Why stop with Elbit?

Just because Norway is pretty much alone in standing against unethical investments on ocupied land, it doesnt make them wrong. They are right to and Amira as one of the few Israeli journalists with a conscience is right to bring this to the worlds attention. I suspect the people who disagree with this form of resistance to occupation are the same ones who complain about violent resistance too - you cant have it both ways occupiers!

advocacy of peace. There are several parties to the Arab / Israeli conflict. If Amira's goal is peace, then truly, her list should be broad, and include the economic entities from all parties, not just one. Indeed, while Amira pushes the idea that the Norwegian pension fund should divest from the US corporation Catepiller, she remains silent as to which Arab or Muslim corporations or states that the fund should also divest from. The wholesale absence of any equal comments towards the other parties in this conflict point to a moral bankruptcy...rather than searching for peace, she is looking for a scape goat.

Shamelessness is knowing your country is doing wrong and not saying anything because it is your country. Remember the contempt all of us had for the Good German who did specificallly that?

I don't know where you live, but you have just shown your total ignorance about the behavior of western newspapers.

It is heartening to see opinions like this in Haaretz, unlike anything in the U.S. press. Would syndication in U.S. papers be possible for Amira or Gideon Levy?

Amira Hass is one of the few Israeli writers who genuinely inspire me -- her honesty and commitment to justice are exemplary. Though the Norwegian action is a small step, it marks an important beginning, as Hass shows. It sets a precedent others may follow. And this is more likely if people of good will acknowledge the step, as she does.

Do you not remember last year when the Australian public stopped the ANZ bank from financing the Gunns Timber Company in Tasmania over the pulp mill and the loss of thousands of hectares of ancient rain forests? Our banks invest monies on our behalf, we have a right to say that we do not want it invested in companies who practice bad environmental standards or invested in companies who make money off human misery and oppression. That is not treason Michael, to not speak out is. Never be quiet Amira, you have our utmost admiration for your courage. May the universe bless you.

Amira has the strength and courage to say what needs to be said -- until Israel faces up to what it is doing, they -- the Israelis will be the force of their own destruction. That is unnecessary and sad.

Thank you, Amira Hass. Your work is inspiring. Your articles are always excellent, the analyses valuable.

how about eating israel's bread and spitting on the nation? or incitement to hatred?

journalists calling for a boycott of their own nations.

They are simply following the principles of morality with their assets much in the same way that the CO-OP has similar ethical visions. This is not a boycott on Israel, just questionable indsutries.

thank yoU hamira ass for that enlightening piece! when Are the jews of this countRy, which was born in sin anyway, going to rEalize thAt we have no right to be here in the First place...the sooner we give Up jerusalem, the oCcupIed west banK aNd Include the Golan, the sooner we wIll be able to live in peace with our neighbors that were unfairly DIsposessed, and the sOoner the rest of the world will accepT us.

get real Amira, and grow up. which part of OSLO and numerous other UN resolutions have the Palestinians agreed to?

It's such a cowardly act to attack Amira Hass instead ofaccepting responsibility and admitting the real garbage today comes from companies that operate without a moral conscience and muck up peoples' lives and dump on the environment. This is the only earthly life we will live and we ought to do our part to help others around us and be more responsible caretakers. Now if companies recognize this and cleaning up their act it will be the first step towards ensuring viable in the global economy and creating a win/win situation for all! Dutch

Amira Haas is a clear voice of a submerged Israeli conscience. Your comparison of Amira to Tokyo Rose shows that you are not wrapped very tightly. I've found that to be true of every wingnut I come across who tries to defend the indefensible.

Your comment shows nothing more than a serious educational lapse in your schooling. Start here: 'territory seized by force of war is inadmissible' and learn why Israel is in such big trouble.

The irony of the credit crunch is that some of the European banks whose branches are selling mortgages to settlers are now largely government-owned. European gov'ts lending to settlers while tut-tutting colonisation?

