in that Norway continues to trade arms with Israel.
(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
These days, many crocodile tears are crying for the people of the Gaza Strip. Large parts of the world have been provoked and engaged in the violent attack Israel has left behind.
But the war is not surprising. It is a result of the basic state structure and injustice that has been rooted in Israel since its founding in 1948.
In such a perspective, it is not so decisive who is most to blame for the outbreak of war 27. December. Both the Gaza government and the Jerusalem government are embroiled in a circular border drama that seems almost impossible for them to get out of. It is also precisely this more than half-century-long struggle over where the borders go and should go, and how to protect themselves and "their own", which is the problem.
Therefore, a lasting peace is unlikely in Gaza City or in Israel as long as the eternal belief in a two-state solution holds such great power over the minds. It is the borderline between Israelis and Palestinians that is artificial and problematic, not the possibility of living in one country. It is a one-state solution, in extension of Einstein, Bubers and Gandhi's ideas, which now seems the most viable way forward. The relatively new, Zionist idea of two peoples, two countries, seems to have further weakened its legitimacy with the brutal warfare of recent weeks.
A one-state solution is probably a radical and demanding idea now in 2009, although it is supported by leading Israeli and Palestinian thinkers, 60 years after the state's creation. After decades of arguing that a two-state solution is the only one right, the idea of one secular state for both Arabs, Jews and other faiths is difficult to gather comprehensive support for. This will probably take many years. It may not be in our lifetime, but if today's development continues, it seems like a matter of time before a more peaceful alternative will manifest itself as the best for everyone.
Until then, it is easier to demand acute and superficial solutions, such as a halt to bombing and rocket launches – now. And the worst acts of war will probably soon subside, before Barack Obama takes over the presidency on January 20, before the Knesset election on February 10. But the root cause of the conflict will still be there. We will not solve the injustice of occupied or displaced Palestinians just by stopping the bombing of Gaza.
So far, while we are living with incomplete and temporary solutions, it is about reducing the damage – for Israelis and Palestinians, for the world community. The religiously based Hamas movement, with its allies, does not seem to be the way to a better solution. Nor is the current Zionist government, led by Kadima's Tzipi Livni.
weapons Boycott
In such a perspective, it is positive that Minister of Finance Kristin Halvorsen has asked the Council on Ethics for the Petroleum Fund to examine Norwegian investments in Israel. Several of the companies in which Norway has invested money have operations in Israel or the Palestinian territories. But as it appears in today's Ny Tid, it is far worse investments the Norwegian state supports. Both through the purchase of defense equipment from Israel, such as cluster munitions, and through parts for the Israel-ordered Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, which the current government has chosen to support.
It is positive that SV's deputy leader Audun Lysbakken concludes this week to TV 2: «What we now see is a high-tech military machine, which attacks a defenseless population in Gaza. It is possible because Western countries supply Israel with these weapons. We believe that Israel should now be subject to an international arms boycott. And we want Norway to work for such an international boycott. "
But here it is probably mostly about convincing its own government members, then first and foremost the Labor Party. It seems like the biggest buoy. But it is obvious that a Norwegian arms boycott of a warring country like Israel is now necessary.
It is often said that Israel is specially treated with the peculiar criticism the country is exposed to. It is possible, but then the country's creation, expansion and treatment of its own inhabitants is also very special. In Ny Tid, we try to fight the dictatorships in Iran and Saudi Arabia, oil countries with which Norway unfortunately continues to cooperate uncritically. But even these regimes do not bomb innocent women and children as Israel does now.
It is often said in Norway that criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic. But it is probably just as much such a claim that is problematic. Or as it was called when Independent Jewish Voices Canada, led by Naoimi Klein, agreed on the following principle in May: "The fight against anti-Semitism is crucial, and it is undermined when protests against the Israeli government's policies are automatically branded anti-Semitic. »
It is not anti-Semitic to be anti-Zionist. It is not racism to be against colonialism.
While we wait for a more precise and fundamental Israel debate in Norway as well, we can hope that the year will continue better than it started.