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The Preventable Death of Salwan Momika — and How It Exposed the Weaknesses of Sweden’s Immigration System
Salwan Momika. Photo: Screenshot
The Jan. 29 murder of Iraqi refugee and activist Salwan Momika — killed in his Stockholm apartment while live-streaming on TikTok — has sparked crucial questions about Swedish immigration policy. Momika, who had gained global notoriety for publicly burning the Quran, became a flashpoint in Sweden’s ongoing struggle to balance free speech, religious sensitivity, and immigration security.
While Momika’s death was widely reported, few media outlets have gone on to ask about the ways his death, or the tumult brought about by his actions in life, could have been avoided by the Swedish immigration system. At a time when European nations are reeling from poorly managed immigration policy — which has led to migrant violence and social disorder, with widely different solutions proposed — Momika’s story provides a microcosm for some of the issues these countries face.
Momika was a controversial figure in life and death, championed by some as a hero of free speech and a prophet foreseeing the threat of radical Islam in Europe. To others, he was a hideous blasphemer, a radical hatemonger on a mission to incite against his countrymen and their coreligionists, or just a fraudster looking for attention.
Born in 1986 to a Catholic Assyrian family in northern Iraq, Momika’s path to Sweden was marked by conflict. During the heyday of Islamic State (ISIS), he commanded a Christian brigade within the Iran-affiliated Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). A dispute with fellow Assyrian PMF commander Rayan al-Kildani prompted his flight in 2018 to Sweden, where he secured refugee status by 2021. This background would later raise questions about the thoroughness of Sweden’s asylum vetting process.
Sweden’s handling of Momika’s case exposed critical weaknesses in its immigration system. While Swedish law prohibits entry to those who have committed “serious crimes” or pose security threats, significant oversights occurred.
First, despite Momika’s involvement with the Iran-linked Imam Ali Brigades, his military background received insufficient scrutiny. Second, his false statements on his asylum application regarding persecution and prior activities weren’t discovered until after his controversial actions began. These systemic failures became more apparent as Momika’s public provocations escalated.
In Sweden, Momika was sentenced to community service after threatening to kill a man while holding a knife. Two years later, in 2023, he began publicly burning the Quran, attracting crowds. His actions triggered diplomatic crises, forcing the Swedish ambassador out of Baghdad at the hands of an angry Iraqi crowd, as the burning also drew furious demonstrations in other Muslim countries. But Sweden chose not to take any decisive action against him under its highly permissive free speech laws.
After Momika’s anti-Islam activities intensified, the Swedish government considered deporting him, noting he had lied on his application about his former activities with the Imam Ali Brigades. Due to lack of sufficient security and background checks, Sweden demonstrated an abject failure of immigration policy by allowing a former pro-Iran brigade commander to seek asylum, without further questions asked.
Sweden only provided a verdict on Momika’s anti-Islam demonstrations once he had died. On Feb. 2, following Momika’s murder, his co-activist, 50-year-old Iraqi-Swede Salwan Najem, was fined 4,000 crowns for the pair’s activities, classified as hate speech by the court, which concluded that Momika and Najem had exceeded the line of protected speech by a wide margin and had engaged in incitement against an ethnic group.
While Momika’s murder is still being investigated, with five suspects released from custody two days after his death, it is in line with other crimes committed by Muslim vigilantes against perceived opponents of the faith. It’s possible that Momika’s murderer was another Middle Eastern refugee in asylum who had taken advantage of Sweden’s lax vetting and arrived under similarly questionable circumstances. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson even said that a “foreign power” may have been behind the activist’s death.
Sweden’s lax security regarding Momika’s entry and residence in Sweden raise important questions. For example, to what extent have affiliates of Iran managed to gain asylum in Sweden and other Nordic countries? While Momika was clearly not acting on behalf of the Iranian government, it appears possible that Iranian agents could take advantage of similarly lax immigration policies to further Iran’s agenda in Europe.
In short, there are serious weaknesses in the Swedish immigration system, where accurate background checks need to be enacted to keep out hostile agents seeking to further a nefarious agenda.
