Ariel Sharon is coming to Norway on the 16th to discuss the peace process with PM Kjell Magne Bondevik. I'm not sure why he's interested in discussing this with Bondevik, unless he wants Norway to get involved again, which would be strange as we abandoned the pretense of neutrality in this conflict some time ago, and the side we abandoned our neutrality to isn't Sharon's. But he's coming, and unlike Arafat's visit in 1994 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, this visit is, to judge from media reactions, at best controversial, and at worst an insult to the sufferings of the glorious Palestinian revolutionary movement.

Nils Butenschøn at the Center for Human Rights at the University of Oslo says the government has crossed a line by inviting a "notorious war criminal", who has "shown disregard for international law, and nothing but contempt for his own citizens." Hilde Henriksen Waage at the International Peace Research Institute says it is "with a bad taste in our mouth we receive a man who haven't put his past behind him. The man commits atrocities against the Palestinian population." The far left promises a major protest against the butcher of Sabra and Shatilla. Only Carl I. Hagen welcomes Sharon as the first Israeli prime minister to talk of creating a Palestinian State, and as the only democratically elected leader in the area.

As for Bondevik himself, he intends to impress upon Sharon the "great responsibility Israel has to limit its military activity, also because this continually leads to new violence from the Palestinian side." In other words, nothing more than Sharon ought to have picked up by now from his many foreign critics. Explain again why he's coming?

Hi Bjorn,

Interesting development. It's hard to imagine Norway as the lion's den. What other European country would be better? Regarding articles you linked, it still amazes me that the so called liberals who are always calling for "dialogue" are so intolerant and hateful. But I hopes this leads to more of an expose of this attitude. PS, always like your thoughtful commentary.

Sharon is coming because he wants to get arrested. According to Nettavisen: "The Norwegian radical left-wing party RV is accusing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for committing war crimes and wants the PM to be arrested when he comes to Norway to meet the Norwegian Prime Minister in two weeks. . . . The political party has sent a formal request for Sharon to be arrested to the Director of Public Prosecutions."

At what point did Norway decide to give up peacemaking for Palestinian solidarity? And by the way, the rest of this article is actually not at all critical of the idea. Like you noted before, Bjorn, not exactly a fair and balanced press.

My guess is that Sharon is coming to present an Israaeli side of what is taking place and so that just prhaps he can get the far Left to stop their knee jerk reactions and take a look at both sides. Now, if youhad a batch of people tossing bombs at your busses, how would you react? Of courwse: Israel occupies land--land takien not from Palestinians but from Egypt and Jorean. Recall: no nation gives back land takien in war UNLESS there is a settlement, an accord in place. Thus far, it does not exist.

Fred: If that's his goal, he'll have to work hard to achieve it. Sharon has been discredited so much in the Norwegian media that balancing the picture will require a lot more than presenting the other side of the issue. And of course it's not just the far left that tends to blame Israel for everything that goes wrong - it's everything from the far left to the centre right, the Progress Party being the only exception among the parties. Former Conservative PM Kåre Willoch is a prominent Israel critic, for instance, who has likened the struggle in Palestine to that in Norway during WW2.

Bjorn,

I'm no expert on Norwegian politics, but is it possible that your prime-minister is trying to pull some kind of slick political maneuver, playing to the sensibilities of both the left and the right? He could appeal to the left by trying to "impress" their views on Sharon, to the right by inviting him there in the first place, and to everybody by seeming to be an important international figure. Just a thought.

Nathan: Sharon isn't a controversial figure in Norway in the sense that there are political debates about him - he's despised by nearly everyone who has a voice in the media. But a successful visit could revive the very popular 90's vision of Norway as a major player in diplomacy.

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