On a quiet winter morning in Olofstrom, Tamam Abou Hamidan and her daughter Violeta reflect on life after fleeing Gaza. From a pizza restaurant worker to mayor, Tamam's journey in Sweden unfolds. Despite political success, she remains haunted by the ongoing plight in Gaza.

Olofström

The U.S-brokered ceasefire deal in Gaza is holding, after Hamas released the remaining Israeli hostages.

Middle East Conflict

Refugee's journey from Gaza to political success in Sweden

It's a quiet winter's morning in the home of Tamam Abu Hamidan and her daughter Violetta. Just over 11 years after another Israeli invasion of Gaza became one too many for a mother with a newborn baby in Jabalia. Life has changed completely. The pair not only settled in Sweden, but Tamam became mayor of their town of Olofström. Violetta was so small, three months old when Israel invaded again. I thought, I can't forgive myself if anything happens to her. So we left. I was grateful to finally live in peace and safety, but it was hard at first. New culture, new language. Will I get a job? Will I give my daughter a good life? Tamam has done that and more through hard work and initiative. She worked in a pizza restaurant while taking the language classes offered to all immigrants in Sweden, but soon got a job helping other new arrivals to settle. Her abilities and ambition then saw her take much bigger steps in Swedish society. Tamam Abu Hamidan was voted mayor of her town within just six years of arriving in Sweden from Gaza. She now holds political office here in the regional capital and was nearly voted to the national parliament at the last election. She's been using her voice to speak up at demonstrations against the war in Gaza. But also feels helpless at the lack of political will in Sweden and the world to stop Israel's bombing of her homeland. I lived through the second intifada as a child. I was there through all the wars until 2012, but it wasn't anything like what I'm seeing there now. In the first week, my cousin, her husband and her son were killed. My other cousin had one son killed. Another lost his arm. They are still in northern Gaza. Where can they go? There's no safe place in Gaza. Tamam left Jabalia so quickly that she has few photos left of her childhood. She's grateful that Sweden's support system for immigrants, despite the shift to the right at the last election, has helped her own daughter have a more secure future. I've given it my all, but I was lucky to meet many people who said, welcome into Sweden, to our society. This is one of the reasons I went into politics. I want to maintain this image of Sweden. But her own seat in politics also lets her see just how much the children of Gaza are being left to their fate. Paul Rees, Al Jazeera, Karlskrona, Sweden.

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Jerusalem

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Amsterdam

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Kingston

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