Jamal El-Haj (politician)

Jamal El-Haj (born 1960) is a Swedish politician, trade unionist and member of the Riksdag, the national legislature. A former member of the Social Democratic Party, he has represented Malmö Municipality since September 2018. He had previously been a substitute member of the Riksdag for Leif Jakobsson between June 2016 and September 2018.

El-Haj was educated in Tripoli, Lebanon and has a degree in sociology from the Lebanese University. He has held various roles at the IF Metall trade union. He was a member of the municipal council in Malmö Municipality from 2002 to 2014.

Alleged links to Hamas
In March 2023, El-Haj attended a conference hosted by the European Palestinians Conference, seen together with a known activist for the Islamist movement Hamas, Amin Abu Rashid, who was later arrested for financing terrorism linked to the organization. A number of Swedish politicians immediately demanded his resignation. In May 2023, it was announced that El-Haj had been temporarily dismissed from his position in the Swedish parliament.

After the events of 7 October 2023, where Hamas attacked Israel, leading to significant casualties, Jamal El-Haj was approached by Swedish media for a comment. El-Haj chose not to participate in the interview. This decision was interpreted in various ways. After having received widespread criticism from both Riksdag members and various media platforms, he later publicly affirmed his decision to distance himself from Hamas.

Corruption scandal
On February 7, 2024, a leaked document revealed El-Haj's attempt to leverage his Riksdag position to influence the Swedish Migration Agency concerning the asylum application of a controversial Muslim religious leader. Additionally, it came to light that he had requested the agency to conceal his efforts to sway the decision. As a result of widespread criticism among the Swedish public, the Social Democrats declared on 9 February 2024 that they had lost confidence in El-Haj and asked him to resign. He subsequently left the party, but retained his seat in the Riksdag as an independent MP.