Likewise, Momika’s attacker, while not yet identified (and who may never be identified), was likely an Islamist vigilante looking to punish him for his public blasphemy against Islam, in line with the opinions of multiple high-profile Islamic scholars and in keeping with the opinions on the street in much of the Muslim world. Multiple sources on Iraqi social media named Omar al-Aani from Fallujah as a suspect in the murder who was temporarily detained, although authorities in Sweden have not disclosed the names of those who were questioned.
Iraqis angry at Momika’s behavior for religious reasons also had extra motivation to target him. Indeed, the city of Kufa in Iraq offered a bounty of $2 million and a 2kg gold Quran to anyone who killed Momika. His extradition had also been demanded by the government in Baghdad.
Following Momika’s death, Muslims of many different backgrounds — including some of his fellow Iraqis, a member of the Indian National Congress, and others — celebrated and gloated about what happened.
If the killer turns out to have been another migrant, it will highlight the potential danger of migrants to each other. Throughout Europe, much anger has been voiced around crimes by immigrants against native locals, but little attention has been given to the potential for exporting sectarian conflicts from the Middle East and elsewhere to Western soil, among citizens of the same home country living abroad. For example, should Momika’s murderer turn out to be a Sunni Iraqi, it would represent a frightening extension of Iraqi sectarian violence into the borders of a country thousands of miles away.
On top of all this, consider the Swedish Prime Minister’s suggestion that a foreign country may have been involved in the killing of Momika. Was there no prior intelligence to suggest the magnitude of danger he was in, even as he warned both the public and the authorities of the threats against him? Was the Swedish government afraid of being seen as sheltering him? If so, who were they afraid of?
The Swedish government’s indecision between security and tolerance, combined with its “please-everybody-and-nobody mentality,” were directly responsible for Momika’s death. Had they refused him asylum or expelled him quickly on account of his past in Iraq or the diplomatic liability and civil unrest he generated, they would have demonstrated a cohesive policy. On the other hand, had they doubled down on the importance of free speech and recognized the imminent threats to Momika’s life, they also would have demonstrated a cohesive policy — and possibly saved his life. The Momika case illustrates the urgent need for reform in Swedish (and broader European) immigration policy. Three specific areas require immediate attention:
- More rigorous background verification systems for asylum seekers
- Clear protocols for handling cases involving potential security risks
- Consistent policy application balancing free speech protection with public safety
Sweden’s experience offers crucial lessons for other European nations grappling with similar challenges. The goal must be to develop immigration policies that maintain humanitarian commitments while ensuring public safety and social cohesion. Otherwise, Momika will certainly not be the last to be denied justice in the midst of Europe’s immigration crisis.
The post The Preventable Death of Salwan Momika — and How It Exposed the Weaknesses of Sweden’s Immigration System first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Rejects US Nuclear Proposal, Says ‘Counteroffer’ Coming as Talks Stall Over Uranium Enrichment, Sanctions
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran has denounced the latest nuclear proposal from the United States as “unprofessional and untechnical,” reaffirming the country’s right to enrich uranium and announcing plans to present a counteroffer in the coming days.
“After receiving the American proposal regarding the Iranian nuclear program, we are now preparing a counteroffer,” Ali Shamkhnai, political adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in an interview on Wednesday.
Shamkhani criticized the White House draft proposal as “not well thought out,” emphasizing its alleged failure to address sanction relief — a key demand for Tehran under any deal with Washington.
“There is no mention whatsoever of lifting sanctions in the latest American proposal, even though the issue of sanctions is a fundamental matter for Iran,” Shamkhnai said.
The Iranian official also warned that Tehran will not allow the US to dismantle its “peaceful nuclear program” or force uranium enrichment down to zero.
“Iran will never relinquish its natural rights,” Shamkhani said.
Washington’s draft proposal for a new nuclear deal was delivered by Omani officials — who have been mediating negotiations between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff — during last month’s talks in Rome.
On Wednesday, Khamenei dismissed such an offer, saying it “contradicts our nation’s belief in self-reliance” and runs counter to Iran’s key objectives.
“The proposal that the Americans have presented is 100 percent against our interests,” the Iranian leader said during a televised speech.
“The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear program. Who are you to decide whether Iran should have enrichment?” Khamenei continued.
