The leader of the Red Party in the Norwegian Parliament, Bjornar Moxnes, on Friday nominated the international BDS movement for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
Moxnes, a member of the Oslo city council and the sole representative of the Red Party in the Norwegian parliament, announced: “I proudly use my authority as an elected official to nominate the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights for the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Nominating the BDS movement for this recognition is perfectly in line with the principles I and my party hold very dear. Like the BDS movement, we are fully committed to stopping an ascendant, racist and right-wing politics sweeping too much of our world, and securing freedom, justice and equality for all people.”
Moxnes also suggested that “Palestinian refugees constitute nearly 50 percent of all Palestinians, and they are being denied their right to return, guaranteed by law to all refugees, simply because of their ethnicity.” This fact is somewhat erroneous, as official UN figures say that out of the 5.5 million persons who define themselves as “Palestinians,” only about 20,000 (twenty thousand) have personally left Israel in 1948-9.
Moxnes is against Norway’s membership in the EU, and wants to terminate the EEA agreement. He is in favor of withdrawing from NATO, arguing that its NATO membership makes Norway more vulnerable to attacks.
Moxnes’ immigration policies are probably the most controversial in his home country. He claims that Norway’s asylum policy is far too strict, and argues for removing all obstacles facing asylum seekers coming to Norway.
Moxnes wants to prevent government from being able to deprive anybody of refugee status; to change the citizenship act so that citizenship cannot be revoked; to ensure that children’s rights are never trumped by so-called “immigration policy considerations”; to give asylum seekers free legal aid, lawful asylum proceedings and the opportunity to complain about their treatment; to ensure that asylum cases are never summarily processed at the Norwegian border; to withdraw Norway from the Schengen Agreement and the Dublin Convention; and to enable asylum seekers who have been refused entry to apply for a residence permit as a job seeker in line with job seekers from other non-EEA countries. (Source: The Good Country)