Personal Info
- Country of residence: Germany
Information
The German politician of Palestinian origin, Abd al-Karim Ali Iraqi, from a Palestinian family that was displaced in the first Nakba to Lebanon, and the family later moved to the camps of Sabra, Shatila and Tal al-Zaatar, and his family lived through the massacres that were committed against these two camps. He was born in Lebanon, then left for Czechoslovakia and then to the Republic of Germany, where he studied educational sociology, and worked in the field of sports, as a coach in the German Football Association.
In 2007 he became a member of the German Green Party, and in 2009 he was appointed vice-president of the party in the Nienburg region, then ran for elections in 2011 and won the first round, and obtained a seat on the local advisory council, as well as a seat in the city parliament, and he was also appointed deputy To the mayor, to be the first Palestinian Muslim Arab in all of Germany to hold this position, as well as the first Palestinian to obtain a seat in the city parliament.
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Delegated (together) to the city of Nienburg, he met the German (Palestinian) parliamentarian and had the following conversation with him:
How do you see yourself in German political society?
A- When I came to Germany, I was a young man, but I grew up loving Palestine and how to work to serve the Palestinian cause. Therefore, I thought it was better to belong to a German party through which I could serve my original country, so I joined the Green Party, which is one of the three strongest parties in the country. Germany. From a practical point of view, I exercise my political duties as a German deputy who serves his constituents, but the Palestinian cause has a special place in my heart.
*Let's talk about the social situation of the Palestinians in the region?
We thank God that the Palestinians in our region are in solidarity with each other, and there is cooperation between them and other Arab expatriates from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Jordan, and most importantly there is a strong family bond.
On the political level?
In fact, I am the only Palestinian who is politically active at the level of my party and parliament, but all this comes especially thanks to the support of the Palestinian and Arab youth for me, and the German youth as well, even thanks to the votes of the Turkish expatriates, because I represent them in my region as well, and I care about them and we have a good relationship with them, and from The cooperation between us is supposed to be strong by virtue of the strong Palestinian-Turkish relationship.
Q: Do you face problems as foreign Muslims in German society?
In fact, there are problems that began in Germany in general with regard to Muslims since the events of September 11 in the United States, and the wave that began against Muslims since that period, but we here in our region have never felt them, because we are in a quiet area and it is not a large area The population of the region exceeds 100,000. In addition, we play an important role with regard to Islam, whether in terms of lectures or meetings, and we explain to the German citizen that the Islamic religion is a religion of love, tolerance and moderation, and Islam is innocent of every extremist and every terrorist.
Q: Are there laws in the region that prevent Muslim women from wearing the hijab?
No, never. We enjoy complete freedom as Muslims, and there are no official or popular obstacles or harassment towards us as Muslims, we even have an Islamic cemetery, and there are many facilities for us as Muslims, as we have a forum in which the Arabic language is taught to all Arab expatriates and the Islamic religion is taught in it.
Q: Do you not establish contacts as a parliamentarian of Palestinian origin with the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah?
There are no direct contacts with Ramallah, but there was contact with the former Palestinian ambassador to Berlin, Salah Abdel Shafi, and it is assumed from a logical point of view that the Palestinian leadership cooperates with us, so that we play our role in serving the Palestinian cause, and I personally contacted the embassy and informed them of my political position, Frankly, the Palestinian embassy in Berlin must adopt and sponsor every German politician of Palestinian origin.
Q: You are in your responsible party position in the Green Party. Are the Palestinian events dealt with in the party meetings?
A- Yes, at the Green Party conference that was held in the German city of Kiel in 2012, the agenda included discussing the issue of recognition of Palestine at the United Nations, and I had campaigned among the party to support the project that I voted in favor of recognizing Palestine, and I was the only Palestinian in the conference.
Q: Are you being harassed by supporters of the Zionist movement while working for the Palestinian issue?
A: No, we organize our activities officially and with the support of the official authorities, where we organize demonstrations and events, and during the war on Gaza we organized a large demonstration, and some Zionists tried to attack us verbally, as he said that the demonstrators should have a bomb thrown at them, so I went to a policeman and told him So, end it.
* Do you have contact with the Arab League office in Berlin?
A: Unfortunately, the office of the Arab League in Berlin does not play the role it is supposed to play. I met with the ambassador of the Arab League, and told him of my activities as a Palestinian Arab parliamentarian. As usual, he promised to communicate with me, and I did not hear anything from him, and that was a year ago. In fact, I work in my political field to serve my Palestinian cause, and this is my duty.
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