Sectarianism meets the Arab Spring: TGONU, a broad-based Sunni movement emerges in Bahrain

In Manama during February and March 2011, while much of the world’s attention was focused on Pearl Roundabout, another exciting development was taking place a few kilometers away, at the al-Fateh Grand Mosque. For the first time in Bahrain’s history, a crosscutting, exclusively Sunni social movement was emerging, bringing together such disparate Sunni groups as the Salafists, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Azharis, among others. Such an unprecedented event played an important role in tipping the balance of power during that critical stage of Bahrain’s political history. Through in-depth interviews with the leaders at the heart of this transformation, we trace the metamorphosis of The Gathering of National Unity, from a spontaneous, all-encompassing social movement into a hierarchical political organization, and explore the tensions and power politics that ultimately decided its fate