Volume 3, Number 180
 
'There's a Jewish story everywhere'
 

Sunday-Monday, September 3-5, 2009

CROSSING THE YARDEN


The country that thinks it has ethics all loxed up

By Yarden Frankl

NEVE DANIEL, Israel—Did you hear about the unethical camera?

No, it’s not a camera for making pornographic movies or other shady purposes, it’s actually a new device designed to spot guys with bombs strapped to their bellies crawling through the night in hope of blowing up Israeli children.

The Israeli company that makes these devices is proud of their invention, and they should be. Who knows how many lives have been saved because terrorists on the prowl have been discovered and apprehended.

Sound like a great invention?

Well, our friends in Norway don’t think so. In fact, citing “ethical concerns” Norway’s state sponsored pension plan has decided to divest of the Israeli company that designed the cameras. Here is what the lovely Norwegian Foreign Minister had to say (brace yourself for a profile in courage):

“We do not wish to fund companies that so directly contribute to violations of international humanitarian law”

So the government of Norway thinks that a camera designed to stop terrorists from killing Israeli children contributes to violations of humanitarian law? Interesting.

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Since ethical concerns seem to be such a big deal in Norway, I decided to take a look at how the Norwegians feel about Iran, a nuke-building thugacracy where those who vote the wrong way get raped in prison.

Hmm, well I guess they don’t believe there are any ethical concerns about helping Iran finance a bomb that could do in a few seconds what Hitler did over a few years.

Yes, you see the moral purists who worry about funding Israeli companies that protect children seem to have lost their voice when it comes to massive  Norwegian investments in the Iranian energy sector.

According to the Norwegian Council on Ethics, Norway will not invest in countries that show systematic human rights violations, such as:

  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Deprivation of liberty
  • Forced labor
  • Child exploitation
  • Severe environmental damages
  • Gross corruption
  • Other particularly serious violations of fundamental ethical norms.

No, no way Iran has done any of that stuff. Let’s just focus on the nasty Israeli cameras sitting on their anti-terror fence.

If only I had the gastronomical fortitude to divest of Norwegian salmon.

Yarden is special projects director for HonestReporting. His blog may be accessed at www.crossingtheyarden.com


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