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Luai Ahmed

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Luai Ahmed
Luai Ahmed
Born (1993-09-05) September 5, 1993 (age 31)
Sanaa, Yemen
NationalitySwedish
Occupation(s)Journalist, columnist and influencer

Luai Ahmed (Arabic: لؤي أحمد; born September 5, 1993) is a Yemeni and Swedish journalist, columnist, and influencer. Ahmed is active on social media and is considered a critic of radical Islam and antisemitism in Islam.[1] Ahmed is openly gay and considers himself a Zionist.[2][3]

Biography

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Ahmed was raised in the capital of Yemen, Sana'a. He grew up in his home with the values instilled in him by his mother, Amal Basha, a peace and women's rights activist[4] and winner of several honors, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Toronto.[5]

Following his mother's feminist activism, the Al-Qaeda organization threatened his family in 2013[6][7][8] in an open letter to the population in Yemen to receive his family's address.[1]

In 2014 Luai Ahmed got an opportunity to hold a lecture at the invitation of the "Olof Palme Foundation" in Sweden. His family members urged him to seek asylum there.[1] He came to Halmstad and since then and for the next four years, he lived there. He asked for and received political asylum, and later also Swedish citizenship.[4][1] After that he lived in Malmö and in Stockholm. He sympathized with the political party Sweden Democrats, and wrote against the Swedish society’s contempt towards the party’s policies.[9]

Ahmed is active on social networks with accumulatively more than 390k followers, on X[10] with 192,000 followers, 112,000 on Instagram, 75,000 on TikTok, and 11,000 on Facebook. His videos get millions of views on average. During October 2023, his videos went viral on the network, and in the months since October and November 2023, he added about 100,000 followers.[11] He condemns what he says is the hypocrisy of the Middle East, the hatred of Jews that is instilled from a young age,[12] the servitude to religion and the Muslim world's delay in social and technological progress.[10]

In addition, he was a columnist for the conservative Swedish newspaper Bulletin, where he writes articles against anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews as well as articles in which Islam, integration and immigration policy are recurring topics. In Yemen he wrote for the newspapers Yemen Today, the Yemen Times and the youth magazine YoO. According to him, he does not agree with the concept of Islamophobia,[13] because phobia (according to him) expresses an extremely irrational and exaggerated fear. Atheists are not "phobic" because they fear of prison or the death penalty in Muslim societies. It is a very rational and tangible fear. Homosexuals' fear of prison or the death penalty in Muslim societies is palpable and rational. The fear of liberals, and especially free women in Islamic societies, of prison or the death penalty, is a rational and legitimate fear – so Ahmed said in an interview with the liberal newspaper Charlie Hebdo.[10]

In 2021, he published his book "A Paradoxical Journey of a Refugee from the Sharia of Yemen to the Rainbow in Sweden", which tells about his first five years in Sweden, with a humorous critique of extreme Islam, but also of Sweden, where he currently lives.[8]

Work and Advocacy

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Ahmed visited Israel in November 2023 during the war with Hamas, and his impressions of his visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque, which according to him the fact that non-Muslims are not allowed to enter, is actually apartheid, he spread on the network.[14][15]

On February 27th, 2025, Ahmed delivered a viral speech at the UN Human Rights Watch, where he condemned the organization’s silence on the ongoing crises in Yemen, Syria, and Sudan, highlighting how these pressing humanitarian disasters are consistently overshadowed by the UN’s focus on Israel. His remarks resonated worldwide, sparking widespread discussion on the priorities of international institutions in addressing human suffering. [16] [17]

Ahmed has made numerous high-profile appearances such as Piers Morgan,[18] Sky News, as well as Swedish national television, SVT, and Israeli television channels. [19]

His story has been profiled in a variety of international publications, such as Charlie Hebdo,[20] The Jerusalem Post,[21] and The Times of Israel.[22] He has also been featured in respected European outlets, including Germany’s Die Welt, Sweden’s Hallandsposten, and Israel Hayom. Ahmed’s consistent efforts to spotlight underreported humanitarian crises have made him a key figure in the ongoing global conversation about justice, human rights, and the need for more balanced international intervention.

Education

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Ahmed studied international business at the Lebanese International University in Yemen. He also studied International Migration and Ethnic Relations at Malmö University.

