Jamal El-Haj was previously unknown to most, but in one fell swoop he became one of the country’s most talked about politicians.
In May 2023, he gained attention for participating in the European Palestinian conference in Malmö. Prior to it, there had been warning signals that its chairman was a leading figure within the terrorist organization Hamas. However, that did not stop Jamal El-Haj from participating and he has later defended his decision. In Wednesday’s Aktuell, he says this:
– If one person out of 20,000 participants has certain connections to Hamas or another terrorist organization, the entire Palestinian people and all Palestinians in Malmö and Europe do not stand for it. It is wrong not to participate in a conference that deals with the belonging of the Palestinians where you meet to socialize, eat together, dance and share cultural elements. The conference was about this and nothing else in my eyes.
During the interview, he condemns Hamas and adds that he has written both motions and debate articles over the years in which he opposes terrorism.
M member reported to the police
El-Haj had to take a time-out and leave his seat on the foreign affairs committee. But the outrage in the political opposition camp that he was allowed to remain in the party and in the Riksdag never subsided.
During the autumn, Jamal El-Haj believed that the attacks on him as a person had crossed a line and he then reported Fredrik Kärrholm (M) to the police for defamation. A preliminary investigation was launched but was later dropped.
Defends himself in police interrogation
In interrogations with the police that were carried out in connection with the preliminary investigation, Jamal El-Haj says, among other things, that he was very offended by the attacks against him, that the party made mistakes that gave him time out from the committee, and that he would have participated in the conference again if the came to Malmö.
Jamal El-Haj has refused interviews with the media ever since last May. On Wednesday, however, he met the press, among other things live on SVT’s Aktuellt. Watch the interview in the video player above.