Monday, July 25, 2011

Rebelión on the July 22 attacks against Norway (I).

Rebelión (which means Rebellion) is a Spanish website which focuses on political, economic and social issues such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, E.T.A., the Catholic Church, the mainstream media, the Iraq War, fascism and many others, always from a far-left viewpoint.

On Sunday, July 24, 2011, this website published an article by María José Lera (professor of psychology at the University of Seville) and Ricardo García Pérez (a translator) under the title Noruega e Israel (Norway and Israel). It is claimed in this article that the July 22 attacks against Norway happened in a context which should attract our attention, since the AUF (Arbeidernes Ungdomsfylking or Workers' Youth League, the Norwegian Labour Party's youth organization), whose members were holding a meeting at the Utøya island when they were intentionally attacked by Anders Behring Breivik, are among the most prominent proponents of boycotting Israel.

Norwegian initiatives against Israel are then cited by the authors of the article, such as (sources available within the article itself):

1.- An academic boycott proposed from within the University of Bergen and the NTNU (Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet or Norwegian University of Science and Technology).

2.- Statements made by Jonas Gahr Støre (Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs), at the Utøya island itself the day before the attacks, against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the Israeli security fence in the West Bank. Støre is a member of the Arbeiderpartiet or Labour Party.

3.- Statements made by Eskil Pedersen (AUF leader) demanding a boycott against Israel and the recognition of a Palestinian State.

4.- Statements made by Kristin Halvorsen in 2006 (when she was Norway's Minister of Finance) demanding a boycott against Israel, as well as subsequent divestment measures by Norway against Israel. Halvorsen is a member of the Sosialistisk Venstreparti or Socialist Left Party.

5.- The fact that during 2010, 4 out of 10 Norwegians refused to buy Israeli products.

6.- Statements made by Jonas Gahr Støre supporting the Norwegian recognition of a Palestinian State, during a visit of the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

7.- The Palestinian passport which former Norwegian Prime Minister Kåre Willoch gave Mahmoud Abbas, as well as Willoch's statements supporting the Palestinians. Willoch is a member of the Høyre or Right, known internationally as the Norwegian Conservative Party.

8.- Reactions to the Norwegian support for the Palestinians by the Israeli media and pro-Israeli advocates such as American lawyer, jurist and political commentator Alan Dershowitz, who was rejected by three Norwegian universities when he demanded to be granted the right to speak about Israel.

For more information about Norwegian attitudes towards Israel and the Jewish people, please read Norway, Israel and the jews.

The article by María José Lera and Ricardo García Pérez ends as follows (translated as accurate as possible, between quotation marks):

"It could ultimately be that the State of Israel's tentacles are not so far away from this slaughter; after all it would have not been the first one they commit, nor unfortunately will be the last one. In the end, the Norwegian Workers' Youth League (AUF), the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs and his whole government have received a tremendous hit.

Those who have positioned themselves the most against Israel's genocidal policies towards the Palestinian people are precisely the ones who suffer the most, previously warned by Israel about their «tremendous boldness»… something which according to the Israeli language means that the price has to be paid."

This is outrageous. While Norway is experiencing its worst crisis since the German occupation of the country during the Second World War, María José Lera, Ricardo García Pérez and Rebelión dare to use this tragedy in order to discredit Israel through implying the Jewish State could have been involved in the attacks against Norwegian innocent citizens.

This kind of perfidy demonstrates how far anti-Israel advocates can go here in Spain.

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