– We are now asking the Norwegian business community to run trade and businesses that contribute to sustaining the Israeli settlements that violate international law, says Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) to news on Thursday morning. Norway therefore prohibits economic activity that causes or contributes to serious acts that are in violation of international law. By that, one is referring to a violation of basic human rights and humanitarian law’s rules on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. Vinmonopolet is now considering stopping sales from illegal Israeli settlers: – This is a new signal from the government that we are positive about. Now we want to take a closer look at what this means for us and involve the board in order to deal with the matter there as quickly as practically possible in an extraordinary board meeting, says managing director Elisabeth Hunter to news. Last year, Vinmonopolet sold 93 liters of wine from Vestbreidda and 3,700 liters from the Golan Heights. Vinmonopolet is considering stopping sale from the illegal Israeli settlements Photo: NTB – What does this sale mean for Vinmonopolet in terms of sales? – It means very little. This is a product that Vinmonopolet itself has not chosen to include in the range, but has been launched by a wholesaler. There are only a couple of wholesalers, and a few products that have been traded recently, says Hunter. The Israeli settlements Israel occupies the West Bank from Jordan and the Golan Heights from Syria. Since the occupation began during the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel has established 132 settlements on the West Bank and 32 on the Golan Heights. The UN has determined that these are in violation of international law. Eide: – There is no place on earth where the humanitarian situation is so desperate. When asked why this call is coming right now, the Minister of Foreign Affairs replies: – Because there has been a very dramatic development in the Middle East, not least in the West Bank, where we have seen that a number of settlements have been expanded, new ones are being established and we are seeing more and more settlement violence. This is completely contrary to international law, humanitarian law and human rights, and we are concerned that no one should contribute to it. That’s why we say no to the business world. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide at Marienlyst on Thursday. Photo: OLE N. OLSEN / news He describes the situation in Gaza like this: – I meet a number of humanitarian aid organizations that work directly with people inside Gaza. A fairly general impression from them confirms my impression. Right now, there is no place on earth where the humanitarian situation is as desperate as in Gaza. Record number of settlers According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Israel has approved 3,475 new buildings on the occupied West Bank in 2024. This number is the highest since the Oslo agreement in the 90s. Last week, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced more approved settlements, after a Palestinian allegedly killed an Israeli and wounded several others in the West Bank. These settlements are illegal. It has been established by the UN Security Council. The Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev, near Ramallah in the West Bank. Photo: AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP Also in 2023, a record number of housing developments were built on Vestbreidda. 12,359 new buildings were approved last year. This intensification is part of the reason why Norway is now coming after several countries, and is tightening its grip. Two-state solution Espen Barth Eide says this undermined the prospects for a two-state solution. – We are doing this in light of the fact that we believe that we must end the war in Gaza. We must end the illegal occupation of both the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem, and we must establish a two-state solution, says Eide, adding: – And one of the most important obstacles to the two-state solution is precisely the Israeli occupation, which value is contrary to international law. Owned on the way to “Nyhetsmorgen” on news on Thursday. Photo: OLE N. OLSEN / news Earlier this week, Eide received 1,100 signatures from the business community about the war in Gaza. The call for human rights in Gaza came from several parts of the business world. In a chronicle in VG, they wrote that business has an independent responsibility for what happens down there. – The business world has actually called for clarity on this, and we are keen to make it clear that in line with both the Norwegian Openness Act, but also the guidelines from the UN and the OECD, you should refrain from trading in goods and services that are based on the occupation, says Eide. NHO: – You have to do everything you can. NHO supports the advice from the Minister for Foreign Affairs. – The situation in Gaza is unacceptable, and you have to do everything you can to stop it. And of course we support the government’s advice, and also ask Norwegian companies to follow the advice to act in these areas, says Ole Erik Almlid, day-to-day manager of Næringslivets Hovedorganisaison, NHO. Ole Erik Almlid, day-to-day leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Business, with Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide. Photo: OLE N. OLSEN / news – What consequences will this have for Norwegian business? – From what we know, there are not many Norwegian business players who have been there before. But if there had been many, it would not have changed our approach. Because when we have this situation, this is an occupied area, it is quite natural that one does not shop there. The advice from the government must therefore be followed, as we see it. Goods are not always labeled correctly Not doing business with, or conducting business with, someone who is connected to Israeli settlers or who acts in violation of international law, can be easier said than done: Even if goods come from the West Bank or illegally occupied areas in Israel, are the goods marked as Israeli. In 2022, the government will require labeling of Israeli settlement products from the West Bank and Golan Heights. But the product is still branded with Israel as the country of manufacture. The settlements usually start like this, with some makeshift barracks on top of a hill. Photo: Ksenia Novikova / news The settlements grow quickly and can turn into smaller and larger cities. Photo: Ksenia Novikova / news From the height, the settlers have a good overview of their Palestinian neighbours. Uniformed guards with weapons keep watch. 15 EU countries have previously provided advice to the business community on trade in residential tars. – We have also been able to afford it, because we have had a branding scheme that we were early on with. We have also been among the clearest that the building is contrary to international law. But we are tightening our grip a bit now that we are also giving up that activity. This has previously been implied in laws and regulations that already apply, says the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Limited consequences Eide does not expect that the advice will have major consequences for Israel. – Since there is not very much such activity from the Norwegian side, we must be honest that the consequences are probably limited, but it is still right to do it, he underlines. About how he expects Israel to take the news, Eide says: – They naturally do not like this, just as they feel that they are now exposed to great pressure. But that is also part of the point: We believe that both the brutal warfare inside Gaza, but also what is happening in the West Bank, which has gone a bit under the radar perhaps because of the siege on Gaza, but there are many hundreds of people, including many hundreds of children, who have been killed in residential violence on Vestbreidda, we must help put a stop to it. Having imposed entry restrictions on December 5, the US began denying visas to extremist Israeli settlers who attacked Palestinians. Then US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that they will deny entry to anyone who is involved in “undermining peace, security or stability in the West Bank” or those who “unnecessarily limit civilians’ access to important services and basic needs”. The US has also frozen the funds for elected residents. Earlier in February, France also introduced sanctions against Israeli settlers who use violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. 28 civilians have also been banned from entering the country. The German foreign minister has also strongly condemned the approval of settlements in the West Bank, and has asked the Israeli authorities to withdraw the permit.
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