On Thursday evening, NRK invited a debate about Israel, where boycott or non-boycott was the main topic.
Both Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) and Christian Tybring-Gjedde (Frp) stood in the studio at Marienlyst and thought a boycott of Israel was out of the question, while Bjørnar Moxnes (Rødt) and Ingrid Fiskaa (SV) argued that the time was overdue.
The temperature was occasionally very high. Moxnes accused Norway of letting Israel off the hook:
– In reality, Norway allows Israel to get impunity for huge violations of international law. It is a mass slaughter of Palestinian civilians, said Moxnes, while the TV camera showed Frp politician Tybring-Gjedde shaking his head.
Moxnes continued:
– This is going on while we are talking in the studio here, and it has no consequences for Israel, unlike other countries, because the US is interested in having an ally in the region. You know this very well, Tybring-Gjedde: Norway largely does what the US wants. Now the Labor Party should…, said Bjørnar Moxnes, before he was interrupted by the FRP politician:
– Just a moment, Tybring-Gjedde interjected.
– I’m not finished, Tybring-Gjedde, Moxnes replied.
– No, but you have spoken long enough, countered the FRP politician.
When the latter finally got the floor, he said that Moxnes was wrong, on the basis that international law requires proof that civilians have been killed with intent:
– So what you are saying is that Israel bombs with the intention of killing civilian women and children, said the FRP politician to Moxnes, and continued:
– Israel’s point is to try to get hold of Hamas, which hides under civilian infrastructure and uses its own citizens as shields so that they do not get hold of Hamas and their fighters.
– Israel can refrain from complying with orders
Shortly afterwards, NRK presenter Atle Bjurstrøm gave the floor to law professor Jo Stigen. He explained what it takes for someone to be tried at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, where South Africa now accusing Israel of precisely genocide. Several statements by the Israeli authorities in recent times may help to prove an intention to exterminate the Palestinians in Gaza, the professor explained.
However, it can take many years to get a judgment from The Hague, Stigen said.
– Israel has a certain right to react to Hamas’s actions in Israel, but they can receive concrete orders – temporary measures – from the court within a few weeks, such as, for example, ensuring that water, electricity and fuel are allowed in, explained The ladder.
– Israel can of course choose not to comply with such orders, but then it will be much more difficult for other states to support Israel, not least militarily, the professor added, before the word was eventually given back to the politicians.
also read
Loses cooperation after Palestine support: – Will reveal who
– Just chaos
The elected representatives continued to talk a lot at each other’s mouths. This has caused several people to react:
– If you ask me, I would have liked to have heard a little more from Professor Jo Stigen. The presenter quickly let him go, and from then on it was really just chaos, comments judge in the Oslo District Court, Kim Heger, on Twitter/X after “The Debate”.
Towards the end of the broadcast, the stage was set for a new panel, where the topic was whether Israel should be allowed to participate in Eurovision or not.
– Sandbox mentality
Former “Shall we dance” participant and TV personality Trude Vasstrand was among those invited. She opened the Eurovision discussion by lashing out at the politicians:
– The fact that I am standing here, and MGP participants are standing here to discuss this here… then there are some of those who were here earlier tonight who have not done their job because they are the ones who were supposed to sort this out here, and not us, said Vasstrand dejectedly.
She is against Israel’s participation in Eurovision, but does not think NRK will do anything. What irritates the most, however, is the politicians’ way of discussing the war in the Middle East.
– I stood and listened to the debate before we came in here. It’s almost like a sandbox mentality: They started, we can’t, then we’re left alone, then we can’t do it… I work on this at school, with my students. I try to teach them to take responsibility and contribute something. It’s going to be so stupid and I’m going to get so upset. No matter what happens, people die. Children are dying now, said Vasstrand, and added that it is strange how Russia was denied participation in Eurovision after the invasion of Ukraine, while Israel is still allowed to participate.
2024-01-11 22:05:59
#Full #argument #Debate #Sandbox #emotionality
