Response to interpellation 2025/26:489 on al-Nakba
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 M considers that Sweden stands behind Israel's right to exist and its legitimate security needs 1. M emphasizes that Israel has a right to self-defense after the attacks on October 7, 2023 2 3 4. M pushes for a two-state solution, humanitarian access to Gaza, sanctions against extremist settlers and ministers 1 2 3. M has allocated large sums for humanitarian aid in Gaza 2. M considers that the government is pushing for concrete steps towards a lasting peace in Gaza 4. M argues that Hamas must be disarmed, that Israel must withdraw from Gaza and that a sustainable peace must be built on a two-state solution 4.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! Jamal El-Haj has asked me if I intend to acknowledge Nakba Day and, if so, how. Furthermore, Jamal El-Haj has asked me if I intend to work for more powerful measures to prevent the abuses and the humanitarian catastrophe that Palestinians risk being subjected to in Gaza and in the West Bank. Finally, Jamal El-Haj has asked if I intend to act against the continued expansion of illegal settlements and the confiscation of Palestinian land in the West Bank.
The government has not taken any initiative aimed at highlighting Nakba Day. Sweden has, since Israel's establishment in 1948, stood fully and firmly behind the country's right to exist. It follows from this that Israel has legitimate security needs. At the same time, Israel's right to defend itself must be exercised in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law.
A self-evident starting point for Sweden's and the EU's policy is that the Palestinians have a right to their own state. A negotiated two-state solution, based on international law, is the path that enables both Israel and Palestine to exist side by side within secure and internationally recognized borders.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains extremely difficult, and we see a further deterioration of the situation in the West Bank. The government continues to actively push for the peace plan for Gaza to be implemented in accordance with international law and with meaningful Palestinian participation. The EU needs to continue to push for concrete steps to be taken towards a lasting peace in Gaza. It is a prerequisite for the work for a two-state solution. Hamas must be disarmed and cannot have any role in a future governance of Gaza. Steps must be taken to reunite Gaza with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.
The government has clearly condemned Israeli decisions aimed at increasing control over the West Bank. The government is actively working for the EU to introduce additional sanction listings against extremist settlers and settler organizations as well as against extremist Israeli ministers.
The government has also put forward clear demands for unimpeded humanitarian access for the UN, international non-governmental organizations, and humanitarian actors. Sweden is working within the EU to increase the pressure on Israel to act in accordance with international law and in a way that does not undermine the two-state solution.
Jamal El-Haj (-)
Madam Speaker! Minister for Foreign Affairs! On May 15, Nakba Day is observed, the day when one people celebrates and another mourns the loss of its land, its home, and its destiny. For Palestinians around the world, Nakba is not only a historical event from 1948 but also a living memory of displacement and separation and a sorrow that has been passed down from generation to generation.
In connection with the formation of the state of Israel in 1948, around 750,000 Palestinians were forced to leave their homes, villages, and cities. Families were split, communities were emptied, and hundreds of villages were destroyed or leveled to the ground. For many, life changed forever. Even today, Palestinian families carry the keys to their old homes as symbols of memory, the right, and the continued longing to return – a heritage that has been passed down from generation to generation.
Despite decades of exile, occupation and attempts to erase the Palestinian identity, Palestine lives on in people's hearts, memories and faith in the future.
Israel claims a historical right to the land that can easily be disproven. Furthermore, a historical claim from several thousand years ago cannot determine the ownership of a land. If such claims were decisive, many current borders in the world would need to be redrawn. With the same reasoning, Denmark could have claimed back Skåne, Blekinge, and Halland.
Long before the Israelites arrived in the area about 3,000 years ago, there were already established peoples, cities, and civilizations in Canaan, Palestine. Jericho is counted as one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities with its 11,000 years. The city was 7,000 years old before Abraham's time, when he migrated to Canaan from the city of Ur outside Babylon in present-day Iraq. Jerusalem, Hebron, and Gaza were about 2,500 years old and established cities long before the Israelite migration from Egypt to Canaan, Palestine.
In his response, the Foreign Minister repeats once again that Israel has the right to defend itself. But according to international law, Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem are occupied territories. There are strong international law arguments that an occupying power cannot invoke self-defense against the population living under occupation. It is instead the occupied people who have the right to defend themselves and their self-determination against an occupying power.
