Norwegian Ambassador Compares Terror Attacks in Norway and in Israel
In an interview today with the Israeli daily, Ma’ariv, Svein Sevje, the Norwegian Ambassador to Israel, drew a distinction between the recent terror attacks in Norway and a Palestinian terror attack (the Park Hotel massacre, where terrorists murdered 30 people at a Passover Seder) in Israel.
First it is important to emphasize that terrorist attacks against innocent civilians, whether in Israel or in Norway, are completely unnacceptable. I would like to outline the similarity and the difference between the two cases.
The similarity is of course that both attacks targeted innocent civilians and in this sense they are both terrorist actions, but I’m not sure that the two cases (the Norway attacks vs. Palestinian terror attacks) are identical, despite the similarity.
The difference is that Palestinians are attacking Israel through the means of terrorist actions. Never mind how unacceptable or terrible it is, they are doing this with 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 dimension to their actions. In any case, there is a principle motive to their actions.
In answer to a question about whether the first-hand experience with terrorism might change the way Norwegians viewed Israel, the ambassador answered, “Almost definitely not.”
We Norwegians view the occupation as the reason for terror against Israel. Many Norwegians still see the occupation as the reason for attacks against Israel. Whoever thinks this way, will not change his mind as a result of the attack in Oslo.
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