The Palestinian-German politician fighting anti-Semitism

With zero integration in German society, the Chebli family could be considered the nightmare of modern immigration policy makers – but that was actually part of the policy. In the 1980s, the German government made prodigious efforts to reduce the number of asylum seekers, and one means used to deter potential migrants was to make social integration difficult. Chebli’s older siblings were not subject to compulsory education and could not formally matriculate from high school.

The person who fought for the Cheblis to receive a residency permit, who once got Sawsan’s father released from detention and saw to it that the family was eventually granted German citizenship, was a Jewish lawyer of Lebanese origin.

“I think that’s one of the reasons my father was always very open regarding Jews,” she says, recalling that the day her family received their passports was like a holiday. Sawsan was 15. Their first trip was to the refugee camp in Lebanon where her family had lived.

Chebli often recounts the story of her childhood. Too often, some say. For example, in an event with her on the subject of “Civic Engagement in the Age of Populism,” held one evening in a luxurious hall overlooking the Hackesche Höfe shopping and cultural complex in downtown Berlin. Chebli is sitting on a leather sofa, wearing a boho-chic dress and brown leather boots; she sports shiny lipstick and a gold bracelet, and totes a fancy leather bag. When did she start to take an interest in politics, the interviewer asks.