The Guardian June 5, 2025
After the vote, Hussein told The Guardian:
“I’m incredibly disappointed. This should have been the easiest vote of our lives, especially for the Labour party and the Labour government.”

She added: “We are not backing down. Shortly before the government recognised the state of Palestine, they voted against it in parliament.
We will continue to put pressure on the other parties together with the massive movement in civil society.”

Before the afternoon vote, crowds gathered outside parliament for a protest organised by several organisations including the Palestinian Committee, the Action Group for Palestine and Amnesty International Norway.

Norway has played a historical role in the region, including by facilitating the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians that led to a breakthrough deal in 1993. Last year it recognised the Palestinian state one of a minority of European countries to do so.

Last week, Norway’s international development minister, Åsmund Aukrust, told The Guardian that Israel was setting a dangerous precedent for international human rights law violations in Gaza that was making the world more dangerous.

Line Khateeb, the leader of the Palestine Committee of Norway, said the vote was an opportunity for politicians “to show that international law matters and that they do not want to make Norway complicit in the Israeli genocide and colonisation”.