On Thursday, I blogged the latest rant by Norway's ambassador to Israel Svein Sevje. In Tuesday's JPost, Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld responded.
This expression of Israeli empathy was all the more impressive since after this tragic incident, hate-mongering directed at Israel by mainstream Norwegian society came again to the fore. Even if the Middle East was only one item on its agenda, the AUF camp at Utoya where Breivik murdered many can be characterized as an anti-Israel hate camp.
More information has since become available regarding how “successful” the demonization of Israel was at Utoya. When Breivik started firing some youngsters thought it was a demonstration of how Israeli soldiers shoot at Palestinian civilians. When I first read this story by German journalist Ulrich Sahm, it seemed unbelievable. I there upon contacted Sahm and he provided me with several sources for his story.
AUF is the youth movement of the Labor Party of Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. As a young man he also attended the camp at Utoya. Many Labor party ministers come out of AUF. It is now a breeding ground for Israel-haters, some of whom will become prominent in the Labor Party.
Someone on this blog keeps asking me whether Breivik attended Utoya as well. I am trying to find out.
I am having difficulty deciding what the story is here: Is it that Norway is continuing its self-righteous attacks on Israel in the hope of suppressing any criticism, or is it that the Jerusalem Post, Israel's only English-language (only) daily insists on continuing to publish these attacks on its pages.
In any event, Norwegian ambassador to Israel Svein Sevje, who has already argued that 'Palestinian' terrorism against Israelis is somehow different from other terrorism, and more morally justified, has once again published an attack on Israel in the pages of the JPost.
Norway condemns all acts of terrorism, and considers it essential to promote respect for international humanitarian law. Anyone with an interest in recent political positions taken by Norway can see this for themselves in the press releases and the regular foreign policy addresses by the foreign minister to the Norwegian Parliament, which are published online at www.government.no/mfa. The Norwegian government condemned the killing of four Israelis outside Hebron in August 2010, and the murder of the Fogel family this past March. It continues to demand the release of Gilad Schalit from Hamas captivity. Norway also condemned the bomb attack in Jerusalem on March 23, and has repeatedly condemned the rockets fired from Gaza by Hamas and other groups. The same goes for Hezbollah’s actions along Israel’s northern border.
If that's the case, then why did Sevje say this in his interview with Maariv that is translated in the first link above:
Svein Sevje said in an Israeli newspaper interview Tuesday that while the Norwergian bomb and gun rampages that killed 76 people and Palestinian attacks should both be considered morally unacceptable, he wanted to "outline the similarity and the difference in the two cases."
Palestinians, the ambassador told Maariv, "are doing this because of a defined goal that is related to the Israeli occupation. There are elements of revenge against Israel and hatred of Israel. To this you can add the religious element to their actions."
Sevje also conveniently ignores incidents like this 2009 incident in which a Norwegian diplomat used a discredited photo to compare Israel to Nazis and a 2010 Aftenposten report that claims that Norwegian UNIFIL troops helped two Hezbullah terrorists in Lebanon escape from Israel and the SLA. A Wikileaks cable released in 2010 claims that Norway actually sympathizes with Hamas' positions, and does not just have a tactical desire for talk with the terror organization.
Repeatedly the Norwegian foreign minister has emphasized Israel’s right to defend itself, but he has also called for proportionality in the Israeli military responses and respect for international humanitarian law. He stated that the killing of unarmed demonstrators in the Golan Heights on June 5 could not be justified, and Norway is among those who strongly criticize Israeli building of illegal settlements on occupied territory.
What did Mr. Gahr Store propose that we do with all those Syrian 'demonstrators'? Let them all infiltrate into Israel and claim a 'right of return'? Our border with Syria is not exactly Norway's border with Sweden or Denmark, and those people were far from innocent Swedes or Danes. Besides, the attempt to breach our international border is an act of war and should be responded to as an act of war.
As to the proportionality canard, consider this (original here):
This demand for "proportionality" can only be called surprising. Until this conflict began, history books everywhere always expressed great satisfaction and a certain chauvinistic pride when a nation's army inflicted on the enemy a large number of casualties, vis-à-vis a trifling price paid by "our boys." Israel is the only country expected to behave differently and, in fact, it does; I know of no other nation that announces where and when it will drop its bombs, thus enabling civilians to evacuate the territory. Of course, in this it behaves asymmetrically, because the Hamas terrorists, forever eager to cause the greatest damage possible, never announce when or where they will launch their rockets against Israel's civilian population.
In turn, Israel has not the slightest interest in causing casualties. All it wants is to stop Hamas' attacks the only way it can: by eliminating the terrorists and destroying their arsenals. There's no other way to deal with them. Hamas is not a political organization with which agreements can be reached, but a fanatical gang intent on wiping Israel off the map. To achieve this objective, its members are even willing to turn their own children into human bombs, just to kill the hated Jews.
Here's another very important asymmetry. The Jews build underground shelters in all houses near the border; they close the schools and hide the children at the least sign of danger; they treat the death of a single soldier as a national tragedy; they do everything possible to rescue their prisoners, and protect the civilian population from the consequences of war. In contrast, the authorities in Gaza, drunk with violence, fire their machine guns irresponsibly into the air to express joy or grief (causing numerous injuries), do not hesitate to install their headquarters or hide their guns in schools, mosques or hospitals, use human shields to protect themselves, turn to suicidal terrorists and reward the families of such "martyrs" with money.
Isn't it funny how Norway, which professes to support Israel, has never criticized any other country's military for lack of 'proportionality,' and has never considered or commented on the disproportion described above. Back to Sevje.
Finally, regarding Hamas: In 2007, Norway chose to engage with the Palestinian unity government, which was based on a joint platform negotiated by Fatah, Hamas and independent Palestinian representatives.
In bringing about the unity government, and in our contact with this government after its formation, there were exchanges of views at the political level with Hamas, until its violent takeover of Gaza. Contact with Hamas, however, does not mean that we finance it, or that we condone its use of terror, or that we approve of its charter or its political program. We do not.
As noted above, Norway actually sympathizes with Hamas. And there is no difference between Hamas' 'political' and 'military' 'wings.' They are one and the same. Sevje's implication that there is a difference is detached from reality.
THE NORWEGIAN government believes that terrorism must be fought with all available means – including with military power. At the same time, we must also take a political approach and search for processes that can lead groups away from terrorism and into politics.
So then why did Norway oppose Israel's war of self-defense against terrorism - Operation Cast Lead - in December 2008 and January 2009? Not only did Norway oppose that war, its government actively sought to undermine it (original here).
Israel’s dovish Kadima government only began the operation in Gaza because it had no choice. For months then prime minister Ehud Olmert sat on his hands as southern Israel was pummeled with unprovoked barrages of thousands of missiles and rockets from Gaza. Olmert was forced to take action after Hamas massively escalated its rocket and missile attacks in November and early December 2008.
While silent about Palestinian aggression, Norway’s government attacked Israel for defending itself. As Store put it, “The Israeli ground offensive in Gaza constitutes a dramatic escalation of the conflict. Norway strongly condemns any form of warfare that causes severe civilian suffering, and calls on Israel to withdraw its forces immediately.”
Two of [Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr] Store’s associates, Eric Fosse and Mads Gilbert, decamped to Gaza during Cast Lead and set up shop in Shifa Hospital. The two were fixtures in the Norwegian media, which constantly interviewed them throughout the conflict, and so spread their libelous charges against the IDF without question.
Fosse and Gilbert never mentioned that Hamas’s high command was located at the hospital in open breach of the laws of war.
When they returned home, they co-authored a book in which they accused the IDF of entering Gaza with the express goal of murdering women and children.
Store wrote a blurb of endorsement on the book’s back cover.
And finally, there's this little story (from the same source), which is totally incongruous with Norway's professed friendship toward Israel.
It is a fact that the day before Breivik’s massacre of teenagers at the Labor Party’s youth camp on Utoya Island, Store spoke to them about the need to destroy Israel’s security fence. The campers role-played pro- Hamas activists breaking international law by challenging Israel’s lawful maritime blockade of the Gaza coastline.
They held signs calling for a boycott of Israel.
