A story created by Bob Reijnders Lodewijks with assistance of Mouafak Mahmalji for JNA PRESS
A video lasting only a few chaotic seconds sparked international outrage. We saw a pregnant woman thrown on the floor. In a Dutch refugee center. By a Dutch police officer. Even the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Albanese, postred about this video on X: “Dutch friends. If you tolerate this, then your children will be next”
For millions of people who watched the footage online, it was another disturbing viral clip. For Wesam Miqdad and Malak Mahmoud, it was the culmination of years of displacement, uncertainty and hardship.
Jerusalem News Agency press photographer Bob Reijdners Lodewijks went to Germany to listen to the new parents theit story. A story that stretches acrros borders, wars, prisons and the European asylmum system.
Still a little unsure about how to introduce his daughter, they immediately show us his daughter Reem. And straight away, Wesam begins his story with great passion…
Wesam Miqdad was born in Gaza in 1996 and raised in Al-Shati refugee camp. In 2017, at the age of 21, he left Gaza, traveling through Egypt to Turkey before joining thousands of other refugees attempting the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to the Greek island of Leros.
In Greece in 2018, he met Malak Mahmoud, who had fled Syria in 2018 because of the civil war. She had taken the same perilous journey from Turkey to Greece.
“It was love at first sight,” says Malak, glancing at Wesam with a smile.
While seeking asylum in Greece, Wesam was arrested and later convicted on charges related to gang activity. He was sentenced to nine years in prison, leaving Malak alone.
Malak moved to germany, near Bremen. There she had family and did she not had to be alone in a counrty she does not know.
Meanwhile, Wesam remained imprisoned in Greece until 2024. Following four years in custody, good behavior and participation in rehabilitation programs, including Greek language courses, led to his early release.
After leaving prison, Wesam traveled through Italy, France and Belgium before reaching the Netherlands, where he submitted another asylum application. According to him, he never received a final response.
The Netherlands wasn’t the final destination. To be reunited with his love, Malak, he travelled to Germany. Once reunited with Malak, they got married according to Islamic tradition. “Bob, listen. For me, there is only one marriage that counts, and that is with Allah’s blessing,” Wesam told me after the interview, taking my arm. I had, in fact, asked him explicitly several times whether their marriage was official or not.
When Wesam’s asylum request in Germany was rejected in September 2025 and deportation proceedings were initiated, the couple decided to leave Germany and seek protection elsewhere. They returned to the Netherlands and filed another asylum application.
After facing rejection and the order to deportation again, Wesam and Malak were transferred to AZC ( Dutch asylum center) in Harderwijk before being relocated, in March 2026, to a refugee center in Zeist, near Utrecht.
According to Malak, the constant uncertainty about their future, combined with the approaching birth of their child, placed enormous pressure on both of them. The ongoing war in Gaza further deepened the strain, with Wesam regularly receiving news of relatives, friends and acquaintances killed during the conflict. Sleep became difficult. Anxiety intensified.Wesam and Malak both got exhausted.
Two days before the incident in Zeist, Wesam says his father informed him that one of his closest friends had been killed in Gaza.
On May 19, the day of the video, tensions finally reached a breaking point.
During a conversation with staff members at the asylum center, Wesam says he was told he would not receive asylum protection. Malak says they were also informed that the birth of their child would not change the outcome. He will be deportated to Greece, with or without Malak and the baby.
Overcome by anger and despair, Wesam damaged property inside the facility, including a glass door and other items. Staff members were unable to calm the situation and called security personnel, who subsequently requested police assistance.
By the time officers arrived, Wesam had locked himself inside a restroom. Being affraid of been taking away from his wife and missing the birth of teh baby
Police instructed him to come out with his hands raised…..He eventually complied.
What happened next became the subject of the videos that later spread across social media worldwide.
According to Malak, officers prepared to take Wesam into custody. Fearing separation, she repeatedly asked to accompany him. Malak keeps talking to the police officers in English. They kept responding to here in Durch even after making clear several times she does not understand the language.
Suddenly one of the agents came closer by. And Wesam reacted by shouting at the agent noty to touch his wife.
Just seconds after an officer forced Malak, 9 months pregnant, harshly to the ground. We saw on the video. Malak says she repeatedly shouted that she was pregnant, but believes her warnings were ignored.
Seeing his wife on the floor, Wesam rushed toward the officers, triggering a physical confrontation involving several police personnel.
A second video appears to show Malak being dragged by her hair across the floor.
According to the couple, both sustained injuries during the incident. Malak says she suffered bruising, while medical documents reportedly recorded bruised ribs for Wesam.
