Address to World Jewish Congress Excecutive Meeting

Foreign Minister Levy, President Bronfman, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

We know the significance of the Executive meeting of the World Jewish Congress. We are familiar with the important work that you have carried out for the Jewish people for more than six decades. And we are aware of the role you play in the broader opinion shaping on key political issues concerning the Jewish people.

That is why it gives me such a great pleasure to welcome this Executive meeting to Oslo. It is an honour for us that you have chosen our capital as the venue for this meeting.

In my message to you tonight I would like to take two perspectives; one concerns the past, the other concerns the future. And both concern the shaping of our common history.

Let me begin by looking towards the past. The Jewish people suffered this century's worst disaster, the Holocaust. Holocaust added a terrible dimension to the anatomy of human destructiveness. We owe it to our children never to close this chapter in our history books. Present and future generations must learn and relearn what political madness, intolerance and fanatism could lead to.

It is a fundamental responsibility of democracy to preserve the memory of the past, regardless of how painful it may be. Time can heal wounds. But we cannot let time cover up past injustice.

At this meeting you will focus on the fate of property of the victims of Holocaust. We share your concern and I am aware of the importance that the World Jewish Congress attaches to this issue, an issue which is also the concern of the World Jewish Restitution Organization.

Some time ago, new allegations on the fate of Jewish property confiscated by the Quisling Nazi government in Norway during the Second World War surfaced in the press. The Norwegian Government wants this issue to be clarified. In March an independent committee of inquiry was appointed with a mandate to carry out a full investigation into the facts and to submit a report to the Government within one year.

We want all the facts on the table. When we receive the report we will consider appropriate follow-up measures and submit our proposals to Parliament.

We have cooperated closely with the Jewish Community in Norway and other affected parties in this process and I can assure you that we will continue to do so after the inquiry has been completed.

Let me then look towards the future. There are links between the tragedies of the past and the hopes for the future. In Europe - where Holocaust left its devastating mark on the 20th century - the post war period ended in 1989. Today, Europe is walking down the difficult but inevitable path of cooperation and integration. If we succeed we can enter the next century in lasting peace and progress.

And further south, the peoples of the Middle East are taking brave steps - difficult steps - to break out of the spiral of violence and confrontation that have marked so many decades and created so much suffering.

I believe that these two historic processes - the one in Europe and the other in the Middle East are linked. Both places the stakes are high. Both places we cannot afford to fail.

Norway will be engaged both in the European process and in the Middle East process. Let me begin in the Middle East.

A few years ago brave people on the Israeli and the Palestinian side had the courage to opt for peace and the immense potential of the people and the resources of the region. Together they lit a candle of hope.

Norway had the opportunity and the privilege to play a role in bringing about this breakthrough. We got this role because we had built solid relations on both sides.

Our friendship with Israel is deeply rooted. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv is our biggest diplomatic mission in the entire region. This is no coincidence.

Ours is a relationship not only between states but also between peoples. Non governmental organizations and groups, municipalities and religious communities are nurturing strong friendships in Israel. For many Norwegians, Israel is perceived almost as a neighboring country.

The Labour party knows this. Strong personal ties were forged between leaders on both sides. The Kibbutz tradition came close to the culture of the labour movement and the trade union movement.

So we had a trust based on friendship. And as the years went by, we also developed close personal relations with the Palestinians. They too needed the attention of the international community.

There were perhaps countries who had closer relations with either Israel or the PLO. But few had the balance that Norway had. We had the opportunity to build numerous channels of communication. In 1993, Palestinians and Israeli grasped one of these channels and engaged in direct negotiations towards lasting peace.

Oslo has lent its name to two historic peace agreements - Oslo I and Oslo II. But the prime responsibility for peace lies with the parties. Their process must be driven by a simple and common ambition; that there is really no alternative to peace, dialogue and common problem solving.

The importance of the Oslo agreement is its graduality. It does not try to solve all problems at once, but rather to pave the way. Like a jigsaw puzzle the pieces must be fitted in, one at a time.

Today - many say that the candle of peace no longer burns. Yes, these are difficult and trying times for the peace process in the Middle East. We all knew that it would not be easy. Johan Jørgen Holst often remarked that the road to peace in the Middle East would be subject to highway robbers and other spoilers of peace. His words were only too true.

There has been violence - violence on both sides. One year ago, Yizhak Rabin paid a terrible prize for his commitment to peace. Commitments have been broken, agreements have not been fully respected. There has been disappointment and despair.

