Swedish MP Ilona Szatmári Waldau lauds convicted terrorist Ahmad al-Moghrabi

Ilona Szatmári Waldau, a member of Sweden’s Left Party (Vänsterpartiet), wrote an open letter praising Ahmad al‑Moghrabi, a Palestinian prisoner serving a life sentence for organizing attacks that killed children. The letter was part of a campaign for Palestinian detainees coordinated with a Swedish Palestine association.

Media reports detail al‑Moghrabi’s crimes, including a 2002 suicide bombing at a bar‑mitzvah that killed eleven people, seven of them children, and a later incident where he supplied a bomb to a 17‑year‑old girl. The letter provoked criticism from right‑wing ministers Carl‑Oskar Bohlin and Maria Malmer Stenergard, who called the act antisemitic and politically provocative. The controversy has reignited debate over the Left Party’s stance on Palestinian prisoners and its potential impact on coalition politics.

Amnesty International has also highlighted mistreatment of other Palestinian detainees, adding a broader human‑rights context to the Swedish political dispute.