Luai Ahmed (; born September 5, 1993) is a

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

i and Swedish journalist, columnist, and influencer. Ahmed is active on social media and is considered a critic of

radical Islam Islamic extremism refers to extremist beliefs, behaviors and ideologies adhered to by some Muslims within Islam. The term 'Islamic extremism' is contentious, encompassing a spectrum of definitions, ranging from academic interpretations of Is ...

and

antisemitism in Islam There is considerable debate about the nature of antisemitism in Islam, including Muslim attitudes towards Jews, Islamic teachings on Jews and Judaism, and the treatment of Jews in Islamic societies throughout the history of Islam. Islamic holy b ...

. Ahmed is openly gay and considers himself a

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

Biography

Ahmed was raised in the capital of Yemen,

Sana'a Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...

. He grew up in his home with the values instilled in him by his mother, Amal Basha, a peace and women's rights activist and winner of several honors, including an honorary doctorate from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. Following his mother's feminist activism, the

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

organization threatened his family in 2013 in an open letter to the population in Yemen to receive his family's address. In 2014 Luai Ahmed got an opportunity to hold a lecture at the invitation of the "

Olof Palme Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until as ...

Foundation" in Sweden. His family members urged him to seek

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...

there. He came to

Halmstad Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational urban areas of Sweden, city at the mouth of the Nissan (river), Nissan river, in the provinces of Sweden, province of Halland on the Sweden, Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat ...

and since then and for the next four years, he lived there. He asked for and received

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

, and later also Swedish

citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...

. After that he lived in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

and in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. He sympathized with the political party

Sweden Democrats The Sweden Democrats ( , SD ) is a Nationalism, nationalist and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Sweden founded in 1988. As of 2024, it is the largest member of Sweden's Right-wing politics, right-wing bloc and the sec ...

, and wrote against the Swedish society’s contempt towards the party’s policies. Ahmed is active on social networks with accumulatively more than 390k followers, on X 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. He condemns what he says is the

hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not. The word "hypocrisy" entered the English language ''c.'' 1200 with the meaning "the sin of pretending to virtue or goodness". Today, "hypocrisy" ofte ...

of the Middle East, the hatred of Jews that is instilled from a young age, the servitude to religion and the Muslim world's delay in social and technological progress. In addition, he was a columnist for the conservative Swedish newspaper ''

Bulletin Bulletin or The Bulletin may refer to: Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals) * ''Bulletin'' (online newspaper), a Swedish online newspaper * ''The Bulletin'' (Australian periodical), an Australian magazine (1880–2008) ** Bulletin De ...

'', where he writes articles against anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews as well as articles in which Islam,

integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...

and immigration policy are recurring topics. In Yemen he wrote for the newspapers ''Yemen Today'', the ''

Yemen Times The ''Yemen Times'' () was an independent English-language newspaper in Yemen. The paper was published twice weekly. History 1990–1999 The ''Yemen Times'' was founded in 1990 by Abdulaziz al-Saqqaf, an economics professor at Sanaa Univer ...

'' and the youth magazine ''YoO''. According to him, he does not agree with the concept of

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

, because

phobia A phobia is an anxiety disorder, defined by an irrational, unrealistic, persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. Those affected ...

(according to him) expresses an extremely irrational and exaggerated fear.

Atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

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 ''Charlie Hebdo'' (; ) is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. The publication has been described as anti-racist, sceptical, secular, libertarian, and within the tradition of left-wing radicalism ...

''. In 2021, he published his book "A Paradoxical Journey of a

Refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

from the

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

of Yemen to the

Rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

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.

Work and Advocacy

Ahmed visited Israel in November 2023 during the war with

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

, and his impressions of his visit to

Al-Aqsa Mosque The Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Qibli Mosque or Qibli Chapel is the main congregational mosque or Musalla, prayer hall in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. In some sources the building is also n ...

, which according to him the fact that non-Muslims are not allowed to enter, is actually

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

, he spread on the network. On February 27th, 2025, Ahmed delivered a speech at the UN Human Rights Watch, where he condemned the organization’s purported silence on the ongoing crises in Yemen, Syria, and Sudan, and claimed that they are consistently overshadowed by the UN’s primary focus on Israel. Ahmed has made numerous high-profile appearances such as Piers Morgan, Sky News, as well as Swedish national television, SVT, and Israeli television channels. His story has been profiled in a variety of international publications, such as Charlie Hebdo, The Jerusalem Post, and The Times of Israel.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. He has also been featured in respected European outlets, including Germany’s Die Welt, Sweden’s Hallandsposten, and Israel Hayom.

Education

Ahmed studied

international business International business refers to the trade of goods and service goods, services, technology, capital and/or knowledge across national borders and at a global or transnational scale. It includes all commercial activities that promote the transfer o ...

at the Lebanese International University in Yemen. He also studied

International Migration International migration occurs when people cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum length of the time. Migration occurs for many reasons. Many people leave their home countries in order to look for economic opportunities ...

and Ethnic Relations at

Malmö University Malmö University () is a public university located in Malmö, Sweden. With more than 24,000 students and about 1,600 employees (academic and administrative), Malmö University is the ninth largest institute of learning in Sweden. It has exchan ...

Notes and references

External links

My Chat with Yemmeni-Swedish Activist Luai Ahmed – On Islamic Culture
(The Saad Truth_1632) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Luai 1993 births Living people Swedish journalists Swedish columnists Swedish Zionists Swedish activists Swedish Muslims Swedish gay men Critics of Islamism Yemeni emigrants to Sweden Arab supporters of Israel Muslim supporters of Israel Gay Muslims Activists against antisemitism Swedish gay writers Refugees in Sweden Yemeni refugees Malmö University alumni Swedish male journalists Gay journalists Naturalized citizens of Sweden People from Sanaa LGBTQ TikTokers

Biography

Work and Advocacy

Education

See also

Notes and references

External links