Norwegian minister under fire for praise of Cast Lead book

When Mr. Store did this, he took side. For the terrorists in hamas, and against Israel. Why? Because both of the authors strongly support Hamas. And one of them, Mr. Gilbert, even gave his support to 9.11 terror.

It might be fair to say that the events "outside" were reflected in the events "inside"...?

This is what our foreign minister Jonas Gahr Stoere labeled on the book "Eyes in Gaza" by Gilbert and Fosse: "When war rages the civilians become voiceless. Erik Fosse and Mads Gilbert were in Gaza as doctors in January 2009. In addition they reported what they were seeing. It was not their duty, but it was their obligation. When the military forces try to silence any report, the few coming through gets stronger ? and more important." Any war needs eyewitness reports repeating the insanity of warfare in general.

The "socialist" part of the norwegian government is the fanatical nationalism, the "blood and soil" thing. And of course the bias against everything jewish and whatever may be termed "western". If Israel was poor and isolated, the conflict would be ignored by norwegian socialists. But the close tie with America is a red (!) cloth in front of the pseudomarxists, who, themselves living in the life of an elite, "despises" capitalism. The economical policies of the norwegian socialists are, at its core, more or less neo liberal. The third way is the state in the role of a corporation. The main pillars then become the oil market and the stock market. Antisemitism makes good towards petro industrial partners. The truly twisted logic now is that the neo antisemitism of the Gilbert-Fosse-Store type is meant to demonstrate moral courage. Siding with the despots of Iran and their no less authoritarian proxies, Hamas, is "siding with the weak". 7 m jews are Goliat, 300 m arabs are David.

0. To put it into an allegory you Semites should be familiar with. Gaza is David VS Goliath, except that this time, Goliath is flinging his own (big) stones back and also starving David's entire family as well. Me personally, don't really care about the bombing or the whole invasion thingie. It's that Israel has pretty much made a ghetto out of an entire nation that abhorrs me. Israel was given as a safe haven of WW2's horrors, and now they are making their own little starvation camp out of a whole country. How cannot every person from Israel look themselves in the mirror and see IRONY written all over their forehead? As for the book, he praised them for relaying to the world their views of the conflict. He did not praise them for being left wing and / or anti-Isreal.

Ayalon - You are wrong - What's actually outrageous is what Apartheid-practicing Israel did to the captive Palestinian population in Gaza. Call Operation Cast Lead what it was - crimes against humanity. Dr. Kantor - how disingenuous can you be? Pathetic! I guess I'll have to go buy a copy or 3 "Eyes in Gaza", to learn the truth, huh. Anyone wishing to contact me, feel free. We may be able to learn from each other... Sam Bolivar StrivingForJustice@yahoo.com

Israeli retaliation for qassams attacks? Tell me the numbers.You say they did not kill enough to justify retaliation so give me some numbers.10? 50? More? Less? How many must die eric?You certainly have an idea since you know that the actual numbers do not justify Israeli reprisals so give me numbers that would justify it eric.Please. Numbers,that's all I want from you.Just the numbers.Thank you.

Tragically, it appears to me that the book of Gilbert and Fosse is written in a biased and rather unserious way, from reading the quotes provided by this article. This is naturally a big minus and I personally have no intensions of buying this book. I do however defend Støres right to support that they wrote about their experiences. He did the same when he supported the democratic rights of the newspaper that printed the Mohammed caricatures even though he met massive critics from the Islamic world. On the side note, it is surprising that Støre is criticized for not leaving when the Iranian president held his speech during the UN General Assembly. In fact, Støre, afterwards in his speech, stood against the Iranian president, criticizing him for his hatred spreading Anti-Semitic speech. Because of this, Støre was also praised by the Israeli governor in Norway. (Clue is off, so pardon about my english)

is that most civilian deaths occurred during the idf ground offensive; not during the initial heavy bombardment. and it's interesting to note the big concern you seem to have over the rockets and mortars fired from gaza... when even by conservative estimates, israel averaged more civilian deaths per day during its gaza shoot, than those rockets and mortars have managed over the span of 7 years.

I still did not see Waltz with Bashir but as you think it is so good I assume it makes the IDF and the Christians look bad. I did witness on media reports the operation Cast Lead in Gaza. My take on both events. Overwhelming force by the goods guys smashing the bad guys has resulted in quiet from both fronts...actually 3 fronts. Hezbollah is still wondering what the hell happened.

Mr Gahr Store has a long history of both verbal and monetary support of Hamas and other terrorist organizations. Norwegians are not surprised about his support of the biased book of Drs Gilbert and Fosse. During the Gaza war they were giving daily reports to Norwegian news media twisting the truth and constantly attacking Israel. If Icould I would apologize for the deeds of our foreign minister. I am really ashamed of what Norwegian officials can do in public.

I can sadly only second no.15 "ashamed to be Norwegian". Our newspapermen seem obsessed with Israel, yet when we ask if it is because Israelis are mainly jews they become furious. Here are the figures for Aftenposten, one of Norway's largest newspapers. As is evident, Aftenposten writes more about Israel than they do about the Netherlands, not to mention Saudi Arabia: Aftenposten 1996 - 2006 Peru: 965 Israel: 9750 Sverige: 38 627 Saudi Arabia: 2485 Marokko: 2122 Nederland: 9360 Figures from Retriever, a media analysis tool. All Norwegian newspapermen have the tool and know these figures are correct.

gaza is one of the most heavily populated areas in the world. To bomb gaza in a such a careless matter as proposed by many of Israel's critics would have generated far more casualties than what is generally accepted. War is not pretty and not precise but one can be careful as Israel was as to not kill indiscriminately. Civilians accidentally killed yes a masacre no. On the other side just lobbying missils into Israel and letting them hit where they hit hoping to kill as many civilians as possible or putting a bomb strapped to your waste and walking into a public area to kill as many people as possible deserves public the condemnation which often seems to be lacking

So you are saying while the surgeons were working inside hospital long hours they were also eyewitnesses to many events outside the hospital all around Gaza at same time? Very impressive . the stuff of legends, ..and myths

Quotes from Hamas' charter: article 7 "The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! This will not apply to the Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree (cited by Bukhari and Muslim)." Article 28 " Israel, by virtue of its being Jewish and of having a Jewish population, defies Islam and the Muslims From the INTRODUCTION " call for support to its cause and reinforcement, and for joining its ranks. For our struggle against the Jews is extremely wide-ranging and grave, so much so that it will need all the loyal efforts we can wield, to be followed by further steps and reinforced by successive battalions from the multifarious Arab and Islamic world, until the enemies are defeated and Allah's victory prevails. Thus we shall perceive them approaching in the horizon, and this will be known before long:" This is what Støre, Gilbert and Fosse Support!

Gahr Store speaks the truth - the rest of the world was deliberately shut out from reporting the development in Gaza during the conflict. The Isreali military did not want the world to see the true horrors and casualities of war. The only source of information was the two norwegian doctors. Gahr Store praises them for reporting what they saw, despite Israels attempts to cover it up. For this, the two doctors deserves praise. To all of those who defend the Isreali cover-up and condemn the reports of the norwegian doctors: why do you think Israel did not want the rest of the world to witness what Israel did in Gaza? Why were no outside media allowed to se what Israel was doing? Not even Fox News were allowed to see.....

Israel fumes at this or that state at least once a week. Nobody cares. Only Israel media carry the fuming reports ...

But you have already lost on the face of international law, and worlwide opinion...

The film of the massacre of Sabra and Shatila at the end of the film is no different that what the world saw in Gaza. Why do the Israeli's whine incessantly when the truth is known to the world?

I have read the book, and it is not attacking Israel, but what IDF did in Gaza. It is not a political book, but a book about people, children, women, elders living on the ground. It is filled with personal storries from the victims and their families. It is about what they see and experience in the hospital. The book should defenately be translated to english.