But the candle of hope still burns. It will burn as long as decent people on both sides remain committed to peace and the agreements already concluded.

Israel is a great democracy. We note that the new Government has pledged to stand by the commitments of the peace process. Friends of Israel urges the Government to move forward. Time has come to show on the ground what was agreed on paper.

Norway will continue to be active. The Government will continue to be active, numerous non-governmental organizations will continue to be active. We have one vested interest; to serve the parties and to serve the peace process. Norway will pursue its role as chair of the donor countries on the local and on the international levels. And we will work to mobilize further funds and actively engage the World bank, the IMF and the UN system.

For Israelis and Palestinians alike, peace is more than absence of violence. Peace is new schools, clean water and electricity. Peace is jobs and opportunity. Peace is free and fair elections, respect for human rights and freedom from fear and oppression. The social and economic benefits of peace must be felt in every village - by every Palestinian man, woman and child. As it must be felt by every Israeli.

This was the key to European integration and cooperation, the benefits have been felt by every European.

This brings me to the link between the Middle East and Europe. The vision of the Oslo agreements was to take a first bold step towards a process of integration not unlike the one Western Europe experienced after the war.

In the late 1940's, few people dared to dream of a future where former enemies could lay down the arms, pool resources, create common institutions and let people, goods and services circulate freely. But those who held the visions prevailed. Western Europe had peace, prosperity and welfare.

With the Berlin Wall gone, we can embark upon the second phase of that process by integrating the new democracies of the East into our common institutions.

Norway will be active in this process. In the high North we expand cooperation with democratic Russia - our neighbour. Together with Russia and our Nordic partners we have created the Barents cooperation - one of the most exiting projects of regional cooperation in Europe. The challenges are many - from environmental threats and nuclear waste. But so are the opportunities - industrial cooperation, cultural exchange and educational networks.

Further south we join with our Nordic friends in the Baltic Sea cooperation. Again the idea is quite simple; to create new networks. People-to-people activities. Environmental clean up. Business opportunities. Enhanced security for all.

And then we have the process of enlargement of the democratic organizations. A year from now the European Union will engage in a first round of negotiations with Central European candidates.

Norway is not a member of the European Union, but we support this round of enlargement. This amounts to modern security. We too, are served, when the countries of Central Europe modernize their economies, stabilize democracy so that we may see the day when our internal market comprises the real Europe, not only the West.

Today, our challenge is to create a common culture of security cooperation in Europe, something which has never existed in Europe's past.

NATO is also opening up for new members. This is a new NATO - no organization created in the climate of the cold war has demonstrated such an ability to reform. It's strategy is renewed. It's structure is being renewed, and it's membership will be renewed.

Democratic nations may apply for membership of NATO, and a first round of enlargement will be decided next year. Doors continue to remain open. With those who do not join in a first round, we will expand and deepen cooperation within the broad framework of Partnership for Peace.

And at the same time we will remember; lasting security in Europe requires active participation by Russia. We are working with Russia. Expanding cooperation with Russia. Holding joint maneuvers with Russia. Our common enemy is not any specific country, but fear and suspicion.

We face new security threats in Europe. They come more from ethnic tensions and minority issues than from territorial ambition. Former Yugoslavia tells all about it.

These threats we share with the Middle East. We are all seized with questions of minorities and immigrants, as well as the fight against racism and xenophobia. We must all learn to deal with these issues and counter such tendencies in order to keep our regions as a refuge of enlightened diversity and tolerance. Nobody knows this imperative better than the Jewish community.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This brings me to my last point, the people-to-people dimension. We cannot achieve reconciliation without putting people first. The French and the Germans managed just that after the war.

In the late 1940's - in the border region between the two former enemies - there was a high school that started to recruit both French and German students. The historic importance of that school - people of the region say - went far beyond the importance of the European Coal and Steel Community. Children of former enemies learned to see each other as fellow human beings. They saw that their future had to be common if Europe were to save peace.

I believe that experience is vital also to the Middle East. Israel and the PLO have included a people-to-people chapter into the peace agreements, and Norway is assisting the parties to develop concrete projects.

There is a long way to go and a lot of mutual suspicion to overcome. But the peace process carries the hope of a better and more secure future for the people of Israel, the Palestinians and the entire Middle East region.

Norway has made its choice and will stand by its commitments. I am confident that the World Jewish Congress - representing jews from all around the world - will continue to lend its support to the peace process.

Then one day we may hold the same vision of peace and cooperation from the Barents Sea in the North - to the Red Sea in the South.