Influenced by others
About Norway and Israel
“Everything I write is influenced by someone else”, says Billy Joel about his songs.
Last night, I saw on TV that Norway’s sovereign wealth fund had divested from its Israeli holdings — and an involuntary “yay” escaped my lips.
CNN reported that
Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, said on Tuesday it expects to divest from more Israeli companies as part of its ongoing review of investments in the country over the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
That brief news segment brought together thoughts that had been quietly percolating in my mind. I have never set myself to write on politically sensitive subjects, but this announcement made me want to write something. Influenced by someone else.
On October 7, 2024 I wrote about how the Yom Kippur war influenced the world of oil and petrochemicals. Over the years, I have done business with Israeli companies and made many Israeli and Jewish friends. I have traveled to Israel. I have also worked with Arabs and Iranians and count many of them amongst my friends.
Like most of the world, I reacted with horror as the events of October 7, 2023 unfolded. As time went on, I continued to blame Hamas, Iran and all their proxies for the war that ensued.
My perspective had also, undoubtedly, been shaped by years of reading about the Second World War and the Holocaust as a young man (and a more recent visit to Auschwitz). My sympathies, naturally, leaned toward Israel.
But as the months passed, and as reports emerged about continuous and targeted killings carried out by Israeli forces in Gaza, my feelings began to shift.
A recent ITV documentary suggests that over 1500 health care workers and 50 highly skilled doctors have been killed by the Israelis. The Economist reckons that since October 2023, more than 180 Palestinian reporters and media workers have died — also at Israel’s hands.
From what I have read, these have been targeted killings. No less deliberate than the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
Apart from this, Wikipedia reports that
as of 30 July 2025, over 63,000 people (61,805 Palestinians and 1,983 Israelis) have been reported killed in the Gaza war according to the Gaza Health Ministry (GHM) and Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A friend said to me that Israel has never been good at social marketing and we don’t know the full side of their story. Perhaps he is right. I don’t know enough to debate this subject.
Hamas should not be allowed to get away with their actions. But should the IDF?
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Endnotes:
Trust Billy Joel to put in words something that is so true, but has not occurred to me about my writing.
The full CNN report on the Norwegian wealth fund dated August 12 can be found here.
The ITV documentary “Gaza: Doctors under attack” was aired on July 2.
The Economist data was reported in their Middle East dispatch newsletter dated August 12.
Hello Ashok, to your specific points about the journalists that have been killed by the IDF, I think you’re missing a point that is not covered by most western media: Many, if not all, of these journalists are Hamas operatives. In fact, the IDF just released documents in the last two days showing pictures of one of these terrorists hugging Sinwar. While I agree with the overall point that what’s happening in Gaza is horrible, I think it is very important to try and identify true and honest purveyors of objective facts as opposed to biased sources of information such as the Gaza Ministry of Health, which is Hamas.
I think this is a very balanced and sensitively written piece. If we don't stand up and speak up for the rights of the oppressed, the weak, we are not building a humane world. At the moment, the world is being portrayed as a free for all where might is right. It goes against our education.