Please see the following Action Alert from ICAN, the Israeli Citizens Action Network for volunteer public diplomacy.
Dear ICAN members,
Below are two articles about Hamas representatives being invited to Norway. It is important write letters of protest, stressing the nature of Hamas, and the danger of the International community giving legitimacy to a terrorist organisation. You will also find some excellent talking points by Dave Alpern, extracted from his recent letter to the British FM Jack Straw .
Please send your letters to the Norwegian government, I thank Mi Grandin for the list of contact details.
Norway Embassy Israel: norambta@netvision.net.il
Prime Minister Office: postmottak@smk.dep.no
Norway UN del-un.newyork@mfa.no
Press Spokeswoman Anne Lene Sandsten anne.sandsten@mfa.no
Norway Newspaper Aftenposten english@aftenposten.no
More Journalists and TV gunnar.stavrum@tv2.no
Here are the contact Addresses for the Norwegian NGO's.
Norwegian Red Cross
nrx.center@redcross.no
Norwegian Church Aid
nca-oslo@nca.no
Norwegian People's Aid
ivar.christiansen@npaid.org (head of information dept)
Doctors without Borders Norway
epost@oslo.msf.org
Norwegian Refugee Council
nrc@nrc.no
US critical of Norway's Hamas policy http://tinyurl.com/hgsod
The US has asked that two Hamas representatives who will visit Norway in May should not be received at the Depatment of Foreign Affairs during their visit. Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere has turned down the US request.
On May 15th two representatives of the Palestinian Hamas party will be received at the Department of Foreign Affairs (UD) by representatives for the department.
The two have been invited to Norway by the Palestinian Committe, a private organization, and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has made it clear that the two will not meet any government ministers.
The US recently contacted the UD regarding the visit, and according to public broadcaster NRK, the US asked Norway to drop the visit at the UD, even if the visit will be at senior official level.
Foreign Minister Stoere confirms the US pressure.
He said he respected USA's view, but said that at the same time he believed it is unwise not to maintain contact with one side in a conflict.
- It gives us the opportunity to convey our view directly to Hamas, Stoere says.
The Norwegian Foreign Minister says he recieved the US pressure through what he calls diplomatic channels, but Stoere says he immediatley informed the Americans that the Hamas would be received at the UD:
- It is a long tradition in Norway and at the Department of Foreign Affairs to maintain broad contacts, and to communicate with various organizaations and movements. This is a practice we will continue, Stoere says to NRK.
The Hamas is on the US and the EU's list of terrorist organizations, while Norway follows the UN, which does not list Hamas as a terrorist organization.
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Concern over Norway's Palestinian policy http://tinyurl.com/nsjee
Norwegian humaniatarian organizations disagree with the Government on how to handle Norway's relationship with the Palestinian government party Hamas, and the financial support to the Palestinians.
International Developent Minister Erik Solheim on Wednesday met with the five NGOs active in the region, the Norwegian Red Cross, the Norwegian Church Aid, the Norwegian People's Aid, Doctors without Borders Norway and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The NGOs want Norway to keep up its economic support to the Palestinian authorities, even if they do not recognize the state of Israel.
They say that the alternative is a million people without income, the breakdown of the Palestinian state building, and an early political and humanitarian catastrophe.
The NGOs also want members of the Government to meet with the two representatives for Hamas who will visit Norway in May, not just representatives for the Department of Foreign Affairs.
- We are opposed to a political and economic boycott of Hamas. A political crisis will quickly develop into a humanitarian catastrophe, says Jens Mjaugedal of the Norwegian Reffugee Council.
He underlines that it is not a question of political support for Hamas' political program, but of support for the peace process.
Jorunn Kapstad of the Norwegian Church Aid agrees:
- Hamas must be given the opportunity to deliver. If the Palestinian state administration collapses, it would lead the Palestinians towards the extreme, she says.
International Development Minister Solheim rejects the idea that they are on a collision course.
- There is broad agreement that Israel as an occupying power is responsible for what is happening, and we must contribute in order that the Palestinian authorities will succeed, he says.
But Solheim could not say whether or not Norway will continue to support the Palestinians economically.
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TALKING POINTS Dave Alpern
It is patently obvious that no group or party even remotely resembling Hamas could run in any election in any Western democratic nation.
Most of all, any efforts to continue international funding (as well as funding from other countries) of the PA in this new situation must not succeed. Several laws in several nations forbid transferring funds to a terrorist group, which is how Hamas is currently classified. Please note that
funding the Hamas-led PA is:ˇMORALLY WRONG - Hamas is a terrorist group dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state and has been responsible for over 60% of suicide bombings that mass murdered innocent Israelis. It spews anti-Semitic hate so children will be indoctrinated to become suicide bombers. International support would be morally reprehensible.
ˇA POLICY DISASTER - Whether it won elections or not, Hamas remains an avowed terrorist group getting support from Iran and Syria. Sending aid would undermine the West's vaunted "global war on terrorism."
ˇIRRESPONSIBLE - Money is fungible. Extra money will free up other PA funds that can then be used for terrorism instead of for the needs of ordinary Palestinians.
ˇCOUNTER-PRODUCTIVE - Aid will let the PA continue avoiding the responsibility for building a viable state. What is it waiting for? It has become a welfare nation supported by a well-meaning international community. According to a UN source, the PA is the ONLY RECIPIENT of European funds that is NOT held accountable for how the money is spent. It is time for the PA to build a productive economy and infrastructure. The PA must choose: nation-building or terrorism.
ˇECONOMICALLY WRONG - The PA suffers economically because of corruption and mismanagement. The PA has received more funds per capita than any nation in the history of foreign aid. That money was squandered and stolen and went to line the pockets of officials, not to help ordinary Palestinians. More aid and support for Hamas would simply perpetuate the problem.
ˇPOLITICALLY WRONG - Palestinians had free and fair elections. They voted for the party that claimed violence alone would bring victory. They must deal with the international disapproval of their choice. If instead they get funding, legitimation and recognition, they will feel free to continue their violent, destructive policies.
ˇA BLATANT SETBACK FOR PEACE - Hamas is radically opposed to the two-state solution. British and European support for a terrorist group that refuses to change its horrendously anti-semitic charter would be the final death-knell of all the agreements and hopes for an end to the conflict.
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