Zaineb Al-Samarai will take his place: – Not because I am a woman or a minority – but because I am shitty!
Watch interview: – Dad would never give up the dream:
KARLSRUD (Nettavisen): – I joined the Labor Party because Jens Stoltenberg was so handsome, laughs Zaineb Al-Samarai (33).
The laughter is loose with the “political shooting star” from Holmlia, who has a law degree, sits on the sports board and has always liked to do tricks with the ball.
– Dad would live
We turn the clock back to 1994, when life took a dramatic turn for the seven-year-old diplomat daughter.
– We never came here to live out “The Norwegian dream”, needed the money or to create a new and better life. We really had a good life, but Iraq was not safe, at least not for Dad.
The seriousness is not to be misunderstood:
– We came here for Dad to live. So that he would not be executed.
The escape was in a hurry:
– During a weekend we had to flee, I did not get my things with me and have almost no pictures from the first childhood years.
– Ended up at the North Pole, then…
The family came to Norway as “political refugees” and one factor in particular was crucial:
– Dad knew that in Norway he would get his family over faster than in other countries.
– So then we ended up at the North Pole, then, she says – and does not hide that it has been a miss to have to leave the extended family.
Zaineb praises both Oslo and Norway, but the pulls in her can be a little hurt:
– The pain is that I both want so much to be Norwegian, at the same time as I do not want to forget where I come from and that I am a refugee.
The “super-powers” she often feels, she thinks are motivated by this:
– It gives a kind of courage, as if we are to prove that we are “worthy” to be here. Unlike many others, we do not start from scratch proving that we are good enough. No, we must first prove that we are not bad and then show how good we are.
– What do you remember from your time in Iraq?
– I remember that Baghdad was bombed, that I played football in the backyard, the little kiosk on the corner – and how much I missed Dad because he fled first, she recalls.
– I was a real daddy girl, and I still am.
She thinks she’s been lucky.
– My parents were good at protecting my three siblings and me, so I have forgotten or repressed the bad memories.
Zaineb has not stepped on Iraqi soil since she had to flee the country.
But – this is important for her not to forget:
Holmlia bubble
– You grew up on Holmlia. What would you say is crucial for a successful integration?
– Learn the language! It’s so important. Part of the way I “cracked” society was to learn the language. Before that, I had no one to play with.
– I was extremely interested in learning Norwegian when I came to Norway and understood early on what power language has.
She also remembers crying because it was so cold in Norway.
– Did your whole family learn Norwegian?
– No! Not Dad. He came here as a refugee, opposed the regime in Iraq and hoped for an improvement for the country. I think he always thought that we “should only be here a little while”, a maximum of two years.
– He did not want to let go of the dream of going home again, she says thoughtfully.
It is now 27 years:
– He still does not speak Norwegian, but learned to say “Zaineb at home”; so that means I was popular young and got a lot of visits, she laughs well.
She herself speaks Arabic with her parents:
– But mum speaks Norwegian and has worked for many years.
– It is important that children see parents who are on
– Besides learning Norwegian, what is important for a successful integration?
– Job! Be a part of something, get out, learn the language better, contribute to the community you are a part of. It is also important for personal development, mental health – and not least for your children; that they can see that you are working on.
– I myself could never have worked hard, with a mother who in adulthood learned Norwegian and applied for over 200 jobs before she got a job.
“My God, so many foreigners…”
The mother is a great ideal for Zaineb:
– When my mother, who had all the prerequisites against her, fixed the fires – I could not be any worse, I who came to Norway in the “Golden Age”.
– It is an important domino effect for the generations to come, that parents ensure that they are well integrated into Norwegian society, she adds.
Here, Zaineb, somewhat reluctantly, reveals his new hobby in the pandemic:
Before the family “landed” on Holmlia, where the parents still live, they visited two asylum reception centers in Tanum and Dikemark and lived in a municipal residence in Hovseter.
– I was only there with Norwegian children, which made me learn Norwegian very quickly. At Toppåsen and Holmlia, on the other hand… I remember that the first day of school there I looked around and thought “oh my god, so many foreigners there were here,” she laughs.
– I was used to being the only one.
– Outside Holmlia we were looked down on a bit
She talks about a good upbringing on Holmia:
– It was absolutely fantastic to be part of that “bubble”, where no one was surprised by your name and many were a little different.
– But it was a bubble. I remember that when I played football and moved out of the district, I encountered Holmlia prejudice. We were looked down on a bit, but at Holmlia it was absolutely magical. It is a separate small village where it is allowed to be different.
Uroen i Oslo Ap
– Why did it become the Labor Party on you?
– Jens Stoltenberg was so handsome, she laughs – before she gathers her thoughts:
– Early on, I noticed the differences in Oslo because I traveled around with the football and circuit team and saw what opportunities some got and others did not, and then the policy of the Labor Party appealed to me.