...those expressing hatred towards you in this thread and others do not have Israel's best interest at heart as you so clearly do. Without sane voices such as yours, Israel is surely doomed. The haters will fade away, but your truths will possibly help Israel survive, if it's not already too late.

First of all Amira is left not right! :-) Second of all, the human right of Palestinian people has been violated by Arab countries who did not resettle them so that they can be used as a tool against Israel. The sooner we resettle them, the sooner they will be at peace.

Tolerating a true Tokyo Rose in our midst while we are still at war.

Question: What's the difference between the Australian, Canadian and American occupations vs. the Israeli one? (Not to mention all of South America and much of Africa). Answer: Israel was the only one that fought her wars in self defense. Israel was the only one that had a historical right to the land that it was fighting for. All the other nations were involved in ruthless land grabs and pitiless execution of the native inhabitants. But Amira Hass want to boycott Israel. Amira, you belong in Norway, not Israel. YOu should fight for the rights of the natural rights of the natives of Lapland, and advocate the boycott of Norwegian Salmon.

and her garbage articles.

Boycott is the most stupied, narrow-minded, obscure policy anyone can think of in nowadays global economy. The only coherent divestment is to go the woods with an axe and make yourself a log to live out of the nature. Why doesn't Amira Hass divest from Intel and starts sending his reports by conventional mail or even better by hand since the oil used to move the mail truck might come from occupied Irak or from Saudi Arabia, a country were Amira would have been jailed a long time ago. It's also advisable to get rid of 90% of your electronic appliances since they're made in China by workers who do not precisely enjoy the best labor conditions and lack the most basic freedoms; the life of many Palestinians compared to that of the Uigur, the Tibetans and most Chinese factory workers is paradise on earth. I'm against ANY boycott, even if you despise that goverment, they're useless, stupid, reinforce the goverment in that country and, if any, they only harm the weakest and the innocent.

All medicines tablets, drops, lotions, etc., made by Abic or Teva. Computers with Windows operating systems Computers with Intel chips Cell phones (application for bomb activation o.k., developed by arabs) Voice mail technology ICQ Anything developed by Microsoft or Cisco (only R&D facilities are in Israel) List is very long, but you get the idea.

I am sure Amira would prefer Israel to pull out of land it wrongly occupies without having to resort to calling for a boycott. Her stance shows just how appalled some zionists and Jews are at Israel's intransigence that it has come to this. The problem is that many of Israel's population say they do not support the occupation but instead of actively seeking change have simply bowed out of the debate, thus leaving the right and ultra-religious in control of the agenda.

... seem to want us to believe that the history of Israel began with the building of the wall. It kinda makes people wonder why the wall was built. Myself, I started asking questions about this, and was shocked to learn about something called the 2nd Intifada. You can even Google or Wiki it. Does Amira and Norway have any knowledge of this?

The boycott should include all companies benefitting from the occupation, illegal settlements. Dutch

"In a normal country, at war, helping the enemy the way Hass does would and should be met with, at least, long prison terms." With a name like "Pacifici", I can't tell where your home country is, but there are millions of anti-war people throughout the US & Europe who were never in jail for opposing the war. It's called democracy!

part 2 of 2 If the stock is on a downward spiral it might take some time for the sale to be completed. Only after the sale has been made the finance ministry will announce it's exclusion from the fund. I do not know for sure if this is how things work, but I think this is the way it works. All this can take a lot of time depending on the above factors. To me Elbit seems like an easy case from an ethical sence. Since the wall business is such a big earner for them I find it easy to believe that they would refuse any discussion of the issue. And since their stock has increased a sale is also easier. I might be wrong(too optimistic), but I think more exclusions will come.

