Left Party Lawmaker's Letter to Terrorist Sparks Outrage in Sweden | Svenska Dagbladet (SE) | sv

A Swedish Left Party lawmaker has come under fire for sending a letter of admiration to a convicted terrorist imprisoned in Israel. Ilona Szatmári Waldau, a member of the Swedish Parliament, wrote to Ahmad al-Moghrabi, who is serving 18 life sentences for his role in orchestrating deadly attacks during the second intifada.

Al-Moghrabi was found responsible for sending a suicide bomber to a bar mitzvah celebration, an attack that killed eleven people, including infants and young children. He also ordered a 17-year-old girl to carry out another suicide bombing, which, though thwarted, still resulted in fatalities. Waldau's letter, revealed by journalist Sofie Löwenmark, praised al-Moghrabi's "courage and perseverance in the fight for freedom and dignity."

Following the revelation, Waldau stated on Facebook that the letter was a mistake, claiming that none of the prisoners receiving letters were supposed to have been involved in violence against civilians. She asserted that a factual error occurred during the vetting process, which she deemed unacceptable, and that she does not support terrorism. The Left Party's leadership, including party leader Nooshi Dadgostar and party secretary Maria Forsberg, have expressed confidence in Waldau, calling the incident a regrettable error and emphasizing the importance of how a party acts when mistakes are made.

However, the incident has raised questions about the Left Party's due diligence. The list of prisoners reportedly came from the Palestinian National Federation, but the party apparently failed to conduct its own verification of the individuals' convictions before sending the letters. Critics argue that lending support, even mistakenly, to a figure with such a violent record highlights a significant lapse in judgment and vetting procedures within the party.