10 years ago I would probably have said that I was zero percent foreign, but today I think I approach 30%. The political climate has changed, xenophobia has become legit, and I see some chilling parallels to the time just before WWII and the wars in Bosnia and Lebanon. I do not think we will learn from past mistakes. My grandparents emigrated from Palestine and my parents from Lebanon. We came to Denmark by chance, and in our minds we are still refugees, so should the development in Denmark escalate, we are mentally prepared.
I hope that we in ten years’ time have finished talking about refugees and immigrants all the time, so that we can start talking about the real issues. I would like to talk about how we ensure the survival of the welfare state, and how we ensure a generally well-educated population with a wide horizon and the ability to look beyond their own interests. My high school time has influenced me. It may sound a bit hippie-like, but I did learn something fundamental about human rights and various ways of looking at the world, and it made me think of how we can get people to find strength in diversity.
I consider myself a feminist, and I was on maternity leave for six months with my son. The first few months offer you a chance to get a unique relationship with your child, so I think some of the time should be earmarked for men. Some will claim it is not the man’s job to look after children, but man has evolved, and we no longer live like we did a century ago.
31 years / in a relationship / children / strategic partner / Brøndby Strand / born in a refugee camp in Lebanon / Palestinian background / came to Denmark via family reunification in 1990