The Anti-Defamation Commission has written to the Norwegian Ambassador to Australia Unni Kløvstad to express its dismay at the nomination of the BDS movement for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize by Norwegian MP Bjornar Moxnes. The ADC also called on the Norwegian government, through Ambassador Kløvstad, to condemn the nomination and to publicly pronounce its opposition to the BDS. In his nomination, Mr Bjornar, The leader of the Red Party in the Norwegian Parliament, wrote: “The BDS movement’s aims and aspirations for basic human rights are irreproachable. They should be supported without reservation by all democratically-minded people and states…Awarding a Nobel Peace Prize to the BDS movement would be a powerful sign demonstrating that the international community is committed to supporting a just peace in the Middle East and using peaceful means to end military rule and broader violations of international law.” Moxnes called on world states, “to withdraw their complicity in Israel’s military occupation, racist apartheid rule, ongoing theft of Palestinian land, and other egregious human rights violations.”
Parts of the letter, penned Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the ADC read:
“On behalf of the ADC’s members and supporters, we write to express our deep disappointment and dismay at the news that Mr Bjornar, The leader of the Red Party in the Norwegian Parliament, has nominated the BDS movement for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize It is outrageous and troubling to see a member of the Norwegian Parliament not only vigorously support, but nominate for a Nobel Peace Prize, a movement who at heart is anti-Semitic and whose campaign of a global boycott of Israel runs counter to the values of peace and tolerance. The BDS campaign traffics in bigotry and vilification, and does not contribute in any productive way to the promotion of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Further, BDS activism is not about disagreeing with a specific government policy, but is about delegitimizing and waging an economic war against the only democracy in the Middle East and the only Jewish state in the world. We implore your government to take the principled stance and to denounce the nomination by Mr Moxnes, and to make it clear that it does not support the hateful BDS campaign, which aims to malign the state of Israel and to ultimately lead to its destruction. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is highly complex, and embracing cultural and economic vandalism against Israel will not cultivate real dialogue, cooperation and reconciliation between the two parties but only fan the flames of division. We thank you for your attention and cooperation and look forward to remaining in communication with you on this and other issues of mutual interest in the near future.”