V Party Politician Praised Massacre of Jews – Allowed to Remain in the Party

The internal conflict within the Left Party intensified after Expressen’s review of the party’s candidates. The newspaper identified 25 individuals who, in various ways, were said to have expressed support for terrorist groups or dictatorships. One of them was 35-year-old Sufian Farhat from Ronneby, who was running for municipal council, regional council, and parliament.

The review highlighted, among other things, social media posts in which Farhat described the massacre of October 7, 2023, as an “epic.” On the same day that the terrorist group Hamas carried out the attack on Israel, he wrote: “How beautiful it is to wake up to news about the honorable Palestine and its brave resistance!”

Farhat has rejected the notion that the posts amounted to support for terrorism, claiming instead that they were about the rights of Palestinians according to international law.

The reactions prompted the Left Party’s national organization to intervene. At a meeting in June, it was decided that Farhat would be removed from all election lists, which forced the party in Blekinge to print new ballots ahead of the autumn election. After the decision, Farhat informed the local party board that he intended to resign from his political assignments.

“The directive from our national organization was clear. He should be removed from the lists, leave the board, and resign from his assignments. If you as a politician have made that kind of statement, there is no place for you in the Left Party,” says group leader Peter Bowin to BLT.

But the local party association made a different judgement. After continued discussions, the board decided that Farhat would be allowed to remain as a member and also keep his municipal assignment, even though he no longer appears on the party’s election lists.

“We have decided that he can remain as a member and keep his municipal political assignment even if he has been removed from the lists. We still have confidence in Sufian,” says the Left Party’s chairman in Ronneby, Lasse Bourelius.

Translation from Arabic

Asked whether the decision risks sending the wrong signal to voters, Bourelius says no and refers to the fact that the statement was made a long time ago. He also argues that it is not certain it was interpreted correctly when translated from Arabic.

The local decision also meant that Farhat could retake his seat on the labor and welfare committee when the previous political organization was reinstated in Ronneby. He also participated in the most recent meeting of the committee. However, the decision has met with criticism within the party. Member Anna Ekberg is critical of Farhat’s return to the committee.

“I find it disturbing that a politician who openly praised a horrific terrorist attack should sit on our committee. Several of us reacted because we were convinced that he was out of politics,” she says.

The Left Party’s ombudsman in Blekinge, Jens Henningsson, says the issue was resolved after discussions between the party district and party leadership. He points out that Farhat’s statements were assessed as less serious than several other cases highlighted in Expressen’s review.

Sufian Farhat with Peter Bowin. Photo: Facebook

Teacher’s Assistant Praising Terrorism

Farhat’s case is not the only one from Blekinge that has attracted attention. In Karlskrona, Islam Qatesh was also removed from the Left Party’s municipal list. He later left the party after it emerged that he had long been posting messages on social media supporting several terror-listed organizations and attacks.

At the time, Qatesh worked as a teacher’s assistant at the private school Innovita in Karlskrona. After queries from BLT, the school’s owner AcadeMedia stated that he was no longer employed. The company did not want to comment further on why the employment was terminated, citing privacy reasons.

Sufian Farhat himself says he accepts the decision to be removed from the election lists but intends to continue his political work within the Left Party in Ronneby. He also maintains that the post was not intended to express support for Hamas’s attack but was about the rights of the Palestinian people under international law.