by Yaakov Ahimeir
Norway, of all places,
suddenly has doubts about the financial aid it offers the Palestinian
Authority. Norway is one of the PA's biggest supporters, giving it some
$50 million a year. Now, someone has woken up and the Norwegian media
wants to know: "Where is our money going?"
Questions surrounding
the results of Palestinian projects that the Norwegians have funded have
even reached the country's state television station, NRK.
Tormod Strand, a senior
journalist with Norwegian public TV, decided to follow the money trail;
and together with Itamar Marcus, who heads "Palestinian Media Watch" —
an Israeli research institute that monitors the PA's media and
schoolbooks — produced two episodes that presented the unadulterated
hatred preached by the Palestinian Authority's media towards Israel and
the Jews.
From the first story,
Norwegians viewers learned, among other things, that the Palestinian
Authority's media lends great credibility to "The Protocols of the
Elders of Zion," the false 1903 document that alleges a Jewish
conspiracy for global domination.
The second story
focused on exactly where the financial aid given to the Palestinian
Authority by Norway was going. According the report, the money ends up,
among other things, supporting the families of Palestinian
arch-terrorists who are imprisoned in Israel. It also funds media
outlets that perpetuate hatred and incitement to violence.
Speaking to Strand, I
asked him if he encountered any difficulty from Oslo's state TV when he
wanted to air the stories. He said he had not.
The shows had a
political impact in Norway: the parliament ordered the formation of a
commission of inquiry, which was tasked with recommending whether Oslo
should continue its financial aid to the Palestinians and if so, to what
extent.
Those privy to the
commission's work say that while the financial aid would probably keep
flowing, it is likely that Norwegians would also demand to see the money
earmarked for specific projects whose goals have nothing to do with,
for example, funding terror.
Some of the winds are
changing in Norway, at least where financial aid to the Palestinians is
concerned. A sign of the changing times was evident in the surprisingly
warm welcome new Israeli Ambassador to Oslo Naim Araidi — who was
appointed by former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in July 2012 —
received.
Araidi hears many
opinions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and those expressed by
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide sound more moderate and
measured now, unlike those made by his predecessor, Jonas Gahr Støre.
Norway's true colors have not
changed yet, but the high-profile stories carried by the county's main
television stations may soon help thaw the northern glacier, bit by bit.
Yaakov Ahimeir
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=3709
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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