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Boycott Israel's weapons now

Norwegian politicians should realize that the Oslo process and other negotiations with Israel have failed. Will SV stand by the decision on full arms embargo?




(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)

hra alpha nytid.no.

This week Jonas Gahr visited Greater Israel and Palestine. On Monday he marked the XNUMXth anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin.

Twelve years after the Oslo Accords were signed, the spiral of violence in Israel and Palestine is spinning. According to the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, twenty-three Palestinians were killed in October 2005, each out of five children, and nine Israelis, out of one child.

As an occupier, a daily breaker of human rights and the world's fifth largest military power, Israel must be said to have the greatest responsibility. For decades, the country has broken international law by occupying and seizing land in occupied territory, by systematically discriminating against the Arab population of Israel, by denying the Palestinians they displaced in 1948 to return, and now by building the wall of international law.

Peace has been negotiated in the international arena several times, but when occupied and occupied meet at the negotiating table, the strongest conditions are naturally dictated.

Not peace, but land

During the Oslo process in the 1990s, settlements grew, and refugees were a non-issue. When the "Roadmap for Peace" was to be implemented in the summer of 2003, and Hamas had confirmed a ceasefire, Israel liquidated its activists from a helicopter and tore Palestinian children's lives apart.

As the Israeli peace bloc Gush Shalom said in a statement to the Hebrew press on June 22, 2003: and the military in a hurry to carry out a new 'liquidation'… Such actions should not prevent terrorist attacks. This government is interested in them, they serve their policies. "

Middle East researcher Hilde Henriksen Waage said it most clearly in Morgenbladet on 19 September 2003: “We should not underestimate the Israelis and think that they do not know what they are doing, it is clear today that they do not want peace, they want the country. ”

Self-reliant withdrawal

World optimism flared up again when Israel withdrew from Gaza this autumn. But old dogs rarely learn to sit. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has hardly changed since former Prime Minister and warlord Menachem Begin said of him: "He is a brilliant general, but an evil man."

Because Israel did not coordinate the withdrawal with the Palestinian authorities, a power vacuum emerged that allowed Palestinian groups to freely lease. Israel apologized for continuing murderous air strikes and could claim that they had no negotiating partner. A situation they seem to enjoy as Sharon continually cancels scheduled meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

And on the West Bank, the Palestinians are winged by growing walls and settlements.

SV's arms embargo

Perhaps the most outrageous is the international community's unwillingness to pressure Israel. How long will the shadowless boxing at the negotiating table continue while the Palestinians are locked in, their communities wiped out by Israeli colonialism and Palestinian and Israeli blood flowing in the streets?

As Israeli writer and journalist Uri Avnery has pointed out, Sharon knows full well that he is condemning some of his own citizens to death when he liquidates militant Palestinians in mafia terms. Then comes the suicide bomb.

According to Article 41 of the UN Charter, the Security Council can impose sanctions on states that do not comply with international law, but the US favorite has so far been protected. At the request of Youth for Free Palestine before the election, the entire red-green troika expressed support for the international law requirements of the Palestinians. Nevertheless, Norway buys weapons from the occupying power of Israel.

When asked about arms trafficking, the Center Party pointed to the Norwegian ban on not selling weapons to countries in war, but on past imports. The Labor Party referred to the same ban, saying it was not right or wise to buy weapons from the country, but did not mention any decision. The SV would introduce full arms boycott and embargo, as well as propose an international ban. For a seat at the king's table SV has had to swallow some camels. How much of their own program can they fail before the divisions in the party become irrevocable?

Palestinians and several Israeli opposition call for boycott of the country. Weapons embargo will be a beginning and an important signal to the international community. The pressure should be followed up with further boycotts until the country bends to international law. Full trade and cultural boycott was a successful tool against South Africa's apartheid policy. This should also be considered against Israel.

antisemitism

Israeli friends have always interpreted criticism of Israel as anti-Semitism. The accusations will hardly fail in a boycott campaign. But this is how they beat all Jews with the policies of Israel and contribute to the anti-Semitic primitive generalizations of Jews.

Others associate boycott of Israel with Nazi Germany boycott of Jewish traders. But to boycott homeless individuals, who have done nothing wrong other than being Jews, is something quite different from boycotting weapons from one of the world's largest military powers because the country refuses to both negotiate and follow international law.

Like Christians, Muslims and everyone else, Jews are also capable of oppressing. There is nothing sensational about it. Disqualifying Jews from criticism because they are Jews will only isolate them more and hardly serve the fight against anti-Semitism.

Arms boycott of Israel will be an important step.

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