Sorry, Ambassador Sevje. Talk is cheap. Your country's actions don't show friendship toward Israel. If anything, they show a visceral hatred for Israel and Jews and a level of sympathy for 'Palestinian' terrorism that is unmatched outside the Arab world.
Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister appeals for 'healing'... by attacking Rubin and Glick
In a comment in Friday's JPost, Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide, has appealed for 'healing' in the aftermath of Norway's terror attacks two weeks ago. But he has done so with a vicious attack on Barry Rubin (mostly) and Caroline Glick.
Many Norwegians, however, have been astonished by assertions recently made in The Jerusalem Post by two of its regular columnists, Barry Rubin and Caroline Glick.
For example, Barry Rubin wrote on Monday that “...the youth camp he attacked was engaged in what was essentially... a pro-terrorist program.”
According to Rubin, the camp was “justifying forces that had committed terrorism against Israel” by advocating an end to the blockade of Gaza and recognition of a Palestinian state.
Barry sounds exactly right to me. Of course, Barth Eide omits the fact that Fatah terrorists have participated in the Utoya camp for the last fifteen years. But leaving that aside, how else does one characterize the advocacy at Utoya camp of employing BDS against Israel in a bid to 'convince' it to remove its lawful blockade of an area from which thousands of rockets have been fired at it over the last ten years? Is that not supporting free access (and free access to weapons) for terrorists?
Rubin even implicitly blamed Norway’s Middle East policy for the attacks in Norway. He wrote, “If terrorist murders by Hamas and Islamists did not stop well-intentioned future leaders of Norway from considering them heroic underdogs, an evil local man could think his act of terrorism would gain sympathy and change Europe’s politics.”
This was, Rubin claimed, an example of the “Oslo Syndrome” whereby rewarding terrorists with political gains promotes more terrorism.
In other words, Rubin said that this terror attack, committed by a 'normal Norwegian boy' ought to make Norwegians do some introspection about their government's support for terror organizations like Hamas. Is Norway giving its youth the wrong message through its support for Hamas? Why is Norway not even willing to ask itself that question?
Rubin and Glick have also made much of the supposed statements by Norwegian Ambassador Svein Sevje to Ma’ariv, according to which he distinguished between the motivation behind terrorism in Israel and in Norway. Glick and Rubin are not alone in doing so. Several other Israeli media have latched on to this as well.
On this point, of course, it was not Glick or Rubin who was at fault. The ambassador was incorrectly quoted by Ma’ariv. He did not compare the motivation behind different terrorist attacks; he simply tried to answer a question about whether the terrorist attacks in Norway would change perceptions of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He stated that many Norwegians see the conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territory in the context of the occupation and religious extremism, and that this view would probably not change after the events in Oslo and on Utoeya.
Funny that he hasn't quoted Glick yet. But let's look at what the Norwegian ambassador to Israel actually said:
Svein Sevje said in an Israeli newspaper interview Tuesday that while the Norwergian bomb and gun rampages that killed 76 people and Palestinian attacks should both be considered morally unacceptable, he wanted to "outline the similarity and the difference in the two cases."
Palestinians, the ambassador told Maariv, "are doing this because of a defined goal that is related to the Israeli occupation. There are elements of revenge against Israel and hatred of Israel. To this you can add the religious element to their actions."
"In the case of the terror attack in Norway, the murderer had an ideology that says that Norway, particularly the Labor Party, is forgoing Norwegian culture," Sevje said, referring to suspect Anders Breivik, a Christian nativist who is opently anti-Islam and anti-immigration.
Whether the Maariv reporter (and I hope the reporter will come forward with a recording of the interview) misquoted Norwegian ambassador to Israel Svein Sevje, remains to be seen. But if the ambassador was misquoted, isn't it odd that it has taken from Tuesday, July 26 (the date of the interview) to Friday August 5 for someone to claim that he was misquoted? If he was misquoted, why was this allowed to stew for ten days? Maybe because it took the Norwegian Foreign Ministry ten days to think of that excuse?
But Barth Eide's gloss shows that he completely does not get what offended Israelis about Sevje's statements. Let's look at Barth Eide's explanation again.
