RSS
Norwegian Hotel Refuses Israeli Traveler Amid Boycott Against Israel
A demonstration of the group Europe Palestine to demand the boycott of Israel, in Paris, France on May 15, 2022. Photo: Xose Bouzas / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect
A Norwegian hotel has refused to accommodate an Israeli traveler, citing a nationwide boycott against the Jewish state launched last week by the country’s powerful trade union, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO).
Upon receiving the request, the hotel — located in the village of Geiranger in western Norway, one of Scandinavia’s top tourist destinations — indicated it would need to consult with the trade union to determine whether hosting the Israeli traveler would be permitted under the new boycott guidelines.
“The Norwegian Labor Organization (LO) will soon enforce a boycott that will affect Israeli tourists and Israeli goods due to the catastrophic situation in Gaza,” read the response to the Israeli traveler’s booking request.
“We need to inform you that our staff is organized in LO unions, and they will not break the boycott. I will need to consult with the employers’ organization as I see this as a force majeure situation,” the hotel told the Israeli traveler.
BREAKING:
Norwegian hotels to boycott Israeli tourists.Source: @StoppNRK
See: https://t.co/0tr55jwvFl pic.twitter.com/Mhy2pICn1n— On Elpeleg
(@onelpeleg) May 12, 2025
According to the hotel management, the organization’s boycott qualifies as a “force majeure” event, an unforeseen circumstance that prevents parties from meeting their contractual obligations and shields them from liability when exceptional situations disrupt normal expectations.
The hotel’s response was shared in a Facebook group, sparking outrage and widespread condemnation among its members.
“As a Jew who has been fighting antisemitism for 40 years, I have never experienced something so shocking. It’s like traveling back in time 85 years to 1940, to the period when Norway sent its Jews to Auschwitz,” one of the group’s members wrote in a comment.
“I am simply in shock – Norway was the last country in Europe to allow Jews to enter, and now it’s closing its doors again,” he continued.
Last week, Norway’s LO trade union voted in favor of a full economic boycott of Israel, while also urging the government to direct the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) to divest from Israeli companies, similar to how it mandated the divestment from Russian companies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The GPFG, also known as the Norwegian Oil Fund, is a sovereign wealth fund owned by the Norwegian government and managed by its central bank, created to manage surplus revenue from oil and gas exports, with investments in a diverse array of global assets and companies.
Despite its close ties to the LO union, Norway’s Labour-led government said it would not push for divestment from Israeli companies, arguing that it is best to allow the fund’s ethics watchdog, the Council on Ethics, to operate in accordance with the ethical guidelines approved by parliament.
“We don’t plan to change our strategy,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told Reuters on Friday after the LO vote.
“But I hope Israel is reading that this [the boycott] is an expression of a significant part of public opinion,” the Norwegian leader said.
Based on government guidelines, the GPFG follows an ethical investment strategy that includes avoiding companies involved in human rights violations, environmental harm, or other unethical practices, and has the authority to divest from such companies or sectors when necessary.
The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas praised the LO’s decision to boycott “the Zionist occupation and ban trade and investment with its companies,” calling the move “a courageous step that embodies a clear alignment with truth and justice, and advocates for the rights of the Palestinian people.”
On Sunday, the GPFG — which is one of the largest funds in the world — announced that it had divested from Israel’s Paz Oil Company, citing its ownership and operation of infrastructure that supplies fuel to “Israeli settlements in the West Bank.”
“By operating infrastructure for the supply of fuel to the Israeli settlements on the West Bank, Paz is contributing to their perpetuation,” the fund’s Council on Ethics watchdog said in its recommendation to divest. “The settlements have been established in violation of international law, and their perpetuation constitutes an ongoing violation thereof.”
This is the latest move by a European financial entity to sever ties with Israeli companies, amid growing pressure in Norway for the GPFG to fully divest from Israeli businesses following the outbreak of the Gaza war.
Overall, the Council on Ethics reviewed approximately 65 companies in the fund’s holdings across sectors such as energy supply, infrastructure, travel and tourism, and banking, but has not yet disclosed whether it made additional recommendations for divestment.
The post Norwegian Hotel Refuses Israeli Traveler Amid Boycott Against Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.