The article in brief
Several of the Left Party’s candidates in Helsingborg celebrated the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, despite the party leader Nooshi Dadgostar (V) publicly condemning the act.
The celebration was organized by the Palestinian Women’s Union, where several V candidates in the autumn elections are active. During the celebration, sweets were distributed, children were dressed in military uniforms and slogans in support of the attack were shouted.
The Left Party and the organizers behind the celebration have entered into an agreement on places on the party’s electoral list.
The left-wing party has been forced to exclude candidates after revelations about glorification of terrorism, anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories.
Two members of the Riksdag have been expelled amid strong protests. Lorena Delgado Varas on charges of anti-Semitism and Daniel Riazat on charges of “acting inappropriately”.
Landskrona’s top name Ali Hadrous (V) was kicked out after revelations that for several years he spread anti-Semitic messages and praised people with connections to terrorism. Today, he sits in the municipal council like a savage.
Orwa Kadoura, vice chairman of the Left Party in Malmö, left his duties after participating in terrorist tributes at demonstrations and spreading posts in support of the attacks on October 7 on Facebook.
The conflicts have shaken the Left Party. Several districts and hundreds of members have demanded that the party leadership reverse some of the exclusions.
Several candidates who left or were excluded have also started their own parties.
At the same time, the party leadership emphasizes V as capable of government and demands ministerial posts in the event of a possible change of power.
Now Expressen can reveal how more of the party’s representatives – who are candidates in the autumn elections – glorify terror.
From left, Nidal Hejjo (V), Tamam Hashan (V), Soha Elhams (V), Ingrid Mattiasson Saarinen (V), Umihana Rasovic (V), Adeeba Ali Majid (not a candidate) and Serin Tamim (V). Umihana Rasovic and Ingrid Mattiasson Saarinen are candidates in the election and sit, among other things, on the election committee for the Left Party in Helsingborg.
Dadgostar: “The violence must stop”
The day after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, 7 October 2023, there was a party leader debate on SVT. The Left Party’s party leader Nooshi Dadgostar was clear in his condemnation:
– Hamas’ terrorist attacks on civilians must stop immediately, otherwise we may see a bloodbath in this region in the near future, she told SVT.
In an interview with DN 2024 after revelations about anti-Semitism and terrorist support in the party, Nooshi Dadgostar said:
– Anti-Semitism and racism have no place in the Left Party or in Sweden.
However, the attacks were celebrated elsewhere in the country. The Helsingborg-based Palestinian Women’s Union invited the same day as the October 7 attacks to a “wedding” to celebrate. The invitation shared a clip of civilians fleeing the Supernova music festival, where over 350 people were killed.
Screenshot from the celebration
Photo: PRIVATE
About 50 people gathered at Gustav Adolfs Torg in Helsingborg, where they handed out sweets and waved Palestinian flags. Several children had been dressed in military uniforms and were lifted up among the celebrating crowd, who chanted, among other things:
– Tomorrow Hamas will come to us with a suicide operation. God is great and victory will be in our hands!
And:
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– Envy to the martyr’s mother, I wish my mother was in your place.
Among the protesters was Tamam Hashan, 65, active in the Palestinian Women’s Union and who is now running for the Left Party in the elections this fall. Clips from the scene show her joining in and chanting slogans with the desire to become a martyr and posing for pictures.
The express reaches Tamam Hashan by phone. Despite the fact that she is a candidate for the municipal council in Helsingborg, she finds it difficult to express herself in Swedish. She therefore conducts the interview in Arabic.
– We did not celebrate because this problem arose. On the contrary, it was a disaster for Gaza, says Tamam Hashan.
She says she doesn’t remember people singing about suicide surgeries, handing out candy or it being a festive atmosphere.
– We were told that it would be a gathering, not a celebration. Then came music.
The Left Party condemns Hamas and describes them as a terrorist organization. Do you agree?
– I don’t know. I can’t rate them. What I do know is that we Palestinians have a country and are waging a righteous struggle, but I don’t think what Hamas did was right.
– You know we are from the PLO, right?
She concludes by saying that she has tried to participate in all pro-Palestinian demonstrations, even before October 7, 2023, to highlight the injustice Palestinians are living under and to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Nidal Hejjo, 65, is also active in the Palestinian Women’s Union and a candidate in the municipal elections in Helsingborg. On October 7, 2023, she published a post on Facebook praising the attacks.
Among other things, she writes that “a victory from God is not far off” and publishes images with the text “Your youths are like flying falcons and proud lions” and “Good morning to the rocket salvos, good morning to the Palestinian military operations“.
When Expressen reaches her, she also says that she prefers to have the conversation in Arabic. Expressen first needs to explain that the party she represents has said that October 7 was a terrorist act.
– Regardless of whether I am with the Left Party, the Social Democrats or any other party, is there any conflict between my fight for Palestine and running for a certain party? she asks.
Then she chooses to end the call.
– For us, Palestine is not a political issue. For us, Palestine is first and foremost a personal struggle. I think we will have to take up this topic and discussion at another time.
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However, Nidal Hejjo chooses not to return.
