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Local Sweden
2 days ago
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Politics in Sweden: Who is the new leader of the struggling Liberals?
Simona Mohamsson vowed to bring 'tough love' to immigration and integration politics in her first speech as party leader. Will one of her first moves be to change the Liberals' stance on the far-right Sweden Democrats, asks The Local Sweden's Editor Emma Löfgren. Advertisement We did mention Simona Mohamsson in our analysis a month ago as a possible candidate for the position as leader, but she was hardly one of the favourites. Her appointment came as many of the top names, however, said they were not interested in the role, including Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari. Mohamsson, who spent most of her childhood and teenage years in south-western Sweden, has had a meteoric career within the Liberal Party, only entering national politics as recently as April, when she took over as party secretary – one of the most senior roles within a party. Before that the 30-year-old had been active in youth and local politics, serving as deputy chair of the party's LUF youth wing and city councillor in charge of social services in Hisingen, a suburb of Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city. She was born in Hamburg, Germany, and moved to Överlida, a village of around 500 people in the countryside south-east of Gothenburg, when she was eight years old. Her father is an Israeli Arab born in Haifa and her mother is from a mountain village in Lebanon, close to the Israeli border. The family changed their name from Mohammed to the more Swedish-sounding Mohamsson shortly after arrival in Sweden. Advertisement She was formally elected as the new leader of the Liberals on June 24th, and thrown into the deep end only hours later when she gave a speech on the main stage of Sweden's annual, high-profile Almedalen political week on the island of Gotland. Mohamsson dedicated a significant amount of her speech to one of the Liberals' main issues: schools, saying she had arrived in Sweden to a 'flumskola' (a Swedish slang word that refers to the school system as 'frivolous') run by the centre-left Social Democrats, a stark difference to the German school system she had started out in. 'That is my promise to those of you listening. The school as an institution of knowledge must be restored. Folkpartiet classic,' she told the audience at Almedalen Week. In the end, which she didn't mention, she actually spent most of her Swedish school years under a national government led by the centre-right Alliance (including the Liberals, known at the time as Folkpartiet) for eight years and a centre-right majority city council. Advertisement She also praised the Tidö coalition – the government made up of the Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals, supported by the far-right Sweden Democrats – for its approach to crime and punishment, urging 'hard measures for soft values'. 'We should not have a Sweden where police officers are shot. Where children are killing other children. With streets of sorrow or neighbours in fear,' she said. She said integration policies should place tougher demands on people, but also offer opportunities, such as Swedish for Immigrants classes coupled with language requirements for citizenship, or vocational training but also a cap on benefits. 'That's Liberal politics for more Mohamssons. Where second-generation immigrants become first-generation Swedes. With support from society, but also the clear expectations of society. Tough love, for a Sweden that sticks together,' she said. Advertisement Mohamsson avoided addressing criticism of her party's collaboration with the Sweden Democrats in her speech, saying she could 'work together with all parties', before launching a blistering attack on the centre-left opposition, which she argued shared neither a joint vision for Sweden nor insights into the problems the country faces. 'It's not an option you want to collaborate with if you want to push Sweden in a better and safer direction,' she said. At a press conference after the speech, she said the Liberals would make a clear statement about future government coalitions after the summer holidays. The party has previously refused to be part of a government that includes the Sweden Democrats, or support such a government. But according to unconfirmed reports by public broadcaster SVT, the party management will attempt to change its stance. Based on current polling figures, the best hope for a right-wing government after the 2026 election is if the Sweden Democrats are allowed to formally join the government. That's if the Liberals even make it into parliament, which is not a safe bet. In the latest major poll by number-crunchers Statistics Sweden, they were polling at 2.8 percent, far below the 4 percent required to get any seats in parliament. Will Mohamsson's "tough love" be able to turn things around for the Liberals? It remains to be seen. Politics in Sweden is The Local's weekly analysis, guide or look ahead to what's coming up in Swedish politics. Update your newsletter settings to receive it directly to your inbox.
Local Sweden
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Sweden's Liberals propose Simona Mohamsson as party leader
The nomination committee for Sweden's Liberal Party has proposed 30-year-old party secretary Simona Mohamsson as the next party leader. Advertisement Lars Persson Skandevall, the chair of the party's nomination committee, announced Mohamsson's name at a press conference in the Swedish parliament on Thursday morning. She is expected to be formally voted into place at an extraordinary meeting of the party's regional leaders held on June 24th. "My goal is for the Liberals is to make it a party in contact with issues on the ground," Mohamsson said after the announcement. "For me this about teamwork." Mohamsson has had a meteoric career within the Liberal Party, only entering national politics as recently as April, when she took over as party secretary. Before that she has been active in youth and local politics, serving as vice chair of the party's LUF youth wing and the city councillor in charge of social services in Hisingen, a suburb of Gothenburg. Mohamsson's appointment came as many of the favourites to take the position, chief among them Sweden's current environment minister Romina Pourmokhtari and schools minister Lotta Edholm, both said they were not interested in the role. When making the announcement, Persson Skandevall said that Mohamsson was "tailor-made for the role of party leader". "Simona is fearless, clear and direct and firmly rooted in the liberal movement. We are totally convinced that she is the right person," he said. Advertisement Mohamsson has in the past been critical of the party's decision to be part of a government coalition dependent on the support of the far-right Sweden Democrats, but has recently said she has changed her mind on the issue after seeing how it has worked in practice. Mohamsson's father is an Israeli Arab born in Haifa and her mother is from a mountain village in Lebanon, close to the Israeli border. She was born in Hamburg and then moved to Överlida in the countryside south of Gothenburg when she was seven years old. The family changed their name from Mohammed to the more Swedish-sounding Mohamsson shortly after arrival in Sweden.
