Norwegian Bishops have come up with the idea that boycotting Israel just might be a fine idea.
Foreign Minister Jonas Ghar Støre is opposed to a boycott and says so in today’s Verdens Gang – Norway’s largest daily. Unauthorized translation: – It is good that the Church speaks out for the opprssed, but the Church’s main advantage lies in the ability to create dialogue between religious groups. If one choosed to boycott, one may easily land in a difficult situation, by selecting one country one wants to boycott, rather than others, Støre points out.
Co-author of “Eyes in Gaza” Mads Gilbert speaks out in the same article, voicing support for the Bishops and criticizing Støre. VG informs that Dr.Gilbert has just returned from a tour in the USA where he is working with Christian communities willing to boycott Israel. The good doctor says: – We have tried dialogue for so many years, and it has only strengthened Israel’s position. A boycott, on the other hand, is what Israel fears more than anything.
Meanshile Bishop Tor B. Jørgensen, who is fronting this latest Norwegian boycott-debate, says he is willing to listen to Støre but that he also has to take into account the expressed wishes of Christian leaders in the Middle East, who have asked him to contemplate a boycott. The leaders Bishop Jørgensen refers to are among other Palestinian Anglican Naim Ateek of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, who supports a one-state solution and is as keen on using anti-Semitic imagery – as when speaking of the “Israeli government crucifixion system – as he is on fighting Christian Zionism – which he believes ought to be done by “de-Zionizing” the bible. Read more on NGO monitor.
Bishop Jørgensen is meeting resistance from Christian Democrat Hans Olav Syversen. In Dagenmagazinet Mr.Syversen states: “It seems as if Israel is being measured from a completely different standard”, adding that the boycott weapon is not to be rattled easily and that the bishops hopefully will park this idea.
