(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
On 14 May, the festival MOTforestillinger will be held for the second time in Oslo. The festival focuses on the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and has invited several international guests to this year's program. One of them is journalist and author Akram Musallam from Ramallah in the West Bank. But since the Norwegian authorities fear that Musallam will be tempted to settle in Norway, the application for a visa was rejected. "This is the first time I have been invited to Norway, but I will not be allowed to travel because the authorities are afraid I will stay. I come from a country with a lot of emigration, but I still think it's strange – I work to get the Palestinians who were expelled from the country back to Palestine, "says Akram Musallam when Ny Tid meets him in Ramallah. "This is also the reason why I was invited to Norway: to talk about the right of return for the many thousands who were displaced during the nakba. So why in the world would I suddenly have to emigrate, "he says resignedly.
Happened last year too. This is not the first time participants at the festival have been rejected. Last year, the Palestinian peace activist Jaber Aram, who, together with an Israeli psychiatrist, was to tell about his years-long efforts against the Israeli occupation, was rejected on the same basis.
"I have no desire to leave my country for another country and leave my country here to a settler."
The rejection of Musallam, which Ny Tid has been given access to, states: "Our own and the local Schengen cooperation's experiences with special groups and nationalities, indicate that many do not leave Norway at the expiry of the visa. Therefore, visas are issued only in special cases. The probability of return is assessed individually, and against the situation in the applicant's home country. We note that the applicant comes from a country where social and economic conditions make the desire for emigration probable… The applicant states that he is 44 years old and married. However, this is not documented […] The applicant wishes to participate in an art festival in Norway. We do not consider this to be a strong enough reason to issue a visa, given that the applicant comes from a country with a high probability of emigration, and that the applicant is without the necessary ties to his country of origin. "
According to the UN, five million Palestinian refugees and their descendants live in neighboring Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Many of them live in poor conditions.
"At the end of the 1990s, I told myself the possibility of living in Germany for exactly the same reason that makes it irrelevant for me to try to stay in Norway: I have no desire to leave my country for the benefit of a another country, and leave my country here to a settler, ”says Musallam. "I have no desire to live in Norway, France or any other country. However, what I want to bring to other countries is my literature and my view of the world. The Norwegian authorities can feel completely confident that I will not stay. And if I could bring a single Palestinian back home, I would have financed it all myself, ”he concludes.
Upset and disappointed. Festival organizer Vibeke Harper is shocked by the Norwegian immigration authorities' rejection of Musallam's visa application. "For me, it is obvious that the embassy is training the case. I am very upset and disappointed with this treatment of a renowned author – I actually did not expect that the Norwegian authorities would prevent the Palestinian authors from participating in our literature festival, "says Harper to Ny Tid. "The State of Norway likes to present itself as a champion of freedom of expression and dialogue. That the Norwegian authorities then for the second time refuse our guests to come, is a shame, and completely unacceptable, "says Harper, who also says that she works intensely to get the refusal reversed, and is in constant contact with the embassy as Ny Tid runs in the pressure. «MOT performances is an art festival that wants to give voice to brave people who dare to dedicate their art to something more than just surface and form, and who dare to be political in their art. That the Norwegian authorities gag some of these votes, we will not let go unnoticed, "Harper continues. "Unless we succeed in reversing the rejection in the coming days, an empty chair will be on stage during the entire festival in Akram's absence."
Ny Tid did not manage to get any comment from the UDI before the case went to press. But after pressure, the Norwegian authorities turned in this case, so Akram Musallam came to Norway anyway.
Ny Tid got to print this poem which is read out at the festival:
