Norway withdraws support to women’s centre

Børge BrendeBørge Brende ( Conservative Party ).

Norway withdraws support to women’s centre in Palestine

Norway is withdrawing further funding to the Palestinian section of UN Women. This after a women’s center was named after a Palestinian terrorist, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD).

 

The center is located in the Burqa village on the West Bank and was opened last week. According to the UD, it’s named after Dalal Mughrabi, who participated in a terrorist attack in Israel in 1978. According to the UD, 37 civilians were killed in the attack, many of them children.

Foreign Minister, Børge Brende (Høyre – H), has interpreted the use of the name as a glorification of terror.

‘Glorification of terrorist attacks is completely unacceptable. I strongly distance myself from institutions that take names of people who have participated in terrorist acts in this way,’ said Brende in a press release on Friday.

The center has received Norwegian funding via UN Women and the Palestinian Election Commission. The funds were to be used to increase Palestinian women’s participation in elections.

Freezes support

Norway will now freeze all support to both the Palestinian Election Commission, and UN Women in the Palestinian Territories.

According to Brende, only when the Norwegian Representation Office logo has been removed from the building, and funds already received by the center have been repaid, will it be appropriate to make new agreements with the two organizations.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today