This process takes time. When ethical problems are brought to their attention they investigate the companies. Some companies are more clearly in violation of the guidelines than others. My guess Elbit is one of these. After a company is identified, contact is made and a dialogue is initiated. If the company refuses to discuss the issue, it can be excluded quickly(Perhaps Elbit belongs in this group). If the company shows willingness to evaluate the matter, and discuss the issues, it takes more time. If the company shows a willingness to change, they are not sold. If the company after some discussion and dialogue comes to the conclusion it will not comply, it will be sold. This takes time. After the ethics council concludes, the traders are instructed. I do not know if they have to sell immediately at a loss or can wait until the stock recovers to it's level at the time of purchase. Afaik Elbit has mostly increased in value so a sale could probably be made quite quickly. continues...

Amira Hass is right because she is standing up for justice and the human rights of the Palestinian people.

While I agree with Ms Hass in principal the reality is that the Norwegans disinvested $5 Mn from a company with a $5 Bn backlog - big deal. Also shares of Elbit systems have nearly quadrupled since they bought in, meaning that this was, probably, as much economic as it was on principal. Also the way Elbit and Elop are invested in the European UAV business - it is almost impossible to buy any such equipment today without Israeli companies benefiting from such purchases. The main US rivals (Hughes and Beoing) are trying to get DoD to prevent Elbit from taking larger market share by trying to stop sales of US componenets!

All the companies on the list that support or promote the occupation, settlements and barrier should be boycotted. Dutch

What about the oil that is used by the trucks building the fence? Maybe some of it comes from Norway. Norway should disinvest from the Norway Oil Companies!!!!

... how our government and mercenary foreign interests collude to entrench the occupation and settler robbery of pristine Pal territory and assets... ... what is more nefarious than entrenching and impoverishing at the same time...?!

European and other boycots solicited by Arabs have a real awful history going back many decades. The fact that the fist target of the Norwegian divestment is the company making monitors against terrorist infiltration is troubling in this light. I understand, and to a point respect, the anti-settlement logic, but I see two suspect things, both in the Hass article and elsewhere: to extend the fight to include as many Israeli targets as possible, under pretexts; and to make it a fight against the barrier, not its route. (The term Apartheid barrier gives it away). Look, this is the oldest trick in the book: fool your enemies into opening their defenses, then massacre them. Read Homer. Or read Barbara Tuchman's book The March of Folly, Troy being exhibit number one.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS OCCUPATION.tHE LAND OF ISRAEL IS GIVEN BY THE ALMIGHTY TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE IN EXCLUSIVITY AND IN PERPETUITY. ANY ARGUMENT ABOUTNORWAY OR OTHER AND THEIR CONDITIONAL ''LOVE'' OF ISRAEL IS BOTH PUERILE AND FUTILE. WE HAVE ENOUGH ENEMIES AND RETRACTORS OUT THERE WE DON'T NEED ANY AMIRA HASS.

Amira i know you are left but i did not know you are that danger.to israel and jew. i say it many time and i am saying it agian leave the country go live some place else

Zionist newspaper Haaretz, published at the illegal settlement, Tel Aviv in the occupied Palestine.

Amira Hass - stop hating your country and start hating yourself - you are insufferable.

Amira Hass, now that she is not reporting from Gaza, has taken off her kaffieh and has found a soul mate with the euro trash pseudointellectual left. Norway, which never said a word about Achminedjad killing his own people, Ruwanda, and Darfur has found Elbit objectionable, and Hass is salivating for more.

In a normal country, at war, helping the enemy the way Hass does would and should be met with, at least, long prison terms. That would happen in Norway and the same or worse in the territories by the enlightened PA and Hamas. Unfortunately we are not a normal country. David Pacifici

Because that is what I deduce from your articles.

Why is Amira Hass not charged with treason?

Once again you are doing us all a service by drawing necessary attention to an issue of real importance. I am not Norwegian myself but I hope that the good people of that country will demand that their government follows through on its obligations. As an Israeli they have my full support in calling upon their government to divest from all companies engaged in the occupation and colonization of the West Bank.

Norway should also divest from Burma so it looks consistent