| FrontPageMag.com | By Robert Spencer | By Hugh Fitzgerald | Books | Jihad Watch | Islam 101 | Qur'an Blog | Raymond Ibrahim | Robert Spencer |  |
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
Norway defies the West in its refusal to recognize the Hamas-led government in the Palestinian Authority, and wins praise from Condoleeza Rice.
"Norway defends its Palestinian ties to US's Rice," from Reuters, with thanks to the American Israeli Patriot:
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway told visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday that its recognition of the Palestinian unity government was designed to help diplomacy in the Middle East.Last month Norway became the first Western state to recognize the Islamist Hamas-led Palestinian government -- prompting U.S. and Israeli criticism -- and said it would restore direct budget aid to it as soon as international banking sanctions were relaxed.
The United States and Israel say the Palestinian government must first recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence and adhere to the principles set by the Quartet of peace mediators -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia.
"Norway has normalized relations with the government, which means that we talk to them," Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told a news conference with Rice.
"Norway will not be issuing carte blanche in any direction. We will be trying to pursue policies which draw in the right direction and which can also open (the way) for negotiations, and we also place very clear expectations on Israel."
No mention of any clear expectations on the Palestinians.
"The Quartet's principles are Norway's principles," Stoere said and added that Israel also had obligations to fulfil under previous agreements, which he said the Quartet also recognized.He said Norway, which has said it expects its total aid to the Palestinian territory this year to reach about $100 million including direct budget support and other aid, had not been able to resume payments yet but hoped to do so soon.
Rice, on a 24-hour visit to the Norwegian capital during which she will attend a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, refrained from criticizing Norway and praised Stoere's efforts.
"We are in agreement that a Palestinian government that fully recognizes the Quartet principles would be a very good step forward, and I know the minister has worked very hard in the contacts that he has had to try to push forward towards that goal," she said.
You've broken ranks and defied us, but that's okay. We know you're working hard to try to push forward towards the goal.
Posted by Robert at April 26, 2007 4:35 PM
Print this entry
| Email this entry
| Digg this
| del.icio.us
You know what REALLY sucks about all this? The number of Westeners who are convinced the Palestinians ar ethe way they are because the Jewish *settlers* deprived these Arab *Palestinians* of their ancestral homeland. They remain convinced Palis act like they do not because of Islamic leadership but coz the country of Palestine, their homeland, was robbed of them by the Israelis. And that the creation of Israel was reprehensible because it stole land form Arab Palestinians which was terrible because it's wrong to create a Jewish state on religous grounds as Israel was. Hence, the Middle East would be more benign and peaceful with no Israel. ANd yeah, these views are esp prominent on the college campus I live on; and no, those who object to Israel's existence on "religous grounds" don't have much of anything to say on if the existence of Pakiland was wrong for the same reason.
Posted by: maxwell46&2![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 26, 2007 4:51 PM
It's interesting to note that Norway can break ranks like this because it is not a member of the EU. It would be an interesting test case for Bat Yeor's contention that the Union is the vehicle for the Eurabian project to see the extent to which the Union will maintain step with the US on dealings with Hamas.
Posted by: wallyUK at April 26, 2007 6:29 PM
Norway?
Nah.
Wrongway.
Feeding the crocodile their family jewels in the false hope that it'll like the Norwegians for their sac-rifice.
It don't work that way, Norway.
Posted by: profitsbeard at April 26, 2007 11:47 PM
Putting an official Norwegian seal of approval on the criminal acts of criminals aligns Norway with the Palis in their aggression against Israel.
The Norwegians embrace Hamas, but hold Israel at arms length.
I wonder how much goodwill 100M in aid buys the Norwegians? And, how much more they are prepared to pay to keep Hamas from bringing its tyranny to their homeland?
The insane amount of money that is transferred from the civilized world to these turd world cesspools in the guise of aid accomplishes one thing, for sure. It keeps their violent jihad alive and rolling around the globe.
For where dhimmis bow and scrape to appease Baal-lah, Baal-lah simply requires a higher ransom.
Posted by: BurkasforHitlery at April 28, 2007 11:11 AM
Comments are turned off and archived for this entry.
(Note: The Comments section is provided in the interests of free speech only. It is mostly unmoderated, but comments that are off-topic, offensive, slanderous, or otherwise annoying stand a chance of being deleted. The fact that any comment remains on the site IN NO WAY constitutes an endorsement by Jihad Watch or Dhimmi Watch, or by Robert Spencer or any other Jihad Watch or Dhimmi Watch writer, of any view expressed, fact alleged, or link provided in that comment.)