Less than a week later, on May 24, their daughter Reem was born. Malak believes the stress and trauma surrounding the incident contributed to an early labor.
Today, Reem is healthy and calm.
Her parents proudly hold her in their arms while speaking about the future they hope to build for her.
The family is currently back in Germany. Wesam is staying at an asylum facility near Duisburg, while Malak and Reem are being accommodated separately as medical staff continue monitoring the newborn.
Dutch authorities have launched an investigation into the events in Zeist. In public statements, one of the officers involved said he was unaware Malak was pregnant and would have acted differently had he known.
Malak strongly disputes that explanation.
“Everyone knew I was pregnant,” she says. “The staff knew. My husband told them. And it was clearly visible that I was nine months pregnant.”
She adds that her criticism extends beyond her own experience.
“Even if I had not been pregnant, nobody should be treated that way. No woman should be treated that way.”
For now, however, the couple say their focus is elsewhere. After years marked by war, displacement, imprisonment and uncertainty, they are concentrating on something far simpler: raising their daughter in safety, something every single parent want for their cildren, no?
Two days before the incident in the centre of Zeist, Wesam received another phone call from his father. Wesam was told that his best friend had been killed by the Israeli army. It all became too much for Wesam. On 19 May, the day of the incident, Wesam had a conversation with one of the support workers at the asylum centre. Wesam tells us that the supervisor told him he would never be eligible for asylum. Malak adds that they were told this would not happen even after the birth of their child.
That’s when he snapped. Grief and anger took over. Wesam then kicked open the door to his room, shattering the glass in the door. The door of a fridge was also smashed, as was a television set. Although Wesam says he is no longer sure about that. His support worker and Malak could not calm him down. The support workers at the centre then called for assistance from the security team, who in turn called the police, who arrived at the scene.
By the time the police arrived, Wesam had locked himself in a toilet. The police ordered him to come out of the toilet with his arms in the air. Eventually, this is what Wesam did. He ended up in the corridor where Malak and the police were also present. The officers wanted to body search Wesam and then take him to the police station.
Malak, who was heavily pregnant, did not want to be left behind on her own. She tells us that she repeatedly asked the officers if she could go with Wesam, so that they would not be separated. One of the officers tried to arrest Malak. Wesam then started shouting at the officer, telling him not to touch his wife. One of the officers then grabbed Malak and pulled her to the ground, as we can see in the video. Malak tells us that at that moment she started shouting at the officers that she was pregnant, but according to her, they did not respond. Wesam saw the officer pulling his wife to the ground and rushed towards the officer to defend Malak. A fierce scuffle then broke out between Wesam and several officers. Even though Malak repeatedly shouted, in English, that she was pregnant, the officers only responded in Dutch, says Malak. She was then grabbed by the hair and dragged across the floor by an officer, as we can also see in a second video available online. Malak was left with several painful bruises from the incident and Wesam suffered bruised ribs, as we can read in the hospital report.
Today, two weeks after the incident, Wesam and Malak proudly show us their newborn daughter, Reem. The whole situation in Zeist brought on labour earlier, says Malak. Their daughter was born on 24 May and everyone is doing well.
Reem is doing well and is a very calm baby, according to Malak. Wesam can’t wait for me to take a photo of her too. He proudly wraps her in a keffiyeh and places her in Malak’s arms. “Photo, photo Bob” “Please take a photo!”
Reem and her parents are currently back in Germany. Wesam is in an asylum centre north of Duisburg. Malak and the baby are staying in a youth facility where they are monitoring the newborn’s condition.
I show her a news report from the NOS in which the police say they are investigating the incident and in which the officer who threw her roughly to the floor responds. He states that he did not know Malak was pregnant. And says he would have acted differently had he known she was pregnant.
We asked Malak for a response: “Firstly, the staff who told us the police were on their way already knew I was pregnant. Secondly, it’s clear to see that I’m nine months pregnant. It’s impossible that he didn’t see my bump. Thirdly, his behaviour is unforgivable. The violence he used against me… even if I hadn’t been pregnant, that is not an acceptable way to treat anyone. Moreover, it’s not just about me; other women have also been treated this way by some police officers… not all of them, but some.”
Wesam: “And I told him myself.”
Malak: “My husband also told them I was pregnant, so everyone knew. I can’t believe…”
The new parents are now hoping above all that they will be granted some peace and quiet in the coming period and that they can build a warm home together in Europe for Reem. Malak tells us that neither of them had the good fortune to grow up in a safe place and she cannot bear the thought of Reem having to go through the same thing. But for now, she just wants to enjoy the new life in their little family and shower Reem with care and love.
