Every once in a while there is a respite, a lull, and you see articles like the above in magazines where you would not expect to find them and you think “ah well that’s fine now maybe Norway and Norwegians can get back to having normal relations with Israel the same way we used to in the sixties” and the next thing you know it’s back to normal and Mads Gilbert screaming bloody murder at Israel and friends of Palestine up to their usual bullying tactics at a supermarket or in the schools or some such.
The article above is from the union magazine Tjenestemansbladet (Serviceman’s magazine) and is titled “Wants to open closed doors” and deals with a Norwegian union activist who claims that Israel is not as bad as the bullying squads wants us to believe, and maybe we ought to deal with them properly and not just try and kick them out of the world community and arrest their readers and some such.
Unauthorized translation: “Norwegian LO (TUC) has painted a negative picture of Israel. Israel is a great country with many great people. I wish we could have a more nuanced debate”.
Indeed we do wish we could have a more nuanced debate. It is perhaps no coincidence that the union man in question is from a officer’s union. Norwegian officers are realistic professionals who are learning about the down to earth realities of war in Afghanistan. If anyone in Norway understands what it means to “hide behind the civilian population” it is these guys.
Let us hope this is a real thaw we are seeing the beginnings of here.
In this connection I am missing the human aspect. Again the world stigmatize a group of people. During human history, stigmatization has lead to misery.
Therefor I would like to refer to Professor in the Humanities and Nobel Laureate, Elie Wiesel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ-tomShsmc
With my best wishes for 2010.