations headquarters, in New York, a rare experience of elevating human beings to high levels of tolerance, harmony and acceptance of the other.

In an exclusive statement to Bahrain News Agency (BNA), marking conclusion of a Bahraini evening organised by This is Bahrain Society in cooperation with the King Hamad Global Center for Peaceful Coexistence to celebrate the Declaration of the Kingdom of Bahrain anniversary, they said Bahrain set a lofty model of human peace and religious freedom.

This came at a time the United Nations posted on its official website a picture of the Bahrain Exhibition for Tolerance that was organised in one of the largest corridors of the UN headquarters, in New York City, which significantly shows the great success of Bahrain’s participation in the UN General Assembly meeting.

The Bahraini model of tolerance and peaceful coexistence is an excellent experience in a world facing many political upheavals as well as ethnic and sectarian conflicts, said Rev. Florence Akau, a member of the UN Social and Economic Committee.

He noted that the message of peace sent by His Majesty the King to the world is explicit and clear and conveys a unique experience in bringing together all religions, sects and races on the dialogue table in an atmosphere of tolerance, coexistence and acceptance of the other.

For his part, Finland's Representative to the United Nations Kai Sauer extended congratulations to His Majesty the King and the people of Bahrain for their good qualities of tolerance and peaceful coexistence, pointing out that the Bahraini participation in the UN General Assembly reflected the bright image of this pioneering Bahraini model.

"Bahrain has organised a wonderful exhibition during the international week in New York," Sauer said. "We are in dire need of such high-end human models at a time when conflicts are intensifying on a doctrinal or religious basis."

He pointed out that Bahrain can work on a wide regional and global scale to spread the message of living in peace and harmony among all human beings by interacting with the international community and emulating Bahrain's experience of bringing all parties and clerics to the table of dialogue.

"We appreciate the efforts of His Majesty the King in fostering religious freedom in the Kingdom," said Dr. Syki Raja, a Christian Orthodox cleric. He added this is evident in the presence of churches for various sects in the Kingdom of Bahrain. This is a striking evidence on Bahrain's pioneering status in promoting religious freedom, he noted.

 He also added that the message conveyed by HM the king through the unique experience of tolerance is really amazing, especially at this time or surging ethnic and sectarian conflicts. Therefore, he said, “This model which proved to be successful has to be globalized".

“We are delighted to participate in this Bahraini evening, which reflects Bahrain's keenness to promote a culture of peaceful coexistence as one of the most important human and moral necessities," said Rayan Thabet, the representative of Baha'i community in New York. He added that the Bahraini initiative is an important pillar of the efforts of the international community to maintain security and peace by rejecting extremism, whatever its forms, and discourse of hatred, whatever its foundations.

"We respect the initiative of HM the King to make tolerance and acceptance of the other a way of life, which we see as the right path to a peaceful world that is not dominated by forms of extremism or sectarianism," said Buddhist cleric Chandra Suwami.

"We hope that the Bahraini experience will be spread on a wider scale, encompassing all the regions of the world, so that we will be able to live in peace and harmony with one another, even if our beliefs, doctrines and places of worship differ."

"We rarely see initiatives in the world today calling for harmony and cohesion between religions, but Bahrain has made a unique turn in this regard and must be availed of as soon as possible to benefit everyone".

"Bahrain's experience in religious freedom is great, and the participation of the King Hamad Global Center for Peaceful Coexistence has shed more light on this pioneering experience of transmitting the message of peace and spreading it to all regions of the world," said Hudhaifa Desallao, representative of the Bohra Community in New York.

"It is very important to raise awareness of this unique experience and disseminate it by appointing ambassadors to promote it and convey HM the king's peace-loving and anti-violence message".

 Meanwhile, Tawfiq Al-Mansur, the Assistant Undersecretary for Western and Afro-Asian Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, said it was necessary to highlight Bahrain's history of human achievements .and religious freedom.

"The efforts of the King Hamad Global Center for Peaceful Coexistence and This is Bahrain Society are now visible to the world thanks to active participation at the UN headquarters," he added.

"We are living in a turbulent world, especially in the Middle East. There are 193 countries under the umbrella of the United Nations and the presence of Bahrain in New York is an achievement to show people how Bahrain lived for centuries in tolerance and unprecedented peaceful coexistence".