Debate in Norwegian Parliament about PMW’s findings Norwegian Parliament, Spontaneous Questions Session, February 13, 2013, (Excerpt): Hans Olav Syversen (Christian Democratic Party): “My question is for the Foreign Minister. Yesterday was probably in fact a historic day. The name Palestine was used for the first time, probably, by a foreign minister in this room, and it buttresses the support Norway has given to precisely that within the UN context. One would think that this certainly also gives [Norway] some responsibilities, in terms of what it means to be treated as a state. I am sure that the Foreign Minister is well aware of the report that on Sunday was [broadcast] on NRK (Norwegian state-owned TV), where state-funded PA TV served clear Antisemitism. We know that Norway supports the PA with several hundred million annually. We also know that this is support for a budget that may very well be used to fund this type of activities. Among others, we had such an example from children's TV, where children express that their ‘enemy Zion’ - meaning Israel – ‘is Satan with a tail’, whereupon the [PA TV] program hosts [respond]: ‘Bravo.’ I need not go into [details with] all of these examples. I think the Foreign Minister is well aware. However, I'm still surprised that the State Secretary [Torgeir Larsen] who commented [on PMW’s book Deception ], reduces it to a small example problem and says that it is part of a political battle arena, almost as if this is something we should expect. I offer the Foreign Minister the opportunity to give a clear message about Norway’s position on this significant problem.” Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide: We strongly denounce any expression of Antisemitism, and for many years we have worked systematically with all parties to the Middle East conflict to reduce the breeding ground for mutual hatred and animosity. We are also very upset about the same [NRK TV] report, and our representative to Palestine discussed this yesterday with [PA] President Abbas' office and referred to this specific [PA TV] program as an example, stating that this is a kind of statements and attitudes we cannot live with. We got the answer that the President's office completely agrees. They wish to pursue this matter and see how this could have happened. They confirmed again, as we have heard in previous conversations that they do not want to be part of this (i.e., hate incitement). I would like to emphasize that we have been directly involved in projects to develop both curricula and textbooks for Palestinian children. There has been a study, led by Professor Wexler of Yale University, on how the schoolbooks look on the Palestinian and the Israeli side respectively. His main findings are that there is no systematic incitement to hatred, but that it is correct from both sides that they present the opponent in a worse light than one might wish. He concludes that Israeli textbooks in this respect are better than the Palestinian [books], but that it is not a systematic project of hatred. As MP Syversen points out, Norway contributes to the budget support [of the PA] - we contribute with approx. seven percent of the [total] budget support. EU, European donors, contribute with 50 percent, the US with 20 percent, and others, including Arab donors, contribute Phone: 972-2-625-4140 • [email protected] • www.palwatch.org • Jerusalem, Israel the rest. We cooperate on this with the other donors in our dialogue, and I have a particular responsibility here as head of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) (i.e., an international donor group to the PA. AHLC’s website states: “The AHLC is a 15-member committee that serves as the principal policy-level coordination mechanism for development assistance to the Palestinian people. The AHLC is chaired by Norway and co-sponsored by the EU and US. In addition, the United Nations participates together with the World Bank (Secretariat) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The AHLC seeks to promote dialogue between donors, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Government of Israel (GoI).”) Hans Olav Syversen (Christian Democratic Party): I am happy that there is a much stronger message from Norway now that this is unacceptable. The impression – with reservations for [how the program was] edited - which certainly was given in the NRK TV Evening News on Sunday, was, in my opinion and the Christian Democratic Party's opinion, not satisfying at all. School books are one thing - that we can discuss - but now we are talking about state-funded and state-controlled TV broadcasts from the Palestinian territories. It is, with due respect, not the first time this problem (i.e., Antisemitic messages on PA TV) has been discussed. I have here a long list of questions that the Christian Democratic Party among others has asked about the same [issue], since 2000. My question is: What are you doing now with the PA so that this may come to an end, contrary to what has been done in the past, when you (i.e., the Norwegian Foreign Ministry) also said that you would bring it up with the Palestinian side? Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide: As I said in my previous answer, we brought this up immediately at a high level with the PA, who responded that they would pursue this, and that they did not wish to broadcast this kind of expression through a Palestinian TV channel. I don’t think it is being edited by the [PA] President's office, but it is clear that since we are an important partner and an important donor along with a number of other Western and Arab countries, we have an interest in what is happening in this field. As I [explained] pretty thoroughly in my statement yesterday, we have a special and heightened focus on "hate speech," on xenophobia, on hateful expressions, no matter where they come from, including the Antisemitic category. We are keen to pursue this. I want to strongly emphasize that also my State Secretary, Torgeir Larsen, who actually manages this project, is very concerned about this, so if a different impression has been created, that is neither his nor my intention. Dagfinn Høybråten (Christian Democratic Party): According to what the Foreign Minister has now said, I assume that it is the government's view that Norwegian taxpayers should not fund hate propaganda through state-funded and state- controlled television in the Palestinian territories. This has been brought up by the Christian Democratic Party time after time, as our parliamentary head just said, and we have received the same assurances from former Foreign Minister Gahr Støre and now from [present] Foreign Minister Barth Eide of Norway's clear stance and Norway's resolve to bring this up. History repeats itself. The question is what the [Norwegian] government will do beyond sending messages that we do not like this. Is it true that Norway will take steps to ensure that Norway certainly is not helping to fund this hate project that Palestinian children's TV apparently still is? Phone: 972-2-625-4140 • [email protected] • www.palwatch.org • Jerusalem, Israel Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide: Firstly, I can answer clearly yes that it is not the government's intention to finance hate propaganda from the Palestinian side - if there is any doubt about it. Nor does any support from Norway go to the mentioned TV channel. I have checked this. But of course it is true that we provide a general support to the PA that is in line with what the US does, with what Europe, the European Union does, and with what a number of other donors are doing. We coordinate this, because both the Israelis and the Palestinians understand that it is important that the PA is able to establish the elements of a state, so that they can continue towards a two-state solution. I have in just about all my conversations with Israeli officials received assurances that Israel is happy that we are doing it, because alternatively the prospects of peace and a two-state solution would disappear. So I think it's very important that we not waste that which has been accomplished after all. But we are very concerned about this. We have brought it up, and we will continue to bring it up. Morten Høglund (Progress Party): It's good that you bring this up, and that you are concerned. But as previous members have mentioned, the results have so far been absent. Does the Foreign Minister find that he has any other means with which to pressure [the PA], as we understand that cutting the financial aid is out of the question? Are you planning, for example, to bring this up as an issue in AHLC and set this as a condition in connection with what the Foreign Minister also refers to, namely, the ongoing international project to support the PA? Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide: I will confirm that this is a subject for the donor group and the interaction between the various donors. I want to emphasize that even though we now again saw one such example that was documented here - and which the Israeli organization Palestinian Media Watch made NRK TV aware of, and it is correct and well documented that this [PA TV incitement] happened - it's not as if nothing [positive] has happened. Through many years of work - which is why I mention textbooks among other things - we saw that there were significant challenges a number of years ago.