The one-sided focus on Israel's right to self-defense has had terrible consequences. Gaza lies in ruins. Tens of thousands of children have been killed. Hospitals, schools, and other civil infrastructure have been bombed. In the West Bank, extremist settlers terrorize Palestinian civilians while Israeli authorities contribute to it.
In our previous interpellation debate, I gave Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard the opportunity to address the murder of Folke Bernadotte. She did not take that chance. Today, I give her a new opportunity: to address the Nakada Day and show that Sweden stands on the right side of history. Will the Foreign Minister take this opportunity?
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! The war in Gaza has had devastating consequences for the civilian population. Despite the ceasefire, the humanitarian situation is extremely difficult. Sweden is one of the world's largest donors to the humanitarian response in Gaza. At the end of 2025, the Government decided to maintain the increased readiness for support for the humanitarian response by allocating a maximum of 800 million kronor to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the region for 2026. Most recently in March, the Government decided on a support package to Gaza of 555 million kronor, which among other things will contribute to 150,000 children gaining access to improved health and medical care. Since October 2023, Sweden's total support amounts to over 2 billion kronor.
The Government continues to actively drive the issue of humanitarian access in our own contacts with Israel, together with other EU countries, through our multilateral partners and in discussions at the American-Israeli Coordination Center for Gaza, CMCC. Sweden also has an observer who follows the humanitarian issues on-site at the coordination center.
So far, the humanitarian issues.
I must say that there was much in Jamal El-Haj's first post that was highly noteworthy. I therefore have a number of questions that I would like to ask Jamal El-Haj.
As I have pointed out previously, Sweden has since Israel's establishment in 1948 stood fully and firmly behind the country's right to exist. I want to ask the interpellator if he stands behind this. What line of demarcation does he think marks when refugee status should cease to be inherited? Does the interpellator mean that Israel does not have the right to exist?
Then we come to the question of the right to self-defense. What I heard there was extremely remarkable. Does Jamal El-Haj mean that Israel does not have the right to exercise self-defense after the heinous attacks on October 7, 2023? Just as I said in the previous debate with Miljöpartiet, it is significant how the left constantly seems to forget these completely horrific attacks. I truly hope they are never forgotten, because they must never be repeated.
Jamal El-Haj (-)
Madam Speaker! Of course, I stand for the two-state solution. I have said that a thousand times.
In a previous interpellation debate, a question was asked of me regarding my view on Hamas and what principles I apply when it comes to contacts with terrorist organizations. The Foreign Minister forgot to mention this this time, but I believe the question demonstrates a remarkable ignorance. Had the Foreign Minister listened to my speech in the Riksdag on terrorism on March 31, 2026, the question would not have needed to be asked. Instead, the minister chose to rely on information from a troll factory and from ignorant government officials who used me as a scapegoat to promote their political goals.
Here is an account: My previous party asked me to participate in the Palestinian conference that took place in Malmö in May 2023. The purpose of the conference was to draw attention to UN resolution 194 regarding the Palestinians' right to return to their homes, a resolution that Sweden voted for. The conference was the 20th in order and gathered over 20,000 participants. Among the participants were Jews, diplomats, and actually even representatives for M.
One day before the conference, the party urged me to refrain from participating, as there were reports that the conference chairman had financed organizations with links to Hamas. I personally raised the issue with him, and he firmly denied these reports. The chairman resides in the Netherlands. I have never had any relationship with him, either before or after the conference. Furthermore, it has recently been reported in the media that he has been cleared of the allegations concerning alleged links to Hamas.
I did not consider that I could refrain from participating in the conference. My experience is that there are often attempts to counteract the Palestinians' organizing and to hinder support for Palestinians living under occupation. I did not want to contribute to such attempts succeeding. For me, a non-participation would also have meant a betrayal of the Palestinian people's cause, as well as towards my own family. That burden was one I was not prepared to bear.
In my speech at the conference, I spoke about a two-state solution, about the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinians, and about the importance of engaging in the societies where we live. These are positions that Hamas does not share. For many years, I have also actively opposed Hamas through motions, debate articles, and interviews, material that the Foreign Minister has had the opportunity to review. I have long been suspicious of Hamas's role in Palestinian politics and have voiced criticism of the organization's actions and its consequences for the peace process.
Svenska Dagbladet and other Swedish media have reported that the EU's former foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has accused Israel of having for a long time indirectly contributed to strengthening Hamas as a counterweight to the PLO and the Palestinian Authority. I asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs for a meeting where I could explain these circumstances and answer any questions. This request has not been answered.
