The Swedish Participants

“The Swedish Participants”

We headed back to Stockholm in a Bus. We checked in at Morington Hotel again. Since we arrived to Sweden four human beings, names; Rami Abed Al Rahman, Hanna Larsson, Nadia Jebril and Olof Jonsoon joined us in the program. We referred to them and they referred to themselves as “The Swedish Participants”.

Nadia Jebril was born and brought up in Sweden by a Palestinian family. Nadia’s family comes from the small town of Bietixa near Jerusalem. She is a 26 year old Journalist who speaks Swedish as her native language, and Arabic in a 100 years old Palestinian accent. The accent that dominates Nadia’s Arabic is of a countryside area in her home land Palestine. An accent that now a day very few old Palestinian men and women talk with.

She must have picked that from her parents. When you lose a house, you work hard to build another one. When you lose a child you drink your sadness with your daily water and you learn how to love other children. When you lose your homeland, your home, your neighbors, your physical memories, you wonder on earth and you reproduce. You preserve your language and traditions in an ongoing nostalgia, you keep your homeland in your heart and you pronounce it with every uttered syllable from your mouth.

Nadia you are the worst fear for lot of people in this planet. You are not damaged by hatred, anger or blood. You neither are irrational nor rigid. You are neither schizophrenic nor violent. And above all of that you are Palestinian. And you are proudly Swedish. You are a cosmopolitan creature who breaths Bietixa the town near Jerusalem in Palestine every day. In the eyes of Nadia the journalist who is one of the Swedish Participants I saw the future, I saw the State of Palestine.

A very Swedish guy is Olof Jonsoon, he does not smoke, tries to keep fit when he is not working. Takes notes from lectures, smiles to everyone and makes the sweetest remarks even when he is critical.

Olof Jonsoon seemed to have no story behind him. A Journalist who wanted to be published in morning news papers while working on the Foreign Desk of a news agency. He seemed just another 30 year old journalist who is starting his career.

On the third night in Grisselhamn I talked to Olof a bit beyond the lectures and social media. On that night he had just received some emails about an article he published about Darfur, we talked about the article and the visit he made to the Middle East.

Olof had a story behind, and it is not an ordinary one. He is in love. He is a human whose tears I saw when he said “We know what is going on back there, we really know.” Between his tears I saw the many stories he will relate in the morning papers and web pages. I want to read what Olof knows. Believe me what Olof knows is not 30 years old.

Hanna Larson is just a year younger than me. I thought I was the oldest one in the group until I met Mark. He is really old. He has lot of stories to tell, but he is too proud. Until he tells me the stories he will be damned by being old.

Hanna is 33, a journalist and a human rights activist. A lady whom you feel she comes from a consensus culture. A Librarian interested in developing the Multilingual Library at her work. Hanna has been to Afghanistan and Palestine, worked on asylum cases, and volunteers her time for women’s rights. Hanna’s silence about her work made me feel a small person.

Rami Abed Al Rahman, the guy we all used “- in the good sense of the word if any-“even before meeting him. Rami the Jordanian- Swede whose age is not relevant. Rami hasn’t decided yet when he will start counting it.

Rami the journalist, lecturer, blogger and musician oozes life as someone who has just swallowed a huge amount of painful loss. He did not digest it all yet, but he is in the process. He breathes freely now, but he seems in need of more oxygen. I know why he reminded me a lot by Sami Matouk a Syrian human rights activist whose age I only got to know the day he was killed, shortly after helping in gathering information about Saidanaia Prison. The fact that I know does not mean I am sharing the knowledge.

The four Swedish participants left the hotel and headed back to their homes and jobs. A few days after that and as a part of my study visit I’ve visited Swedish Think Tanks and other opinion and policy making institutions. In the meetings I was told about Sweden political parties, social system and the well fare sate establishment.

Sweden at that time was three weeks away from the European Union Presidency. In the Think Tanks they had no real interest, knowledge or studies about The Middle East. They are so much focusing on Sweden. They have managed to do that as political institutions for a long time. And they have done an amazing job but they cannot do that anymore while they are part of the EU political structure and defiantly not when they are in the presidency.

I met parliamentarians from different political parties as well. Three of them sit on various committees including EU and foreign affairs. Those meetings were more productive and sort of relief. Nevertheless while visiting the Foreign Office Press center; a lady from the MENA desk answered angrily some of my boisterous questions stating basically that Sweden does not have a Foreign Policy when it comes to the Middle East. She said they will follow the EU.

I do not think that is destined. And on that matter I will be having more to say but not here. This is neither the place nor the time.

PS: The fifth Swedish participant was born and brought up in Sweden. Nevertheless in the eyes of the writer she is the result of a regionally approved and internationally blessed legal utopian marriage of convenience. The participant is the product of the fathers and the mother of most Lebanese. The rest of The Lebanese are still is sperm stage. Therefore she will be mentioned with the Lebanese participants.

The fathers are : Hassan Nasroulah[i], Al Mufti Kabani[ii], Patriarch Sufaier[iii], Ahmadinejad [iv] . The mother is : Nawal Al Sadawi[v].

[i] Hassan Nasroulah is the religious, political and military leader of Hezbollah, Lebanon. Hobbies: Assassinations, small and big wars, terrifying people, shouting and screaming, praying in public and playing the big hero.

[ii] Al Mufti Kabani is the Muslim Suni highest authority in Lebanon known as Mufti. Hobbies: Praying in public, speaking nicely about the Saudi Royal family, preventing equality legislations from happening.

[iii] Patriarch Sufaier is the Christians Maronite highest authority in Lebanon. Hobbies: Praying in public, preventing equality legislations from happening, appearing on every news channel in the country.

[iv] Ahmadinejad is the lunatic homophobe who stated that there are no homosexuals in Iran. He managed as well to cheat in the last Iranian elections and still proclaims himself the Mullah’s spoilt president. Hobbies: has plenty ranks on top hanging Iranians whom he considers perverts.

[v] Nawal Al Sadawi, a physician, highly reputable feminist activist and writer, who is constantly criticized and threatened by Islamists. Hobbies: No time for leisure activities. The four keeps her very busy and she is Egyptian as well so she has Mubarak and the Muslim Brothers to entertain herself.