After five rounds of talks, diplomatic efforts have yet to yield results as both adversaries clash over Iran’s demand to maintain its domestic uranium enrichment program — a condition the White House has firmly rejected.
In April, Tehran and Washington held their first official nuclear negotiation since the US withdrew from a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that had imposed temporary limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief.
Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has sought to curtail Tehran’s potential to develop a nuclear weapon that could spark a regional arms race and pose a threat to Israel.
Meanwhile, Iran seeks to have Western sanctions on its oil-dependent economy lifted, while maintaining its nuclear enrichment program — which the country insists is solely for civilian purposes.
As part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran — which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon — Washington has been targeting Tehran’s oil industry with mounting sanctions.
Amid the ongoing diplomatic deadlock, Israel has declared it will never allow the Islamist regime to acquire nuclear weapons, as the country views Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to uphold any agreement that prevents Tehran from enriching uranium.
“But in any case, Israel maintains the right to defend itself from a regime that is threatening to annihilate it,” Netanyahu said in a press conference last month, following reports that Jerusalem could strike Iranian nuclear sites if ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran fail.
The post Iran Rejects US Nuclear Proposal, Says ‘Counteroffer’ Coming as Talks Stall Over Uranium Enrichment, Sanctions first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Day After Colorado Attack, Founder of Anti-Israel Group Chides Activists Who Are Insufficiently ‘Pro-Resistance’
Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of WithinOurLifetime (WOL), leading a pro-Hamas demonstration in New York City on Aug. 14, 2024. Photo: Michael Nigro via Reuters Connect
Nerdeen Kiswani, the founder of the radical anti-Israel organization Within Our Lifetime, chastised those within the pro-Palestinian movement who only support “resistance” in the abstract but not in practice following Sunday’s antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado.
“A lot of people who call themselves anti-Zionist or pro-resistance don’t actually understand what resistance is,” Kiswani posted on X/Twitter on Monday. “They support it in theory, but when it shows up in practice, they hesitate, distance themselves, or shift the conversation entirely.”
She continued, “And it makes it even harder for those of us who are principled to take public stances. We’re already marginalized, already painted as extreme or dangerous and that isolation only deepens when others in the movement won’t stand firm when it counts.”
Kiswani’s comments came the day after a man threw Molotov cocktails at a Boulder gathering where participants were rallying in support of the Israeli hostages who remain in captivity in Gaza — which resulted in 15 injuries, including some critically, in what US authorities called a targeted terrorist attack. Her tweets also came less than two weeks after a gunman murdered two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, while they were leaving an at the Capital Jewish Museum hosted by the American Jewish Committee. In both attacks, the perpetrator yelled “Free Palestine” as they targeted innocent civilians, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
After Kiswani’s social media posts sparked some backlash among pro-Israel users on X, she provided limited pushback on the idea that it was an expression of support for the prior day’s attack in Colorado.
“Zionists are freaking out in the QTs about this, insisting it’s about Colorado,” she wrote. “Newsflash: the world doesn’t revolve around you. Resistance hasn’t stopped in Gaza, look at what just happened in Jabalia [where three IDF soldiers were killed] for instance. The perpetual victimhood is getting old.”
However, Kiswani did not say her comment had no connection to the attack in Colorado, and she did not say that she opposed the firebombing.
Kiswani and her group, Within Our Lifetime (WOL), have been at the forefront of anti-Israel and pro-Hamas activism since Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, a massacre that started the war in Gaza.
On Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the biggest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, WOL organized a protest to celebrate the prior day’s attack, which it described as an effort to “defend the heroic Palestinian resistance.” Kiswani notably refused to condemn Hamas and the Oct. 7 massacre following the atrocities.
Then, in Apil 2024, Kiswani refused to condemn the chant “Death to America” and organized a mass demonstration to block the “arteries of capitalism” by staging a blockade of commercial shipping ports across the world in protest of Western support for the Jewish state. That same month, she was banned from Columbia University’s campus in New York City after leading chants calling for an “intifada,” or violent uprising.
The following month, Kiswani led a demonstration in Brooklyn, New York in which she lambasted the local police department, claimed then-US President Joe Biden will soon die, and called for the destruction of Israel.