The Foreign Minister's false accusations against me regarding links to Hamas distract from what this debate is actually about, namely the situation for the Palestinians and nothing else.
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! It seems that I have stepped into a rather sensitive area here. I simply took at face value what Jamal El-Haj himself said in his previous post, including that Israel does not have a right to self-defense, which I thought was a highly remarkable statement following Hamas's heinous attacks on October 7, 2023.
It was Jamal El-Haj who now himself chose to bring up that Hamas conference in Malmö that he participated in – in rather poorly chosen company, so to speak. It was not I who brought it up, but I proceeded in my questions from what Jamal El-Haj said in this interpellation debate. I am still quite curious about the answer to my question about whether he really means that Israel does not have a right to self-defense after the attacks on October 7.
Back to the questions asked in the interpellation! The Government views the continued settlement policy and the settlement violence in the West Bank with very great seriousness. This violates international law and undermines the two-state solution. We have long been clear that it must come to an end.
Before the meeting in the Council for Foreign Affairs on April 21, Sweden, together with France, submitted proposals for increased tariffs on products from Israeli settlements in occupied territory as well as requirements for export certificates. The purpose is to increase the pressure on the Israeli government to change its behavior in the West Bank and to cease the settlement policy. We are now awaiting the Commission's response regarding different options for this differentiation policy. We also continue to push for the listing of extremist Israeli ministers on sanctions lists.
The Government welcomes that the High Representative has urged the European Commission to present concrete proposals before the next foreign ministers' meeting, and we are working actively together with like-minded Member States to actually achieve measures against settlements.
Support for taking action and implementing further measures against Israel's government is growing. We welcome that the EU has now been able to agree to proceed with further sanctions against Israeli extremist settlers and settler organizations, as well as further listings under the sanctions regime against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The government will continue to push for sanctions to also be directed at extremist Israeli ministers, as I mentioned. We also advocate for further decisions on sanction listings of settlers and settler organizations.
Jamal El-Haj (-)
Madam Speaker! I believe the Foreign Minister is answerable. Who has the right to defend themselves – those who occupy a people or the people who are under occupation? Would Norway not have had the right to resist Germany when Norway was occupied?
In Sweden, the memory of the Holocaust is deeply anchored through memorial days, museums, and education in schools. But what is the purpose of learning about the Holocaust if we do not simultaneously understand the mechanisms of dehumanization, regardless of who is affected? If we do not draw universal lessons from history, the memory of the Holocaust risks being reduced to a political tool rather than being a warning for the future. The most important lesson of the Holocaust is that one needs to identify and counteract the processes that can lead to persecution, ethnic cleansing, and genocide, regardless of who the victims are.
Nakbadagen is being highlighted today by more and more countries, people, and institutions around the world. It is time for Sweden to give this day recognition and provide space for reflection and learning. It is time for the Foreign Minister to leave the moderate bubble and begin to see the world with different eyes, as it actually is. That is what Carl Bildt did, and he became a respected international actor with weight far beyond Sweden's borders.
Perhaps the Foreign Minister is approaching the end of his time in power. In hindsight, it is often the last actions that people remember and judge. Therefore, there is still an opportunity to show leadership, courage, and responsibility in issues concerning peace, justice, and human dignity.
Let the final deeds be good, such as history can remember with respect.
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! The Government continues to push for concrete steps to be taken towards a lasting peace in Gaza that can lead to a two-state solution.
The government is clear that Hamas must be disarmed and that Israel must withdraw from Gaza. Steps must be taken to reunite Gaza with the West Bank under Palestinian authority. It is my conviction that a sustainable peace between Israel and Palestine must be built on a negotiated two-state solution in accordance with international law where both sides can coexist for peace and security.
The theme for this morning in the chamber has well been wild. It is only a wild one who can seriously claim that Israel does not have the right to defend itself against Hamas after the heinous attacks on October 7, 2023. I have asked the control question to Jamal El-Haj time and again. He has stood by the claim that Israel does not have the right to defend itself – this after the attacks when people and children were burned alive. Women were raped and people were murdered. We who have been on site at kibbutzim and other places, the Nova festival, have had to witness the atrocities that Hamas committed.
We probably find it difficult to even come to terms with the fact that there are people in this chamber who claim that one does not have a right to defend oneself against this. But it is also, thank goodness, the case that Jamal El-Haj's time in power is coming to an end.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.