Colonial tantrums: "Israel" rejects Norway's request to meet Lapid
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Norway's decision to take a pro-Palestine stance has landed Norwegian-Israeli relations in some hot water.
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Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid
The Israeli foreign ministry has rejected the Norwegian foreign minister Anniken Huitfeldt's request to meet the Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on her visit to the occupied land next month.
A few days back, Aliza Bin-Noun, the deputy director general of the Israeli foreign ministry, met with Kare Reidar As, the Norwegian ambassador to "Israel", and got informed of plans for the Norwegian minister to meet the Israeli prime and foreign ministers.
The rejection comes amid a background of tensions, especially as Bin-Noun reminded the Norwegian FM of Oslo's latest movements against "Tel Aviv", marking food product imports from illegal Israeli settlements as coming from "West Bank settlements."
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Ahava product with an 'Originating from West Bank' label. (World Jewish Congress)
The settlements occupied by "Tel Aviv" are illegal under international law, though they have continued under successive Israeli governments since 1967, growing to include more and more Palestinian territories over the years.
Read next: Europe bans trade with illegal settlements
"Israel", in June, was outraged over Oslo's decision to start labeling products from the illegal Israeli settlements as their place of origin. At the time, the Israeli foreign ministry issued a statement on Oslo's position, saying it would "adversely affect bilateral relations between Israel and Norway, as well as Norway's relevance to promoting relations between Israel and the Palestinians."
"Tel Aviv" was referring to Norway's longstanding role as a mediator between Palestine and the occupation, which goes back for decades.
The Norwegian social democratic government stressed that its former policy of only labeling products from the occupied territories as Israeli was not enough.
Despite the measure mainly applying to imports of wine, olive oil, fruits, and vegetables, it caused an uproar from "Tel Aviv". The decision will also only apply to products from the occupied West Bank, including occupied Al-Quds and the occupied Syrian Golan, Oslo said.
Norway, despite acknowledging the illegality of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, still wants to uphold relations with "Tel Aviv."
"Norway has good relations with Israel," she added. "That must continue."
The European Commission has since 2015 recommended its member states follow this practice, a decision confirmed by the European Court of Justice in 2019.
Throughout May, the Israeli occupation made announcements about expanding its settlements in the occupied West Bank, occupied Palestine, by 4,500 settlement units.