That proceeded the activist saying she does not want Zionists “anywhere” in the world while speaking in defense of a person who called for “Zionists” to leave a crowded subway car in New York City.
WOL, which planned a protest last year to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, was also behind demonstrations at the Nova Music Festival exhibit, which commemorated the more than 300 civilians slaughtered by Hamas while at a music festival.
The latter protest prompted widespread condemnation, including from Biden and even progressive members of the US Congress who are outspoken against Israel.
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), for example, posted on social media that the “callousness, dehumanization, and targeting of Jews on display at last night’s protest outside the Nova Festival exhibit was atrocious antisemitism – plain and simple.”
The post Day After Colorado Attack, Founder of Anti-Israel Group Chides Activists Who Are Insufficiently ‘Pro-Resistance’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel’s Defense Exports Hit Record $15 Billion in 2024 Despite European Pressure, Calls for Arms Embargo
Israeli troops on the ground in Gaza. Photo: IDF via Reuters
Israel reached a new all-time high in defense exports in 2024, nearing $15 billion — the fourth consecutive year of record-breaking sales — despite mounting international criticism over the war in Gaza and growing pressure from European countries to suspend arms deals.
In a press release on Wednesday, Israel’s Defense Ministry announced that defense exports reached over $14.7 billion last year — a 13 percent increase from 2023 — with more than half of the deals valued at over $100 million.
According to the ministry, Israel’s military exports have more than doubled over the past five years, highlighting the industry’s rapid expansion and growing global demand.
“This tremendous achievement is a direct result of the successes of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and defense industries against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, the Ayatollah regime in Iran, and in additional arenas where we operate against Israel’s enemies,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
“The world sees Israeli strength and seeks to be a partner in it. We will continue strengthening the IDF and the Israeli economy through security innovation to ensure clear superiority against any threat – anywhere and anytime,” Katz continued.
In 2024, over half of the Jewish state’s defense contracts were with European countries — up from 35 percent the previous year — as many in the region have increased their defense spending following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Despite increasing pressure and widespread anti-Israel sentiment among European governments amid the current conflict in Gaza, this latest data seems to contradict recent calls by European leaders to impose an arms embargo on the Jewish state over its defensive campaign in Gaza against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
On Wednesday, Germany reversed its earlier threat to halt arms deliveries to Israel, reaffirming its commitment to continue cooperation and maintain defense contracts with Jerusalem.
“Germany will continue to support the State of Israel, including with arms deliveries,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told lawmakers in parliament.
Last week, Berlin warned it would take unspecified measures against Israel if it continued its military campaign in Gaza, citing concerns that exported weapons were being used in violation of humanitarian law.
“Our full support for the right to exist and the security of the State of Israel must not be instrumentalized for the conflict and the warfare currently being waged in the Gaza Strip,” Wadephul said in a statement.
Germany would be “examining whether what is happening in the Gaza Strip is compatible with international humanitarian law,” he continued. “Further arms deliveries will be authorized based on the outcome of that review.”
Spain and Ireland are among the countries in Europe that have threatened or taken steps to limit arms deals with Israel, while others such as France have threatened unspecified harsh measures against the Jewish state.
According to the Israeli defense ministry’s report, since the outbreak of war on Oct. 7, 2023, after the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, the operational successes and proven battlefield performance of Israeli systems have fueled strong international demand for Israel’s defense technology.
Last year, the export of missiles, rockets, and air defense systems reached a new high, making up 48 percent of the total deal volume — up from 36 percent in 2023.
Similarly, satellite and space systems exports surged, accounting for 8 percent of total deals in 2024 — quadrupling their share from 2 percent in 2023.
While Europe dominated Israel’s defense export market in 2024, significant portions also went to other regions. Asia and the Pacific made up 23 percent of total sales — slightly lower than in previous years, when the region approached 30 percent.
Exports to Abraham Accords countries fell to 12 percent, down from 23 percent in 2022, while North America remained stable at around 9 percent.
The post Israel’s Defense Exports Hit Record $15 Billion in 2024 Despite European Pressure, Calls for Arms Embargo first appeared on Algemeiner.com.