With Israel for Peace
Norwegian pro-Israel organisation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
With Israel for Peace (Norwegian: Med Israel for fred, MIFF) is a Norwegian pro-Israel organisation. It styles itself as a "non-religious, non-partisan pro-Israel organisation", and has 14,000 registered members as of 2024.[1] A main concern of the organisation is what it sees as a negative bias towards Israel in mainstream Norwegian media coverage. The director of the organisation is Conrad Myrland, and the president is Lars Johan Nordgård.[2]
History and activities
MIFF was founded in 1978. Since then it has grown substantially from about 700–800 in its early years, to 2,000 around 2008, and 10,700 as of 2018.[3] In January 2009, during the First Gaza War, a peaceful rally by MIFF was attacked amid violent anti-Israel riots in Oslo.[4] By early 2014 MIFF had more than twice as many members as the main pro-Palestine organisation in Norway, the Palestine Committee of Norway.[5]
In July 2014, amid the 2014 Gaza War, the organisation accused Mads Gilbert of lying about Israel, and put ads in Norwegian newspapers debunking claims made by Gilbert.[6] The organisation was itself accused of stirring up television viewer storms against NRK reporter Sidsel Wold[7] and TV 2 reporter Fredrik Græsvik.[8] In August 2014 MIFF held a rally with up to 600 people in Oslo, with speakers including members of parliament Hans Fredrik Grøvan and Kristian Norheim.[9][10] The organisation received a record 900.000 kr in gifts and membership fees during the month of August 2014.[11] Notable members of MIFF includes retired football player Anders Rambekk,[12] member of parliament Erlend Wiborg,[13] and former member of parliament Hallgrim Berg.[14]
In 2015, MIFF became a co-founding member of the European Alliance for Israel, planned since 2013, which included delegates from fifteen European countries, of which MIFF was the largest group by membership.[15][16]
A week after the October 7 attacks in 2023, about 500 people attended a rally in Oslo arranged by MIFF. Among the speakers were politicians such as Progress Party leader Sylvi Listhaug.[17]