European countries offer immigrants—including Arabs—a rare opportunity to engage in democratic processes and exert influence on political decision-making. Immigrants reciprocate. And while the number of politicians of Arab descent is still small, their presence is increasingly felt, particularly given the events in the Middle East of late.
In Sweden, two prominent figures—Jamal El-Haj and Simona Mohamsson—have ignited significant debate. Though their political leanings differ markedly, they share Palestinian heritage. In an article, El-Haj told Mohamsson: “Your father and I lived in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp.” It was a pointed reminder of their common origins.
He warned that the Liberal Party which Mohamsson now leads had betrayed its founding principles with its alliance with the far-right, and with its silence on events in Gaza. While he did not criticise her personally, he urged her to uphold the values of justice and humanity in a party straying from the ideals of their mutual background.
Now in his mid-sixties, El-Haj entered the Riksdag as a representative of the Social Democratic Party from Malmö, initially serving as a substitute MP from July 2016 to September 2018 before securing a permanent seat on 24 September 2018. Having come from Lebanon’s Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in the 1970s, he began as a trade union official before becoming politically active in the early 1990s. Many Arabs admired him as a model of successful minority representation within Swedish politics.
A career slides
Over the past two years, however, El-Haj has been the subject of controversy and criticism, stemming from his participation in the ‘Palestinians in Europe’ conference in Malmö in May 2023, despite his party’s warnings. The conference was accused of having links to Hamas. El-Haj defended his attendance, which did not endorse Hamas, he said. His party leader, Magdalena Andersson, staunchly defended him, her parliamentary speech on it even moving some to tears.
