Personal Info
- Country of residence: Germany
Information
Sawsan Shibli (July 26, 1978 - until
now) is a professor of political science with Palestinian origin and German
nationality. She recently became the first spokesperson for the German Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, making her the first Arab and second Muslim to hold an
important position in the new German government. In the period between (2010 -
2014) one of the main speakers for cultural affairs in the Berlin Senate
Department for Interior and Sports.
her life
Childhood and education
Shibli was born in Berlin on July
26, 1978, to an immigrant Palestinian family who was residing in Lebanon. She
is considered the second youngest child in the family. Shabli grew up in
difficult living conditions. Her family emigrated from their original home (in
the village of Khalisah in Palestine) after the 1948 war, and moved to live in
The village of Burj al-Barajneh in Lebanon, and at the beginning of the seventies
of the twentieth century, her family, consisting of 15 members, emigrated from
Lebanon and went to live in West Berlin in Germany.
According to German media, Shalaby
grew up in difficult circumstances in Germany, as she remained without
nationality and without permanent residence papers, and obtained German
citizenship in 1993 at the age of fifteen, and she also lacked the support of
her parents in her academic course because they were illiterate and spoke only
In the Arabic language, she was also ranked 11th out of 12 brothers and
sisters. Despite this, she was able to overcome the harsh conditions and was
able to obtain a high school diploma. She joined the Sur Otto Institute of the
Free University of Berlin, where she studied political science, and was
interested in international relations during her studies and graduated from it.
In 2004, the ideal model for Shalaby was her older brother, who works as an
imam in Sweden and advises the local authorities there on issues of integration
into society.
Shalaby mentioned that her choice of
majoring in political science was not a coincidence, as she was raised as a
Palestinian refugee, and she realized from a young age how politics can
contribute to shaping the fate of an entire family.
her political life
After her graduation in 2004,
Shalaby worked in various jobs, the most important of which were her work at
the Associate Research Center in the German Parliament, and her work as office
manager for Johannes Jung. In 2009 she participated in the Security Conference
in Munich.
Shalaby belongs to the German Social
Democratic Party, and participated in the establishment of the party's
parliamentary group in the German Parliament (Bundestag).
In March of 2010, she was appointed
as the head of the Department of Intercultural Dialogue at the Minister of the
Interior of the local government in the German state of Berlin, and she was the
first woman of foreign origin to hold this position. By supervising the Islam
Conference in Germany, especially with regard to aspects related to the policy
of Muslim integration in Berlin.
On January 25, 2014, German Foreign
Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier appointed her as the new spokeswoman for the
German Foreign Ministry and deputy main spokesperson for the German Foreign
Ministry. To be more influential in favor of immigrants and improve their
level.
of her sayings
“I cannot say that all Arab and
Turkish immigrants are useless and only receive government aid. These are a
minority, but there is a majority that works, learns, and pays taxes, and the
few Germans focus on the few negative immigrants.”
source
Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
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