Soha Elhams, 49, is a candidate in both the municipal and regional elections in Helsingborg. She also often participates in events with the Palestinian Women’s League.
On her social media, she mourns the death of a Hamas fighter in January 2023, whom she describes as her cousin. In the post she shared, the slain person poses with rocket launchers and assault rifles, wearing military uniforms and the symbols of Hamas’ military branch.
On her Tiktok, she has also shared a music video with AI-generated videos about how the “Zionists” control several of the Arab world’s imams and rulers.
When Expressen reaches her, she says that she cannot participate in an interview without the party’s approval. Despite the fact that she is a candidate in both the municipal and regional elections, she says that she only wants to have contact via email to “ensure clear, correct and documented communication”. Then she chooses not to respond via email. Expressen sends another message on Whatsapp. Then she replies:
“STOP contacting me via WhatsApp. That’s enough NOW!!!!!! I have been so clear several times via conversation that you should write via email ONLY“
Opponents of Hamas – still celebrating
The Palestinian Women’s League is close to the Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO, which is ideologically opposed to Hamas. Despite that, the union chose to celebrate the 7 October attacks. On its Facebook page, the association publishes several posts in support of the attacks and the Palestinian resistance movement.
“The participants in the demonstration carried Palestinian flags and shouted slogans in support of the Palestinian resistance movement and calls to continue the jihad to liberate every part of the Palestinian Arab land and cleanse it of the “filth” considered to be the Zionist occupation enemy”, says one post.
“The Palestinians today write the greatest heroic tales on the soil of Palestine through their faith and their longing for freedom, without fatigue or giving up and with a faithful soul. In Palestine there are lions which, when they roar, neither yield nor bend. God, protect them and give them strength”, it says in another.
Serin Tamim, 43, is responsible for media and communications at the Palestine Women’s Federation. She is running for the Left Party in the municipal elections in Gislaved.
When Expressen reaches Serin Tamim, she confirms that she posts on the association’s Facebook page. But she is not responsible for what is published there, she says.
– It’s not just me who decides on the posts.
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At the same time, she believes that it is wrong to bring up something she did in 2023.
– I am a politician in 2026, I was not a politician in 2023.
What do you think today about the attacks on October 7?
– I can’t say anything about that.
Why not?
– Because it is a political situation. And we in the Palestine Women’s Union focus on women and children who are victims of the war.
The interview is initially conducted in Swedish, but we switch to Arabic so that she can express herself more easily.
– I haven’t shared anything on my personal page and it’s not just me who posts there, but there are two or three other sisters who also do it.
Do you think there is anything wrong with sharing content promoting terrorism, even if on a page other than your own?
– An important point, we have not praised anything.
In addition to being responsible for the association’s social media, Serin Tamim is also active in her own channels.
On Tiktok, she has shared a post about New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, where he poses with men dressed in women’s clothes. In the post, it says in Arabic that “Zohran represents the agenda of Satan’s temple” and that he supports sexual relations outside of marriage, same-sex marriage, abortion and pedophilia.
After the interview, the leadership of the Left Party in Jönköping County contacted Expressen with the following comment:
“Our position is clear: anti-Semitism is completely unacceptable. This person will therefore have to leave the association in question or refrain from representing the Left Party.“
Soon after, they announce that Serin Tamim has left the Palestine Women’s League.
The Left Party in an official collaboration
In 2025, the Left Party invites several people from “popular associations within the Palestinian liberation organization PLO”. Present were people active in the Palestine Women’s League and other people who have spread anti-Semitism and glorified terror.
The Left Party and PLO representatives in Sweden have created close ties between the organizations during the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Representatives of the party have attended meetings and organized joint events. In March 2026, the Palestinian site Shfanews reported that several organizations close to the PLO and the Left Party in Helsingborg had entered into an agreement. According to it, a “number of brothers and sisters” in the Palestine movement should be allowed to be on the municipal list for the party in the election. The pictures in the article show several of the candidates who would later end up on the electoral list, even though they had no background in the party.
Even at the national level, the leadership of the Left Party has had meetings with PLO representatives in Sweden. The Palestinian ambassador in Sweden, who represents the Palestinian authorities and has been invited to several of the party’s meetings.
In May 2025, Nooshi Dadgostar met representatives of “the popular unions within the Palestinian Liberation Organization PLO” in the Riksdag. Among those present were people active in the Palestine Women’s League and other people who have spread anti-Semitism and glorified terror. Among other things, Yaser Alshobaki, who Expressen reported on in connection with Greta Thunberg’s trip to Gaza. On his social media he had glorified terror and spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
This is the PLO
The Palestinian Authority was established in 1994 as a result of the Oslo Accords, with the aim of giving the Palestinians limited autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It is an administrative body responsible for civil affairs, such as education, healthcare and finance, as well as for some security in parts of the West Bank. However, their power is limited by Israeli occupation and control in large parts of the area.
The PLO is an umbrella organization that represents the Palestinian people in the international arena. They have had observer status in the UN since 1974.
The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm is the representative of the Palestinian state that Sweden recognized in 2014.
The largest Palestinian groups not covered by the PLO are Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Both are labeled as terrorists.
