Norway’s Middle East Hypocrisy.

 

by Ben Cohen

 

Norway FM Jonas Gahr Støre toured the Middle East between January 16^th-20^th, visiting Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Israel, Egypt and UAE. The topics of Støre's meetings in the different countries as well as the manner in which he was received shows us a Norwegian foreign policy bathed in the gold sheen of hypocrisy. The manner in which the Norwegian media reports on Støre's tour reveals how this hypocrisy is rooted in a bedrock of popular denial.

Criticizing Israel on human rights

Of the countries Støre visited we find Israel at the far end of the spectrum. Freedom House ranks the little nation as a "Free". The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index for 2008 ranks Israel at no.38. The nation is a vibrant affair, producing writers, film-makers, and scientists amidst a strong entrepreneurial culture. It is by far the state in which most Norwegians would settle, if they were to live in the Middle East.

In spite of this, Israel has reluctantly come to realize that what goodwill she enjoyed with Norwegian Labor has, after the failure of the Oslo accords, mutated into a seething resentment of failed expectations and dashed hopes. Merged with the traditional anti-Zionism of the Norwegian left-of-centre, this resentment has made criticism of Israel the very core of the Norwegian debate on the Middle East. In this debate Hamas and Hezbollah appear as symptoms of a problem which in itself consists solely of Israeli politics. The main obstacle to peace, Norwegian pundits muse, appears to be Israel in itself. The solution is obvious. It is from this core understanding that we see its outgrowths; the boycott-proposal at NTNU, the divestment from Elbit, the attacks on the synagogue and graveyards, the demonstrations against the embassy and the perpetual kangaroo-courts of the mass media. This is the culture which allows Ingrid Fiskaa, deputy minister of Development, to say that she wants the UN to precision-bomb Israeli targets.

It was therefore highly appropriate of the Jerusalem Post to greet Støre with an article stating that the Norwegian government was"rabidly hostile" to Israel, while Haaretz published an article quoting a member of the Norwegian opposition on how Støre ought to "listen to the Israelis" more carefully.

Støre poo-pooed the criticism, which he ensured Norwegian newspapers had nothing to do with Norway whatsoever, but rather was a product of the domestic scene in Israel. In an interview with Haaretz  he changed tack and suggested that Norway was being smeared by unnamed forces. He gave Israel "a clear message" regarding the situation in Gaza, insisted that Israel negotiate with the genocidal Hamas, bemoaned the restrictions placed upon Mordechai Vanunu and thumped the table on the issue of human rights for stop-the-wall activists. He then jumped on the plane to the United Arab Emirates, where he was wined and dined to his heart's delight.

"Opening doors for Statoil in Abu Dhabi"

Abu Dhabi is one of the fiefdoms making up UAE, which Freedom House rates as "Not Free". On the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index for 2008 we find UAE near the bottom of the pile at no.147, two notches down from Iran. As this week's Economist reports, UAE is where a prince has just been acquitted for torturing a grain dealer (see the torture clip on Youtube) and a foreign national is facing six years in prison for having reported that she was raped. Here, Støre partook in a conference on renewable energy. As Norwegians newspapers were to report, he was "opening doors for Statoil". Not a mention of human rights. Not a critical word regarding the freedoms which Støre is so adamant should be respected by Israel.

A state of denial

Støre's recent tour is a perfect illustration of how Norway attempts to ride two horses at once. One the one hand Norway desire to be a humanitarian superstar and a force for good, which makes it necessary to criticize countries which violate human rights. On the other hand Norway has a great thirst for oil, which makes it necessary to stay on good terms with states such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The result of this is that Norway has managed to develop a strained  relationship with the most democratic society in the Middle East - Israel, while simultaneously being on cordial terms with the region's most authoritarian societies  - such as  the United Arab Emirates. Moreover this glaringly obvious fact, which is as remarkable as it is unpalatable, in commented upon by neither the media nor the intellectuals. Like a modern day Houdini slipping from his chains by throwing a joint, Støre escapes criticism by virtue of his popularity, yet a statesman needs to be more than dextrous at public relations. He needs a sense of integrity and a moral courage - assets which Støre fails to bring to the table.

In her pragmatic search for oil, Norway is developing a talent for hypocrisy which is irreconcilable with her yearning of being a "humanitarian superpower". The only solution to such a contradiction in terms lies in denying that the problem exists at all, which is exactly what Norway lets Støre get away with. The man is opening doors for Statoil in Abu Dhabi - what more can you ask?

Hence, Norway's criticism of Israel is just. Israel's criticism of Norway however, is either a smear-campaign or a domestic Israeli affair. As for Norway's ambitions of straddling oil platforms over the swollen deposits of the United Arab Emirates, that is another matter altogether. It has nothing to do with human rights in Israel. Tear down the wall. End apartheid rule. Such is the nature of the logic ruling the Norwegian Middle East debate - it has been reduced to dogma.

A matter of values

Whatever challenge Norwegian hypocrisy might present for Israel it is but a shadow of the problem facing Norway herself. A nation cannot, just as a man cannot, remain at full health while deceiving himself about the nature of his own actions. As Robin Shepherd suggests in his recently published "State beyond the pale", Europe's criticism of Israel is not a matter of putting Israel to the test, but a matter of Europe testing her own soul. Do we believe in our freedom, our equality, our liberty? Will we assist others in achieving the same? And will we fight to preserve them or will we surrender them out of fear and sloth?

Judging by Støre's recent tour of UAE and Israel, the soul of Norway is a barrel of crude oil.

 

Ben Cohen

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.