This has to be taken as a true record, as Israel disallowed reporters into the strip. They knew full well that images of the slaughter of innocent children and women must not reach the rest of the world. The rockets from Gaza,they are no more than 'Chinese firecrackers'. Sorry, you lot can never go back into Gaza, the World will be there and watching. Support seems to generally be shifting worldwide, as the world is tired of israeli whining and lies and the fundamental distortion of facts.

The main difference between Israeli and Pal casualty estimates is the classification of hundreds of Gaza police deaths. Properly classified as militants instead of civilians, this would make civilian/militant casualty ratio much closer to 1/1 which compares favorably with counterinsurgencies of numerous other countries. Further(Dec. 31): "...Since then(first claim of 48 Hamas deaths), they have kept adding more and more Gaza "martyrs" who were members of the Al Qassam Brigades to their website. At last count, Hamas has listed out the biographies of no less than 305 Al Qassam terrorists with details of their careers as fighters. (188 of them were listed as "civilian" by the PHCR.)"

Did you know Arizona, where you are from, was part of Mexico until Mexico lost it in a war in to the United States in 1848? So you won't complain if a Mexican terror group starts rocketing you in your home day and night, right? Before Mexico, Arizona was the territory of Native American tribes? So you won't complain if Native American terrorists start rocketing your house either, right? The solution for a war is a political settlement. Territory changes hands. Hamas does not believe in any political settlement, they only believe in continuing the war until they win and all civilians are their targets. For that reason, Israel does not and should not tolerate Hamas.

DAVID NIGEL BRAMHAM GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ALWAYS. AMEN AMEN. FROM DANNY IN ENGLAND.

So, now #10, I wonder why the Gazans chose Sderot as the target for their rockets? Could it be because it was the site of a small Pal. town called Najd which was home to 139 peaceful farmers, etc? It was raized on May 13th, 1948 and all occupants driven out, probably to Gaza or god knows where, and were never allowed to return. That is the site of Sderot and would be my target if I had been driven out of Najd or was the son or grandson of such a person. If my facts are wrong, please enlighten me.

Unfortunately, the Norwegian media is almost always reporting the 'horrors' Palestinians face, while saying nothing about the huge amount of rockets raining down on Israel from Gaza every year. Our media is ruled by socialists, and so is our country. The only political party that stands behind Israel wholeheartedly, is the Progress Party. Our children and population are being fed anti-Israel propaganda on a regular basis. It's brainwashing, pure and simple.

The fact that the Israeli army forbade foreign journalists entry into Gaza during its onslaught makes it obvious that it did not want outside observers to see what it was doing in Gaza. It placed itself under suspicion that what was being done could not tolerate the light of day. There were however people that Israel could not control, like the medical aid teams coming in from Egypt. The staff of the Norwegian Aid Committee, with whom I worked during the Lebanese civil war and Israeli invasions in Lebanon during the 1980s have expert surgeons (Eric Fosse!), medical doctors and nursing staff who often work under the most trying and adverse conditions of war. Their eyewitness accounts are of great value and I hope that the book written by Eric and Mads will be translated into english. If I would be a foreign minister of a country, that has medical teams dedicated towards providing humanitarian relief in situations of war I would be very proud of them.

"The other horror was a population that voted for a group who promised endless war against Israel and that`s what the people got. When Israel hits back, why be surprised?" I realize you must attempt to rewrite history to make yourself seem right but there was a ceasefire even before Hamas was voted in, then after Hamas was voted in Israel began beating drums, withholding taxes, calling for sanctions, having USA label their humanitarian as terrorist funding, then the family on the beach, multiple "pinpoint assassinations" by the IAF that resulted in civilian deaths, kidnapping and arresting their elected officials..then they started lobbing 8000 rockets. I dont blame them. You and yours harass them at every crossing, attempt to starve them at every turn, and strangle them at every checkpoint. You get what you pay for. How many Israeli Men,women and chilcren are serving time in Palestinian jails for what they've done to Palestinians? ZERO.