He did not compare the motivation behind different terrorist attacks; he simply tried to answer a question about whether the terrorist attacks in Norway would change perceptions of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He stated that many Norwegians see the conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territory in the context of the occupation and religious extremism, and that this view would probably not change after the events in Oslo and on Utoeya.
In other words, what Sevje really meant is that Norwegians will continue to sympathize with 'Palestinian' terrorism despite the fact that they have now experienced terrorism themselves up close and personal. Are we Israelis supposed to take solace in the fact that this is what Sevje really meant and not that Breivik's motivation differed from Hamas' motivation? Really?
What Barth Eide ought to do is to say that Norway will conduct some self-examination and consider how its own actions might have contributed to the perception of a 'normal Norwegian boy' that terrorism was an okay way to deal with those with whom one disagrees. That introspection ought to start with an examination of Norway's policies of support for Hamas and the 'Palestinian Authority.'
But of course, none of that will happen. Norwegians are holier than we are and they never make mistakes. Just ask any representative of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.
Norwegian ambassador to Israel Svein Sevje told Maariv this week that 'Palestinian terrorism' against Israel is more justified than terrorism against Norwegians. Perhaps it's time for Norwegians to wake up and smell the coffee? This is from Alan Dershowitz.
The causes of terrorism are multifaceted but at bottom they have a common cause: namely, a belief that violence is the proper response to policies that the terrorists disagree with. The other common cause is that terrorism has often been rewarded. Norway, for example, has repeatedly rewarded Palestinian terrorism against Israel, while punishing Israel for its efforts to protect its civilians. While purporting to condemn all terrorist acts, the Norwegian government has sought to justify Palestinian terrorism as having a legitimate cause. This clearly is an invitation to continued terrorism.
It is important for the world never to reward terrorism by supporting the policies of those who employ it as an alternative to reasonable discourse, diplomatic resolution or political compromise.
I know of no reasonable person who has tried to justify the terrorist attacks against Norway. Yet there are many Norwegians who not only justify terrorist attacks against Israel, but praise them, support them, help finance them, and legitimate them.
The world must unite in condemning and punishing all terrorist attacks against innocent civilians, regardless of the motive or purported cause of the terrorism. Norway, as a nation, has failed to do this. It wants us all to condemn the terrorist attack on its civilians, and we should all do that, but it refuses to live by a single standard.
Norwegian ambassador to Israel justifies 'Palestinian' terrorism
If you love Israel, then I guarantee you that after you read this post, you won't feel sorry for Norway anymore.
Svein Sevje said in an Israeli newspaper interview Tuesday that while the Norwergian bomb and gun rampages that killed 76 people and Palestinian attacks should both be considered morally unacceptable, he wanted to "outline the similarity and the difference in the two cases."
Palestinians, the ambassador told Maariv, "are doing this because of a defined goal that is related to the Israeli occupation. There are elements of revenge against Israel and hatred of Israel. To this you can add the religious element to their actions."
"In the case of the terror attack in Norway, the murderer had an ideology that says that Norway, particularly the Labor Party, is forgoing Norwegian culture," Sevje said, referring to suspect Anders Breivik, a Christian nativist who is opently anti-Islam and anti-immigration.
Unlike European Union states, Norway has engaged Hamas and often been fiercely critical of Israel, to Jerusalem's dismay.
While Sevje voiced sympathy for Israeli terror victims, having experienced "the inferno" of such attacks during his posting, he saw little chance of Norway reviewing its Middle East policies.
"We Norwegians consider the occupation to be the cause of the terror against Israel," he said. "Those who believe this will not change their mind because of the attack in Oslo."
He added, "Can Israel and the Palestinians solve the problems without Hamas? I don't think so."
Norway's ambassador to Israel justifies 'Palestinian' terrorism and we're supposed to cry for the Norwegian Laborites? If the opposition Progress party ever manages to depose the scummy Norwegian Labor party, I will - bli neder (without taking a vow) - stand in the streets to hand out sweets to everyone.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
On Thursday, I blogged the latest rant by Norway's ambassador to Israel Svein Sevje. In Tuesday's JPost, Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld responded.