She emphasizes social democratic values:
– I am a result of that: I got to come to Norway and get a free education. I have a master’s degree I have not paid anything for, an opportunity I would not have had if we had ended up in the United States, for example.
– As a girl, I also got the opportunity to play football. It is not only Aps merit, but it has given me so much to be in Norway and feel the security and the safety net we have in this welfare society.
– The Labor Party was involved in building this up.
– It is important to feel the loss
The turbulence in the Oslo Labor Party last year peaked in November, then she lost 2nd place for Deputy Mayor Kamzy Gunaratnam (32) from Grorud.
Also read: The deputy mayor won a fateful duel with a political star shot
– You were wrecked. What are your political ambitions going forward?
– Even if you are not part of the “starting eleven”, you are part of the team. I will stand up and work for a change of government. I want Jonas as prime minister, so my ambitions are a new government.
– What is your explanation for why the Labor Party is doing so poorly in the polls?
– My God, that is not the question asked of old retired politicians. I hope I am not considered that yet, she jokes.
Men:
– We have had a lot of internal unrest, been a little late in telling ourselves about things politically, spent a long time on important conclusions – but at the same time we have now made a good party program.
– So now we will find our way back to top form. I’m threatening, we’ve been down before.
Also read: Jan Bøhler’s new life: – They wanted to hurt and hit me
– How did you experience being wrecked at the finish line after a steady vote?
– You know what, it was much worse to drop out a few days after the 2017 election, on the final count because Rogaland got a direct mandate. Thus, I fell out of the place I had for Oslo. It was much worse, because then I had a foot inside.
She recalls that she managed to get a seat in Aftenposten’s “This is the new Storting”.
– Sour to lose
– It was heavy, but it is useful to have had that round. I think it is important to feel the loss. Then you know that you have to work hard and then the victory tastes even better.
Still – she would rather be the best:
– It’s sad to lose. That’s it. But – such is democracy, so I can not go around being bitter.
– Are you used to being the best?
– Yes, but I work very hard for it. I have it with me from home, she says wisely.
In the think tank
– But is it the case that you think that “all good things are three”?
– It’s too early to say. Too early to tell. But the most important thing now is that I contribute what I can so we get a change of government and that the Labor Party becomes Norway’s largest party.
Also read: Right waterfalls forward – FRP is threatened from several sides
After round two, she did not go home to an empty house, and that has helped:
– This time I had a man at home, so it was a little easier than when I in 2017 thought I was in the Storting – before Rogaland took his place.
Zaineb is married to Jan Erik Fåne (55), who is a former FRP politician.
Women’s Day
– Women’s Day March 8 – what is your relationship to it?
– The older I get and see what happens in working life and in sports, the more important it is that this is not a day we celebrate, but a match day.
– Even in Norway, there are differences between women and men.
– How do you experience equality in the immigration groups you know?
– They do not form one group. Women’s struggle is women’s struggle, regardless of which group you belong to.
Zaineb says she sees many positive signs in the times, with more and more women with minority backgrounds taking education, getting involved in politics, participating in the public debate and in working life.
– It is so important to be among those who break the glass roof for future generations, so they do not have to feel “am I here because I am a woman and quoted in, or because I have deserved it?”
For Zaneib, this is very important:
– I am where I am because I have deserved it, I have worked very hard for it. I’m not where I am because I’m a woman or a minority, but because I’m shitty.
The rolling laughter absorbs the words.
– What does it take to overcome social control?
– I think it’s a battle people have to take with their parents. There it must start. My parents have been more concerned with what I have inside my head than on my head and concerned that I should utilize my abilities 100 percent.
– They have also been concerned that I should make my own choices, as long as I can argue for them.
She is grateful for the freedom they have given her to “find herself.”
– Therefore, I have not felt any shame. My parents have built me so strong and so stubborn, so I’m convinced that the first fight you have to take, you have to take home. And it’s so nice to not have to live a life where you’re afraid of disappointing someone.
Zaineb believes the pandemic has revealed social differences in Oslo that no one can close their eyes to anymore, especially our politicians.
– There are such big differences in the city, she says and believes the capital should be prioritized in the queue.
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– Almost dare not say it …
– What do you think about the “Oslo hatred” that has come in the wake of Molde mayor Torgeir Dahl’s (H) article in VG?
– Then you simply do not understand Oslo and how the city is composed. All districts, with the exception of Grorud, are larger than Molde. Social differences and a completely different logistics here mean that we should rather help each other. It is in the best interests of the whole of Norway that Oslo is doing well!
Also read: Uprising on Facebook: Celebrity fillerists Molde mayor
The pandemic has in no way sent her to sleep:
– I have problems saying no, so every Christmas and Easter holiday I get sick.
– A little small
– How do you endure the pandemic yourself?
– I do not know if I dare say it, it’s a bit small, I’m concerned with being the modern woman who has a career and works hard, never has time for typical “woman hobbies”… But I have learned to knit on youtube, she reveals.
And shows off the most beautiful photo evidence of his new hobby.
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