PNGO and PHROC support Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global’s (GPFG) continued divestment from companies involved in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise on Al-Haq

The Palestinian Network of NGOs (PNGO) and Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) comprising over 140 Palestinian civil society organisations across the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) wish to reiterate and clarify Palestinian civil society’s stance with regard to the international legal obligations of Norway to divest from corporations contributing to the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, including both international and Israeli corporations.

We were informed by our partner organizations in Norway that representatives from the Norwegian Government have expressed that Norwegian civil society is alone in demanding that Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) divest from companies complicit in illegal Israeli settlement activities. Furthermore, it has also been expressed that Palestinian representatives in meetings with Norwegian authorities particularly emphasise the need for increased humanitarian aid from Norway, as well as cooperation and support with the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigations.

While Palestinian civil society appreciates Norway’s support in these areas, it is incorrect to state that we do not request the Norwegian Government to comply with its international legal obligations to divest in total from corporations complicit in the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory. Our advocacy has constantly recalled that Third States, including Norway, must refrain from assisting Israel in the commission of serious breaches of peremptory norms of international law and from maintaining the illegal situation arising from such violations, as confirmed in the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) Advisory Opinion of July 2024 on The Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. This includes the obligation to divest from companies that provide the support needed for Israel to maintain its illegal occupation and de facto and de jure annexation of occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), and to carry out its settler colonial project and genocidal campaign in the OPT, as part of the continuing Nakba.^[1]