Jordan News
24-03-2025
- Jordan News
One Dead and One Injured in Shooting Near Haifa - Jordan News
One Dead and One Injured in Shooting Near Haifa Israeli emergency services and media reported that an Israeli man was killed and another was injured in a shooting incident near Yokneam, southeast of Haifa. اضافة اعلان The Israeli police explained that a gunman ran over civilians at a bus stop near Yokneam before getting out of his car and opening fire on them. They added that the assailant was "neutralized" immediately. There are indications that the attack was security-related. أسفرت عن قتيل ومصاب.. إطلاق نار قرب مدينة يوكنعام جنوب شرق حيفا ووسائل إعلام إسرائيلية تعلن "القضاء على المنفذ"#فيديو #حرب_غزة — الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) March 24, 2025 Israeli Channel 13 reported that a 75-year-old man was killed, and a 20-year-old man was critically injured in the shooting and vehicular attack. It also mentioned that the assailant was killed by police officers, and emergency teams and large security forces were dispatched to the scene. The Israeli Broadcasting Authority stated that the attacker was an Israeli Arab, and that a border police soldier was able to kill him immediately. - *Al Jazeera*
Khaleej Times
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
First deadly attack in Israel since Gaza truce began
A stabbing in Israel's city of Haifa on Monday left one person and the Israeli Arab attacker dead, authorities said, in the first fatal attack since the Gaza ceasefire began in January. The stabbing came one day after Israel blocked aid to the Gaza Strip during an impasse over extending the truce in the Palestinian territory. The six-week first phase of the ceasefire ended at the weekend. It had enabled the entry of vital food, shelter and medical assistance to Gaza. Israel's decision prompted the United Nations to call for an immediate restoration of the aid. Monday's attack happened at a bus and train station in Haifa, a large coastal city in northern Israel home to a mixed Jewish and Arab population. "A terrorist exited a bus, stabbed multiple civilians, and was subsequently neutralised by a security guard and a civilian at the scene," the police said. Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service said they pronounced dead a man aged around 70, and treated four other wounded people. Police identified the assailant as a member of Israel's Druze Arab minority. After the Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, repeated attacks — often involving knives — killed or wounded people in Israel. Authorities often blamed "terrorists", a term they use for incidents linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Violence largely subsided Until Monday, the Gaza truce had coincided with a halt to such attacks within Israel, as violence largely subsided in Gaza after more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas Palestinian militants. Hamas's attack that sparked the Gaza war resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, while Israel's military retaliation in Gaza has killed more than 48,300 people, also mostly civilians, data from both sides show. Truce mediators Egypt and Qatar accused Israel of blatantly violating the ceasefire deal by halting aid, a move which according to AFP images left trucks loaded with goods lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing to Gaza. The truce also saw the exchange of prisoners and hostages between Israel and Hamas. Of the 251 captives taken during Hamas's attack, 58 remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead. Early on Sunday Israel had announced a truce extension until mid-April that it said US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had proposed. But Hamas has repeatedly rejected an extension, instead favouring a transition to the truce deal's second phase that could bring a permanent end to the war. The Islamist group said the "decision to suspend humanitarian aid is cheap blackmail, a war crime and a blatant coup against the (ceasefire) agreement". 'Consequences' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Sunday announced that "all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will be suspended" and Hamas would face "consequences" if it did not accept the temporary truce extension. On Monday, Germany's foreign ministry said: "Granting or denial of humanitarian access is not a legitimate means of pressure in negotiations." Berlin called on Israel to "immediately" stop blocking the aid. Saudi Arabia and Jordan also denounced Israel's aid decision. The European Union condemned what it called Hamas's refusal to accept the extension of the first phase, and added that Israel's aid block "risked humanitarian consequences". Brussels called for "a rapid resumption of negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire". Gazans expressed concern over prices that they said immediately surged. The war in Gaza destroyed or damaged most buildings, displaced almost the entire population and triggered widespread hunger, according to the UN. Under the first phase of the truce, Gaza militants handed over 25 living hostages and eight bodies in exchange for about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. In Jerusalem late Sunday, AFP images showed protesters outside Netanyahu's residence calling on their government to make a deal that would bring home the remaining Israeli hostages. Netanyahu's critics in Israel have regularly blamed him for delays throughout the months of truce negotiations. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of the far-right faction in Netanyahu's governing coalition, has threatened to quit if the war is not resumed. The prime minister is also on trial for corruption charges, which he denies, and on Monday appeared in court to testify in the case, video images from the court showed. On Sunday Israel's military said it had conducted an air strike targeting suspects in northern Gaza, as the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported at least four people killed and six wounded in Israeli attacks. The military on Monday said it had struck a "suspicious motorised vessel" off Khan Younis in southern Gaza, and separately opened fire on two suspects who it said posed a threat.
Al Manar
27-02-2025
- Al Manar
At Least 10 Wounded in Combined Ramming-Stabbing Attack in Hadera: Israeli Media
At least 10 Zionists were wounded in a car-ramming attack on Highway 65 near the Pardes Hanna-Karkur intersection, Israeli Police confirmed on Thursday afternoon. At around 4:18 p.m. local time, a vehicle drove into several pedestrians, and ten people were wounded, Israeli media menti9oned. Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera said it had received 10 evacuated individuals from the incident, one is in critical condition, two in serious condition, six are in mild condition, and one in moderate condition. Israeli media reported that two police officers were stabbed at the scene at the Karkur intersection. The attacker was shot dead by Israel Police. Israeli media revealed that the terrorist was a 24-year-old Israeli Arab from Ma'ale Iron with no criminal or security record. Israel Police spokesperson: 'The terrorist ran over several people at a bus station, then proceeded to stab others and crashed into a police vehicle.'
