Les Mohammads brev til Kristin

Ms. Kristin Halvorsen
Finance Minister 
Government of the Kingdom of Norway

Oslo, Norway

Dear Ms. Halvorsen,

The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee, BNC, on behalf of its constituent organizations and unions representing the majority of Palestinian civil society, is grateful for the Norwegian Government’s decision to divest from Israeli military supplier, Elbit Systems, due to ethical and legal considerations. We particularly salute your commitment to uphold the July 2004 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice which found Israel’s Wall and colonies built on occupied Palestinian territory illegal. Your commitment to  upholding international law sets an example that we hope other Western governments will follow.

Faced with the utter failure of the international community, and the UN in particular, to hold Israel accountable to international law and basic human rights principles, Palestinian civil society appealed to people of conscience around the world to adopt wide campaigns of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, similar to those applied to apartheid South Africa. We strongly believe that this civil, non-violent form of  resistance will end Israel’s unparalleled impunity in defying international law, and when supported massively by people of conscience, will  put an end to the three basic forms of injustice the people of Palestinian are subjected to: the occupation;  an institutionalized and legalized system of racial discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel; and six decades of the denial of UN-sanctioned rights of Palestinian refugees.

In this context, the courageous decision by the Norwegian government to divest from Elbit is  a substantial step in the direction of protecting Palestinian rights and raising the price of Israel’s occupation, war crimes and apartheid policies. The recently published UN report on Israel’s war of aggression on Gaza, authored by the eminent international jurist Goldstone and his team, reveals the troubling truth about the extent of Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Palestinians in Gaza. Israel’s disdainful dismissal of the report is yet another indicator that only concrete action will push Israel to stop its crimes.

Norway’s decision is one of the first governmental steps taken to end the unquestioning diplomatic, economic and political support Israel receives from the United States and Europe, and to hold Israel accountable for its occupation and apartheid policies. Norway has been one of the early supporters of sanctions against South Africa and this move poses your country once again at the lead of governmental efforts to promote human rights and fight apartheid. For Palestinians it presents a ray of hope in this otherwise bleak picture of Western complicity in maintaining Israel’s occupation and other forms of oppression against the people of Palestine.

We sincerely hope that the Norwegian pension fund’s ethics council will build on this first step and divest from all corporations profiting from the Israeli occupation and other grave human rights violations. The BNC, through its member organization Stop the Wall, has presented to the council a list of companies that fall into this category. The village of Jayyous, dispossessed by the Wall and the settlements, has specifically urged the Norwegian government to divest from Lev Leviev’s corporate empire, which builds the settlement on their land. We are confident you shall give the scrutiny of these companies as well as those listed in the submission made to you by the Israeli initiative Who Profits? your due consideration and take the necessary decisions to further establish the status of Norway as a state that truly respects its legal obligations, its moral principles and its commitment to universal human rights.

We warmly greet you and wish the people of Norway continued prosperity and peace.

The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee

www.BDSmovement.net