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Fatah praises Oslo’s decision to ban goods from Judea and Samaria

Oslo is now the sixth Norwegian municipality to ban Israeli goods and services that originate from Judea and Samaria.

By World Israel News Staff

The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday praised the decision by Oslo’s City Council to bar from bidding on public contracts Israeli goods and services originating from Judea and Samaria, reports the PA’s Wafa news agency.

“Stressing the illegal status of [an] Israeli settlement on Palestinian lands as a violation of international law, the Fatah movement welcomes the decision of the newly installed City Council of Oslo to ban Israeli settlement goods and services from public procurements as part of Oslo’s platform for 2019-2023,” Jamal Nazza, the European spokesman of the Palestinian Authority, said.

Oslo’s city council, led by the recently elected Socialist Left, Labour and Green parties, passed the ban, reported the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) National Committee on Monday.

According to the BDS report, Oslo’s City Council pledged to “investigate the scope of action in the procurement regulations to not trade goods and services produced on territory occupied in violation of international law by companies operating under the permission of the occupying power.”

Alys Samson Estapé, Europe campaigns coordinator of the BDS movement, said, “We welcome this legally and morally responsible step taken by the Oslo City Council. Local councils are showing they are undeterred by repression and continue to pave the way, despite inaction by national governments.”

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“A ban on goods and services from Israel’s illegal settlements is the very least that government institutions should enact to cut their complicity with Israel’s regime of apartheid, settler-colonialism, and occupation,” she added.

The ban applies not only to Israeli corporations that operate in Judea and Samaria, but also to international corporations.

Sunniva Eidsvoll, leader of the Oslo chapter of the Socialist Left party, said after the ban’s passage, “I am proud that the Oslo City Council is now taking steps to prevent goods and services purchased by the city from supporting an illegal occupation of Palestine or other territories.”

Oslo is now the sixth Norwegian municipality to ban Israeli goods and services that originate from Judea and Samaria.