Från JTA:
Norway’s ambassador to Israel drew distinctions between the Oslo and Utoya massacres and Palestinian terrorism.
Svein Sevje said in an Israeli newspaper interview Tuesday that while the Norwergian bomb and gun rampages that killed 76 people and Palestinian attacks should both be considered morally unacceptable, he wanted to “outline the similarity and the difference in the two cases.”
Palestinians, the ambassador told Maariv, “are doing this because of a defined goal that is related to the Israeli occupation. There are elements of revenge against Israel and hatred of Israel. To this you can add the religious element to their actions.”
“In the case of the terror attack in Norway, the murderer had an ideology that says that Norway, particularly the Labor Party, is forgoing Norwegian culture,” Sevje said, referring to suspect Anders Breivik, a Christian nativist who is opently anti-Islam and anti-immigration.
Unlike European Union states, Norway has engaged Hamas and often been fiercely critical of Israel, to Jerusalem’s dismay.
While Sevje voiced sympathy for Israeli terror victims, having experienced “the inferno” of such attacks during his posting, he saw little chance of Norway reviewing its Middle East policies.
“We Norwegians consider the occupation to be the cause of the terror against Israel,” he said. “Those who believe this will not change their mind because of the attack in Oslo.”
Det är skrämmande att höra en norsk representant relativisera terror på detta sätt.
Den arabiska terrorn mot judar har en historia som går mycket längre tillbaka än Israels annektering “ockupation” av västbanken. Israels intåg på Västbanken skedde för övrigt när Israel svarade på ett utrotningskrig från arabländerna.
Godtyckliga pogromer mot judar genom hela arabvärlden var en av orsakerna till att Israel bildades. Judarna behövde sluta sig samman för att kunna försvara sig.
När Israel utropades attackerade arabländerna för att förstöra landet. Det berodde knappats på “ockupation”, om inte den norska ambassadören delar många palestiniers åsikt att hela Israel är “ockuperat”.
Elder of Ziyon har skrivit om händelsen.