Palestine scarves characterize the national meeting of FO. Gøril Madsen thinks it is problematic that social workers take sides in the Middle East conflict.
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While many delegates at FO’s national meeting wear Palestine scarves, Gøril Madsen has a piece of jewelry with the Star of David around his neck. She is not a Jew, but a friend of Israel.
– It is not easy to be a friend of Israel here, says Madsen, deputy chairman of FO Troms and Finnmark.
Gøril Madsen wears the Star of David around his neck and calls himself a friend of Israel. She says that several people in FO know what she stands for and that she is respected.
Skjalg Böhmer Vold
She thinks it’s fine that people want to wear scarves at the national meeting. But she wonders if the FO delegates also advocate political positions in their jobs.
– I think you should be careful with that. That can make it difficult for the people we social workers meet in our jobs, says Madsen, who is a trained social worker.
Don’t know if she can take it
The national assembly must take a decision on a statement on Palestine that the national board has agreed to:
FO condemns all attacks and abuses against the civilian population in Palestine and Israel’s collective punishment, starvation and forced displacement of the civilian population in Gaza. We condemn all ongoing violations of international law to which civilians are subjected in this war.
Palestine scarves characterize the national meeting of the FO, which takes place at the Oslo Congress Center 15-19. November.
Skjalg Böhmer Vold
Madsen is considering going to the podium to say that she does not support the statement in its entirety.
– But I don’t know if I can take it. It’s so emotional. It’s about faith and how I read the Bible. Here there is a conflict between two people groups from Abraham’s time, she says.
She emphasizes that she sympathizes with everyone who suffers and that war is terribly sad.
Vulnerable people
When FO is gathered, she feels that there is a one-sided view of the conflict in the Middle East. She misses the nuances when people talk together about the painful situation both peoples are in.
– The Israeli people are also a vulnerable people, with everything they have experienced with Hitler and the Holocaust. Why don’t you think more about showing solidarity with them too? she asks.
She knows that there are several people in the room at FO’s national meeting who find it problematic that FO so clearly takes sides, but that they refuse to speak out loud about it.
– If the Swedes had thrown stones into our garden and killed our children, we would also have defended ourselves. We must try to see this from several sides. The truth is often somewhere in between.
– Why do you think it is problematic that social workers clearly take sides with one people?
– We are taught to see things from several sides. We forget that in this case, she says.
Visibly Muslim
Fatema Al-Musawi is a delegate at the national meeting for the FO students. She wears a Palestine scarf at the national meeting and has a headgear she calls a modern hijab.
– I take an active position against the genocide. It does not mean that I am against the Israeli population. I am against what the state of Israel is doing.
Fatema Al-Musawi is studying a master’s in child welfare work in Stavanger and sits on the central board of the FO students.
Hanna Skotheim
She emphasizes that the symbolism in the scarf is about supporting the Palestinian people.
– It means solidarity with a people, not with a system of government. If people think that I support Hamas by wearing a scarf, then that will be misinterpreting me.
– What do you think it is like to be a friend of Israel at the national meeting?
– We know that there are inflamed and hard fronts, but it is important that we look after each other and talk together about this in a good way.
– I am skeptical about that
– Can it be problematic that social workers are activists?
– It is a timely question. I am visibly Muslim and will meet users who disagree with me on religion, but then we must remember to respect each other.
– Would you wear political clothes at work?
– I am more skeptical about that. Our job is not about marking ourselves politically. Our job is to help families with challenges they have and not advocate political viewpoints, she says.
But she adds that it is an important discussion.
– Being visible in positions should be fine. At the same time, we social workers must enter into meetings with vulnerable people. If I were to meet a family with different perspectives than mine, it would be more vulnerable if I met them with politically marked garments.
Borrowed a scarf
Kathrine Haugland Martinsen, head of FO’s Occupational Ethics Council, borrowed a Palestine scarf before she went on stage and presented the report from the council.
– For me, it was important to use the opportunity to focus on the horrific conflict. It’s about solidarity with women and children who suffer, she tells Fontene.
Leader of the professional ethics council, Kathrine Haugland Martinsen, put on a Palestine scarf when she was going to address the national meeting.
Hanna Skotheim
She was not concerned about wearing the scarf, even though she leads a council that will take a stand on ethical issues.
– For me, the Palestine scarf is a symbol of man’s inviolable value. I am not taking a position on either governance or Hamas by wearing it, says Martinsen.
– That’s the way it has to be
– Would it be appropriate for you to wear the Star of David, to show support for the Jewish people?
– No, that would not be relevant. My loyalty goes to the Palestinian people.
She emphasizes that she condemns the attack on Israel on 7 October and that she obviously does not support injustice committed against the Jews.
– But FO must always take sides with the weakest party and those who are oppressed. Therefore, it is natural that FO stands up for the Palestinian people. That’s the way it has to be, says Martinsen.
– Social workers are political
– Can it be problematic that social workers are activists?
– To be a social worker is to be political. It is problematic if we do not take a stand.
– Social workers meet people from many cultures and with different political viewpoints. Shouldn’t one then think about how one is perceived?
– We actually have to distinguish between how you behave at a national meeting where the trade union is gathered and how you behave at your workplace, she says and elaborates:
– Using a scarf and visible symbols at a national meeting is something different than if you do it in your job. Like everything else, it’s contextual. You always have to ask yourself what promotes or hinders the work you have to do, she says.
A duty to be in solidarity
Einar Ingebrigtsen heads the election committee in FO. He does not think it is a problem to be both a social worker and an activist.
– On the contrary. As a social worker, you are almost required to show solidarity with people who suffer and are oppressed.
Einar Ingebrigtsen has never experienced that the scarf creates a distance or strong reactions in others.
Skjalg Böhmer Vold
He has worked as a foster carer in services for the developmentally disabled, in child protection and in the psychiatric service in Bergen municipality. Now he is retired.
Ingebrigtsen would have had no qualms about wearing the scarf to work.
– I may have worn it a few times, but I haven’t used it systematically.
If a client came who reacted very strongly to him wearing the scarf, then he might choose to take it off, out of respect for that person.
– But on the whole, I believe that I must be able to wear this scarf, even though I respect that others may think differently about it.
Will signal support
Sølvi Folkedal, social worker and board member of FO Vestland says that she has worn the Palestine scarf for many years.
– I want to signal support for the Palestinian people, and that we must act and show support for those who are working actively now, such as the Palestine Committee and Line Khateeb, she says.
Folkedal is himself a member of the Palestine Committee.
– How do you see being an activist and social worker?
– It is not wrong to be. I am primarily a social worker, but I think activism is important. Activism is part of my way of conveying values.
Have used it at work
Folkedal emphasizes that no one has reacted negatively to her wearing the scarf at work.
She works in Askøy municipality, as a public health adviser and SLT coordinator, which is a coordination model for local, preventive measures against drugs and crime.
Folkedal thinks the terror that hit Israel on 7 October, when Hamas massacred several hundred civilians in Israel, was terrible.
– Could you have an Israeli symbol to support people in Israel?
– It would have been difficult for me to do now. Because there are some bindings there. The Palestinians are under occupation and are oppressed, therefore they need support.
2023-11-19 09:16:19
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