Norway decried the PA for using Norwegian funds to glorify a notorious terrorist and is demanding their money be returned.
A Palestinian women’s center in the Palestinian village of Burqa was recently named after female terrorist Dalal Mughrabi. The center was funded in part by Norway, which is now demanding that the money be returned.
Mughrabi led a terrorist attack in Israel in 1978 that claimed 37 civilian lives, including many children. It was the most lethal attack in Israel’s history.
The center received funding from Norway via the Palestinian Election Commission and UN Women, supposedly to promote the participation of women in elections.
“The glorification of terrorist attacks is completely unacceptable, and I deplore this decision in the strongest possible terms,” Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende stated Friday.
“Norway will not allow itself to be associated with institutions that take the names of terrorists in this way. We will not accept the use of Norwegian aid funding for such purposes,” he added.
Norway says that it was not until after it had already provided funding for the center that it discovered it would be named in honor of a terrorist. This became apparent at the opening of the center last week, Norwegian officials explained.
Neither Norway nor the United Nations (UN) was consulted in advance or invited to the opening ceremony. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted immediately when it became aware of the matter on Friday.
Norway has asked for the logo of the Norwegian representation office to be removed from the building immediately and for the funding allocated to the center to be repaid.
“We will not enter into any new agreements with either the Palestinian Election Commission or UN Women in Palestinian areas until satisfactory procedures are in place to ensure that nothing of this nature happens again,” Brende asserted.
Israel: ‘Norway Has Done the Right Thing’
Israel commended Norway’s decision. “Norway has done the right thing, a Foreign Ministry spokesman stated.
“Standing strongly against the positive commemoration of terrorists is an essential part of the international effort to eradicate terrorism,” he said.
Israel suggests that all members of the international community check where money invested in the PA ends up, and expects all other partners in this project to follow Norway’s example.
This incident was the latest show of Palestinian incitment to terror in accordance with the Palestinian Authority’s policy of presenting them as role models for Palestinian youth.
It is not only the naming of the center that glorifies the murderer; the purpose of the center itself is to educate youth about Mughrabi’s terror attack as an inspiration.
At the center’s inauguration, Reem Hajje, a member of the village council, discussed the center’s activities, noting it will focus on the history of the “struggle” of “Martyr” Mughrabi in presentations to youth groups. According to Hajje, this marks the “beginning of the launch of enrichment activities regarding the history of the Palestinian struggle,” the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported.
By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News