First, a link with the latest story on what’s going on in Oslo with one of the embassies.
Right now half of one major artery into downtown is blocked off due to security concerns at Embassy A. This, however, I can grudgingly deal with, as at last this embassy has agreed that it is in everyone’s best interest to move. This took a while, because one ambassador unfortunately fell ill and died, then it took a while for a replacement to be appointed, and then this country had an election and the new administration recalled the old ambassador and replaced him, when they got around to it, with another political appointee. But hey, we’re used to it. At least everybody agrees now, and Embassy A is making efforts to find a new home, even if it will take some time. Somehow you can excuse it when you know it’s temporary.
Embassy B, however, the subject of the article linked to above, is not nearly so accomodating. They’ve blocked off the whole street in front of their building, and although it’s not the major artery that the street in front of Embassy A is, blocking it has only added to traffic congestion elsewhere. They claim to fear for their safety, and to this end have set up surveillance cameras pointing outside embassy property. All of this along a residential street, right next to a day care center (which has been there since before the embassy moved to its current location) and across from the freakin’ Royal Palace! :smack:
And they don’t want to move. When the city has offered to help them find a more secure location, they demand instead that the city help secure their current location, including paying for extra police officers and allowing them to block the street and build walls in violation of the neighborhood building code. When the city has tried to put pressure on them to move, they cry bigotry and say they have the right to stay there. I suppose next they’ll want to move the palace, as the attractive palace gardens draw too many potentially suspicious visitors :rolleyes:
[For the record: the area where Embassy B is located houses only a handful of other embassies, with the bulk being further west; it’s not like they’re being kicked off Embassy Row.]
Oh yeah, Oslo is such a hotbed of anti-semitic terrorism. this is just another example of Israeli arrogance and self-importance. They have zero right to expect Oslo to kowtow to their imperious, grandstanding demands. They need to show some fucking respect for their host country, and if they really feel unsafe, they can move the fuck out. I think the old “bigotry” card is getting a little worn out. I mean come on, if a local government doesn’t want to use their own money and resources to cater to paranoid, self-absorbed assholes, then the whole country must be anti-semitic? Give me a fucking break.
Here’s a clue for Israel. If you really want to be taken seriously every time you yell “bigotry,” then why don’t you start treating everybody equally in your own fucking country. I’m sick of fucking subsidizing apartheid.
For the record, enbassy A is the US embassy and their first plan to heighten secutity was to build a concrete wall across one of the major roads in Oslo. When the neighbours said “you can’t do that” the answer was “oh, yeah”.
If I was Diogenes the Cynic I would call the Americans paranoid.
You know, it’s not all that farfetched that the Israeli embassy in Oslo could be attacked. Ever hear of the Oslo Accords? The accords landed Rabin and Arafat the Nobel Peace Prize, but they also created bad blood on both sides of the Israel/Palestinian conflict, and led to Rabin’s assassination. If a terrorist on either side wanted to do something violent in a place loaded with significance, Oslo would be a pretty good place to choose.
However, it does seem that the Israelis are showing an amazing lack of empathy for their neighbors. The citizens of Oslo have every right to be pissed off with both embassies.
The embassy demanded the the city block traffic. The embassy has also illegally put up cameras to spy on neighboring houses, including at least one camera which is outside embassy property. They have refused to take the cameras down despite the city’s request, and despite the fact that they are breaking Norwegian law.
Imagine if you lived across the street from a Saudi embassy. Imagine that the Saudi embassy had cameras trained on your windows 24/7. Imagine that they were trying to dictate where you could and could not drive in your own neighborhood. Imagine that they repeatedly thumbed their noses at local police, and called you a “bigot” for complaining. I doubt that the Saudis would get much sympathy here.
Israel is not above the law and they need to learn how to fucking respect other human beings.