Marianne Borgen
Mayor of Oslo
Norway
Dear Mayor Borgen,
Oslo has voted to refrain from buying any goods and services manufactured in areas Oslo has declared are ‘occupied’ by Israel. I assume this was done to support the Palestinian Arabs who claim that all of Israel is ‘occupied’. It is to the credit of the city of Oslo that it has not banned goods and services from Israel but only from the areas under dispute.
If effective, banning goods and services will throw hundreds if not thousands of Palestinian workers out of work. There is no unemployment insurance in Palestine and Gaza so what are these people to do?
On behalf of newly unemployed Palestinian workers, I am setting up a fund to assist these poor people and their families. I would love to visit Oslo to meet with you and your councilors to get a financial commitment to start the fund. Please let me know if Oslo will meet with me.
Thank you for supporting Palestinian workers and their families.
Respectfully yours,
Ismail al-Mattah