The truth hurts when it is the truth,but in this case it is pure fantasy on behalf of anti Israel and probably anti-semitic individuals bent on harming Israel. We will never know how many civilians were killed in cast lead as many of those who were killed were combattants dressed in civilian clothes and claimed by Hamas to be civilians,except of course the children and here we have another problem,who was responsible for there deaths,were they used as human shields as so often this happens amongst these people. The international press has gone out of it's way to exagerate the cast lead operation. If you beleive the word of Hamas then you will beleive the word of anyone. It is so easy to judge people from afar and from the comfort of a country not surrounded by hostile nations bent on your distruction.

Colonel Richard Kemp, the former commander of the British forces in Afghanistan, testified to the U.N : "based on my knowledge and experience, I can say this: During Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare. Israel did so while facing an enemy that deliberately positioned its military capability behind the human shield of the civilian population. The truth is that the IDF took extraordinary measures to give Gaza civilians notice of targeted areas, dropping over 2 million leaflets, and making over 100,000 phone calls. During the conflict, the IDF allowed huge amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza. To deliver aid virtually into your enemy's hands is, to the military tactician, normally quite unthinkable. But the IDF took on those risks.

The other horror was a population that voted for a group who promised endless war against Israel and that's what the people got. When Israel hits back, why be surprised?

but what was done in Gaza needs to be told again and again and again. Let them fume, the louder the better - more people will want to read the book. There is a need for such information to help the world form its own opinion on the horror that took place in Gaza.

You say "Anyway, Gilbert and Fosse`s understanding of the facts are coloured by their ideology" And Israelis aren't? Israelis meekly accepted a press ban on one of the IDF's most controvertial actions - why? . .

Steve, where do you see the word Hamas in this article? It must have been floating in your mind somewhere... What Nordic countries are devoted to is preventing humanitarian catastrophes. Such as a one-year long blockade of practically all goods, the killing of a thousand civilians and the opression of a whole people. This is not support for terrorism, it is support for a suffering population. If it had been Jews who had been killed in Gaza the "Nordic stance" would have been the same. It is so painfully ironic that the Jewish people of all peoples is the one acting as the opressor. Is history only useful for justifying today's actions and silencing criticism? Of all peoples the Jews should know best the terrible concequences of being opressed and being treated as less than other peoples.

The two writers were there in Gaza and saw what they saw. Brad,it seems you were sitting in Canada so how well did you see what happened. Bias? You have a Prime Minister so biased the other way that every word official Israel says it 110% true. How do you interpret Phosphorus bombs falling on civilians?

Mads Gilbert was frequently interviewed on Al-Jazeera during the Gaza attack. His words and body language expressed a deep but quite fury at what was happening to the Gazans. We will hear all the usual sources condeming him now. If you do bad things, people will say bad things about you

and neither view can be declared wrong or right with ANY degree of "objective" certainty. more likely than not; it's a mix where each is right about some things and wrong about others.

"Really"? Are all Norwegian's as naive as you and as easy to fool as Gilbert, Fosse and Store? And you miss the point of the story. The criticism is of Store's endorsement. He wasn't in Gaza and knows, as we say bobkas. Anyway, Gilbert and Fosse's understanding of the facts are coloured by their ideology, their sympathy and the self interest of the careers they have ploughed for themselves. If you think different, that's your prerogative. Its your prerogative to be wrong.

No matter what the facts, no matter the repercussions. They seem to delight in it. If that's also the stance of Haaretznik Israelis then so be it. If a Nordic country published a book 'proving' Israel secretly occupies the moon, there would be at least a few of you chiming in agreement. But then again, people also claim Elvis is still alive and lives there.

How would FM Danny Ayalon know that the book is "made up of fabrication and lies"? Does he know Norwegian? The book is not available in English yet as far as I can tell. Oh, and the two doctors were on the ground in Gaza, so at least most of what they write should be true and honest from their perspective. Their personal left-wing politics is another matter, and the book is slanted like ANY other book about the conflict.