See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ^ a b c d Kullberg, Joakim (August 11, 2022). "Luai Ahmed – en Kontroversiell Tyckare Med Halmstadrötter". Hallandsposten (in Swedish). Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  2. ^ Debatt (2023-06-20). "DEBATT: Den stora invandringen gör att vi bögar väljer SD". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-01-24.
  3. ^ Olsson, Konrad (2022-08-11). "Omstridde krönikörens resa började i Halmstad". Hallandsposten (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  4. ^ a b Yemini, Ben-Dror (November 24, 2023). "The land of very limited possibilities". Ynet.
  5. ^ "UofTGrad17: Three things you should know about honorary grad Amal Basha". University of Toronto. June 15, 2017.
  6. ^ Apparently, following an aggressive confrontation she had in public with Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar – head of the second largest tribal federation (Hashid) in Yemmen, in the conference hall of the National Dialogue Conference in Yemmen. This was against the background of his withdrawal from the support of the feminist Nabila al-Zubayr to chair the body that decides on the future of the controversial Saada city.
  7. ^ Al-Muslimi, Farea (April 16, 2013). "Negotiating chaos – Yemmen's National Dialogue is already faltering". Executive.
  8. ^ a b Ahmed, Luai (2021). Asylum: A Refugee's Paradoxical Journey from Sharia Yemmen to Rainbow Sweden... Lava Förlag. ISBN 9789189261259. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  9. ^ Janouch, Katerina (2018-11-15). "Luai Ahmed: "Sluta mobba Sverigedemokraterna – vi är lika mycket värda som alla andra" | Katerina Magasin". katerinamagasin.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  10. ^ a b c Redaud, Lorraine (November 17, 2023). "Luai Ahmed, réfugié yémménite en Suède : "La Suède a accueilli l'islamisme à bras ouverts"". Charlie Hebdo.fr, (in French).
  11. ^ "The Yemmeni network influencer who became an Israel fan: "Now I feel like a Jew"". Mako. November 23, 2023.
  12. ^ "Luai Ahmed, a Swedish journalist who emigrated from Yemmen explains .... (in Hebrew – the interview in English)". 13Newsil. November 2023.
  13. ^ Watch a discussion with Gareth Cliff on this issue at "Gareth's Guests: Luai Ahmed" from December 5th, 2023.
  14. ^ Ahmed, Luai. "A Yemmeni Muslim blogger who traveled to see for himself the "apartheid regime" of the Zionists met with reality at Al-Aqsa Mosque". Beyadenu.
  15. ^ Ahmed, Luai (November 21, 2023). "Day One in Israel". X (Tweeter).
  16. ^ JPS. (2025, February 27). Speech at the UN Human Rights Watch event. The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved from https://www.jpost.com/international/article-844203. Accessed 31 March 2025.
  17. ^ Ahmed, L. (2025, March). *Instagram Reel: A powerful message on current Middle East conflicts*. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGpU0HsRiDh/. Accessed 31 March 2025.
  18. ^ Ahmed, L. (2025, March 2025). Interview with Piers Morgan. Retrieved from https://x.com/JustLuai/status/1750094523160510641. Accessed 31 March 2025.
  19. ^ SKS. (2025, March 2025). Interview on Sky News Australia. Retrieved from https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/shocked-to-the-core-proisrael-arab-speechless-from-the-lefts-support-of-hamas/video/e58d4e3b972024cd551e1ecf94ccb23e. Accessed 31 March 2025.
  20. ^ Redaud, L. (2023, November). Luai Ahmed: Refugee yéménite, la Suède a accueilli l'islamisme à bras ouverts. Charlie Hebdo. Retrieved from https://charliehebdo.fr/2023/11/religions/islam/luai-ahmed-refugie-yemenite-la-suede-a-accueilli-lislamisme-a-bras-ouverts/. Accessed 31 March 2025.
  21. ^ Merlin, O. (2025, March). *Yemen's Crisis and Its International Impact*. The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved from https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-786387. Accessed 31 March 2025.
  22. ^ Pacchani, G. (2025, March). Houthis are simply insane in Tel Aviv: Yemeni activist explains current conflict. The Times of Israel. Retrieved from https://www.timesofisrael.com/houthis-are-simply-insane-in-tel-aviv-yemeni-activist-explains-current-conflict/. Accessed 31 March 2025.
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