\n
\n\tDUBAI: Iraqi-born British former politician Nadhim Zahawi took the stage on Friday for a conversation moderated by Faisal J. Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News, during the 17th Emirates Airline Festival of Literature at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City.
\n\tThe talk, \u201cNadhim Zahawi: The Boy From Baghdad,\u201d shared its name with his book, in which Zahawi reflected on his journey from Baghdad to Britain, his career in business and politics, and the challenges of identity and belonging.
\n\tZahawi, who is a chemical engineer by background, recounted to the audience how he fled Iraq for the UK at the age of 11, after his family was forced to escape their home under threat from Saddam Hussein\u2019s regime.
\n\tHe said: \u201cAt that age, you remember quite vividly, especially traumatic events \u2026 I really remember, one Sunday lunch at my aunt\u2019s home, whose husband broke the news to my father that they\u2019re going to come and get him tomorrow morning. Literally all he had was hours to get out of the country.\u201d
\n\t\u201cHe packed a small bag, he wrote on the wall in our home: \u2018My name is Hareth Al-Zahawi\u2019 and a verse from the Qur\u2019an, and that one day he will come back and see his home,\u201d he recalled.
\n\t\u201cWe went to the airport with him; myself, my older sister and my mother. I remember vividly, the Baghdad International Airport \u2026 had a viewing platform, where in the late \u201970s you would see the aircraft. There weren\u2019t these sophisticated arms that come out. You had to walk to the plane and they put the steps up. We watched him go up the steps and we had to sort of pretend to say goodbye as if he was going on holiday because you don\u2019t know who is watching you at the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tJust before the flight took off, Zahawi recalled, an army truck sped up to the plane, and he and his family feared that his father would be taken off the flight and arrested. However, the soldiers escorted someone else instead. Zahawi later learned from his father that the person removed was seated directly in front of him.
\n\tZahawi\u2019s father fled to the UK first, and a few months later, Zahawi, his mother and sister joined him there, seeking refuge. He shared how these formative experiences shaped his perspective and ambitions.
\n\tHe then spoke about how refugees are not necessarily a burden on society and why he refuses to call himself a political refugee.
\n\t\u201cI sometimes feel uncomfortable when I am introduced as a refugee to the United Kingdom. What I try to say is that we are actually first-generation immigrants to the UK,\u201d he said.
\n\tHe added that this label makes him feel like an \u201cimposter\u201d because most people\u2019s vision or stereotype of a refugee is someone who may have come from a less privileged background than he did.
\n\tTransitioning to his professional journey, Zahawi discussed his ventures in international business. He also provided insights into his political career, shedding light on the policies and individuals that have significantly impacted the UK\u2019s landscape.
\n\tZahawi said that he got into politics by accident, as he had almost no political interest growing up. \u201cI wanted to become a show jumper,\u201d he said, recalling how he once tried to convince his father to invest in a riding school. His father dismissed the idea, telling him, \u201cWell, you go into university, make your own money, and then you can go to a riding school.\u201d
\n\tIt was not until his first week at University College London that an unexpected encounter shifted his perspective. At the Freshers\u2019 Fair, he was confronted by a Socialist Workers Party member handing out magazines. \u201cI promise you that all I did was politely say, \u2018No, thank you\u2019 \u2014 not because I didn\u2019t respect socialism, but because I wasn\u2019t interested in politics \u2026 He was so aggressive, saying, \u2018People of your color, you should be ashamed of yourself.\u2019\u201d
\n\tInstead of reacting with anger, Zahawi decided to explore his viewpoint.
\n\t\u201cI remember in 1979 or 1980, my mother saying to me: \u2018Son, a grocer\u2019s daughter has just become prime minister. You can do anything in this country.\u2019 And she was right,\u201d he added.
\n\tThroughout the talk, themes of identity and belonging were prominent, as Zahawi reflected on navigating life between two cultures and the evolution of his adoptive homeland, Britain.
\n\tHe praised the UK\u2019s political system for offering opportunities regardless of background, contrasting it with the US.
\n\t\u201cI can\u2019t name any other country that has got to this level of achievement. In America, politicians will choose particular districts where they have a large ethnic group that may be beneficial to their background,\u201d he said.
\n\tZahawi highlighted his own experience as an example, recalling how he was selected as a Conservative candidate despite coming from an immigrant background. \u201cI was selected in Stratford-on-Avon in a room full of Conservative members, pretty much white. The seat is 97 percent white, affluent middle-class, farming community. This is the birth and resting place of William Shakespeare, yet they selected Nadhim Zahawi, a boy from Baghdad, as their champion, their candidate.\u201d
\n\tHe emphasized how his political success reflected the country\u2019s openness to diversity. \u201cThey voted him in the 2010 election, and then voted him back four times after that with increased majorities. That is a country that, in my view, is truly colorblind,\u201d Zahawi said.
\n\tHe also discussed identity: \u201cI think in many ways I am a proud Brit of Kurdish background. I am very proud of my Kurdish roots. But, ultimately, the country that has defined my life, that has given me my opportunity in life, is the United Kingdom,\u201d he said.\n <\/div>\n
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