Norway ‘has not changed’ Palestinian NGO funding policy

Norway’s representative in Palestine has denied claims that her government’s policy of funding Palestinian NGOs has been changed, Safa news agency reported on Wednesday. Hilde Haraldstad insisted that all reports claiming otherwise and published in the past few weeks were based on Israeli propaganda.

Speaking during a meeting with the Palestinian under-secretary for US affairs in his office in Ramallah, Haraldstad pointed out that her office issued a website statement in this regard. This stressed that Norway is going ahead with its funding of Palestinian and Israeli NGOs based on the belief that the government in Oslo is an active partner in the efforts leading towards a two-state solution.

The Norwegian official explained that even though her government does not support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, those Palestinian NGOs which support BDS would not be affected in terms of aid from Norway.

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