This chapter takes a fresh look at the period 1993–2000, when the Oslo Peace Process dominated international and Norwegian understandings of the Middle East. Several dimensions of the Oslo Process have been analyzed by previous research. However, this chapter looks at the process from the vantage point of what came after (i.e., the Second Intifada), which marked a turning point in the radicalization of the global and the Norwegian left, in particular the trade unions, regarding the Middle East. The chapter looks at how the identity of Norwegian foreign policy elites and the labor movement was linked to the concept of Norway as a humanitarian great power. The Labor party and the trade unions owned the Oslo Process and took great pride in it. When it fell apart after Camp David in 2000 the reaction of the left was deep disappointment, and this is a crucial element in an analysis of the left’s turn towards a more radical denunciation of everything Israeli.

This chapter provides a comprehensive examination of the development and mainstreaming of anti-Zionist sentiments within Norway’s political and social landscape, particularly from the late 1960s onwards. Central to this narrative is the role of key individuals and organizations that influenced the shift in perspective towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, embedding radical anti-Zionist ideologies within mainstream leftist movements. The chapter also discusses the role of the Palestine Committee, established in 1970, which became a major pro-Palestinian organization in Norway. The committee’s activities included organizing rallies and distributing propaganda that portrayed Israel as a colonial and imperialist state, drawing on the rhetorical and symbolic repertoire offered by Third Worldist ideology.

This chapter looks in detail at some of the movements and persons in Norway that have engaged in debates about the justice of terrorism against Israelis and Jews. The goal is to show how Jewish victims are consistently made invisible in the arguments that are made about the justification of violence. The common argument is that there is something special about the state of Israel because everybody serves in the military and therefore nobody is really innocent in the just war against the Jewish state. The chapter also looks at the cases of Norwegian and other young, Western radicals who traveled to Palestine in the 1970s and 1980s in order to take part in the war on the side of various Palestinian factions, including Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Therefore, this chapter links the historical narrative of the book to wider currents of political terrorism that have been explored not least in a German context with groups like the Rote Armee Fraktion.

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the changing attitudes within the Norwegian labor movement towards Israel and the Palestinians from the late 1940s to the 1980s. Initially, Norway was a strong supporter of Israel, with prominent Labor Party figures expressing wholehearted support for the Jewish state. This support was rooted in sympathy for Holocaust survivors and solidarity with fellow leftists in the Zionist movement. However, a significant shift occurred during the 1970s and early 1980s. The Labor Party and the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions began to adopt a more balanced approach, recognizing Palestinian rights and opening dialogue with the Palestine Liberation Organization. Several factors contributed to this shift. The Six-Day War in 1967 altered perceptions of Israel from a vulnerable state to a powerful military force. The Lebanese Civil War and Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982 further damaged Israel’s image in Norway. Norwegian participation in the peacekeeping UN Interim Force in Lebanon exposed many Norwegians to the complexities of the conflict. This shift in Norwegian attitudes towards the Israeli–Palestinian conflict was part of a broader European trend and laid the groundwork for Norway’s later role in the Oslo Peace Process.

Politics are back in force and impacting people lives like never before. This is the time of the reawakening of the Palestinian national movement and the making of the mini-empire of Israel. The whole Palestine is now under Israel’s control. A false peace process will begin would lead to nowhere, and the Israeli military establishment and political leadership destroyed the PLO presence in Lebanon, and the resistance moved into the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.