PMW in JPost: Norway is on the wrong side of history
After months of criticizing Israel's counterattack against Hamas, key Western democracies have finally acknowledged the existential threats Israel faces and have lined up in defense of Israel's war to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons program. Except for Norway.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz affirmed Israel's "right to defend its existence." French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was equally clear: "We reaffirm Israel's right to defend itself."
Britain went even further when Industry Minister Sarah Jones stated that the UK "did not rule out British involvement in defending Israel if Iran fired ballistic missiles."
US President Donald Trump was the most supportive: "I think it's been excellent. We gave them [Iran] a chance and they didn't take it... They got hit about as hard as you're going to get hit. And there's more to come. A lot more."
In contrast, the world's dictatorships lined up to condemn Israel. Qatar accused Israel of violating Iran's sovereignty. Iraq claimed it broke international law. Oman called it a dangerous escalation. Turkey labeled the strikes a provocation. Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates all joined the chorus of condemnation.
And siding with the terror regimes and authoritarian states was my country, Norway.
Why Norway sides with authoritarian regimes against Israel
PRIME MINISTER Jonas Gahr Store chose to condemn Israel. "This is a very serious development," he said. "Norway condemns the escalation of the war situation around Iran." Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide echoed the criticism: "The situation in the Middle East is now a good deal worse than it was until last night."
Barth Eide even claimed Israel was isolated: "The US and Trump have explicitly called and asked Netanyahu not to attack… There is no support, as far as I can tell, anywhere." In truth, Israel has strong backing from fellow democracies, just not from Norway.
Regrettably, I should not be surprised that Norway has turned its back on Israel's just war. For years, my country's support for those waging terror against Israel has been official policy.
Recently, the Norwegian foreign minister visited Israel for the first time since Hamas's October 7, 2023, atrocities. His press release was filled with fundamental errors, chief among them his sanitizing of the Palestinian Authority, which Norway funds with my tax kroners.
Barth Eide said: "I hope Israel sees that they have a partner for peace in Palestine… The Palestinian Authority renounced the use of violence over 30 years ago." That claim is laughable, as the PA has never renounced violence to its own people in Arabic.
PA officials have repeatedly praised the October 7 massacre. Senior leader Jibril Rajoub called it a day "full of epics and acts of heroism," while Abbas adviser Mahmoud al-Habbash called it "legitimate resistance" five times in one interview.
Abbas himself recently vowed yet again that if the PA had just one penny left, it would go to imprisoned terrorists and the families of "martyrs." He explained they deserved it because these murderers are "more precious than all of us."
THERE WAS a time when Norway rejected the PA's terror support. When Palestinian Media Watch revealed that Norway had funded a girls' community center that was named after terrorist Dalal Mughrabi, who led the 1978 massacre of 37 civilians, including 12 children, then-foreign minister Borge Brende responded with moral clarity:
"The glorification of terrorist attacks is completely unacceptable… We will not allow Norwegian aid to be used for such purposes… We have asked for the funds to be repaid." (Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
That principled response is now absent. The PA has named six schools after that same Mughrabi, five after Abu Jihad (responsible for 125 murders), five more after Salah Khalaf (mastermind of the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre), and even one after Nazi ally and war criminal Amin al-Husseini. Yet Norway is silent today while its aid money funds a PA education system that presents these terrorists as role models for kids.
Barth Eide's hailing Yasser Arafat's 1993 lie about "renouncing violence" is as tragic as Neville Chamberlain's hailing Hitler's 1938 lies as "peace in our time." A diplomat who does not recognize the PA's systemic support for terrorism has no place in Middle East diplomacy.
Equally offensive in Barth Eide's press release was his use of Holocaust remembrance: "Antisemitism is completely unacceptable… We have been members of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance [IHRA] since 2003. I take the work against antisemitism very seriously."
"Holocaust remembrance" is a meaningless slogan if Barth Eide does not condemn Mahmoud Abbas for claiming that Hitler fought the Jews because he believed "the Jews caused ruin." "Holocaust remembrance" is a meaningless slogan if Barth Eide won't denounce the PA for praising the atrocities of October 2023 or for continuing to call for genocide today.
Over the past year, senior PA religious figures have broadcast calls for the extermination of Jews seven times on official PA TV, including just this past week:
"Allah, strike the thieving Jews. Allah, count them one by one. Kill them one by one. Do not leave even one."
Hitler never said it more clearly.
If Barth Eide believes Holocaust remembrance means condemning the genocide of the past while ignoring calls for genocide in the present, then maybe it's time Norway canceled its IHRA membership.
Building on the delusion that the PA is a "partner for peace," Norway has taken the dangerous step of recognizing the terror-supporting PA as a state and is encouraging others to do the same.
As a proud but troubled Norwegian, I call on my country to base its foreign policy on reality, rather than self-deception. Norway must declare full support for Israel's just war against Iran and withdraw its recognition of a terror-supporting PA state until genuine reforms are implemented by the PA.
If Norway fails to take these essential and principled steps, it will remain on the wrong side of history.
The writer is the European representative of Palestinian Media Watch.