1,000 on the waiting list for scarves

The short version

• Israel’s participation in Eurovision brought thousands of protesters to Malmö’s streets on Thursday
• Oda Malmin (37), one of five Norwegians, ditches Eurovision and supports Palestine’s cause
• The Palestinian shop Al Quds is experiencing increasing sales of Palestinian scarves and other goods
• The Palestine Committee estimates a doubling of members since last autumn, with 12,000 members

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On Saturday, the Israeli entry is one of the betting favorites during this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Israel’s participation has brought tens of thousands of protesters into Malmö’s streets and caused one in five Norwegians to drop watching Eurovision this year.

One of them is Oda Malmin (37). VG meets her at Grünerløkka in Oslo, where she is trading.

– Today I came by to see if they had received new Palestinian scarves, but that was perhaps a bit optimistic to believe, laughs Oda Malmin (37) in front of a row of “Free Palestine” T-shirts.

The regular customer at the Palestine store Al Quds in Oslo admits that in addition to the scarf she is wearing this Wednesday, she has three extra lying around at home. Excess? Far from it, says Malmin. For her, both the Eurovision boycott and scarf purchases are about the same thing.

– It’s about taking a stand. We as the rest of the world must do far more when abuse occurs against people who are not guilty of anything other than being born in the wrong place. So I do the little I can do as an ordinary citizen in Norway, to support the Palestinians’ cause, says Malmin to VG.

Apparently, there are many who think like the 37-year-old in Grünerløkka. The four-decade-old Palestine shop finds that goods such as olive oil, soaps, jewelery and ceramics are currently being sold.

It is still the Palestinian scarves that dominate sales, general manager Marte Flatejord (39) tells VG. After October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel, and the large-scale Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip began, the symbolic scarves have been torn away at record speed.

– When the store received new scarves in November and December, there was a queue many hundreds of meters long outside. And the last time the store received new scarves in black and white, there were over 1,000 people on the waiting list, Flatejord tells VG.

Usually around half of the Palestine shop’s turnover comes from trips to Palestinian areas, which they naturally do not sell anything in times of war. But despite that, the general manager estimates that the store’s turnover has more than doubled in the past year.

– We noticed it right away in October. It’s a bit of a “tragedy” about working here: Every time something horrible happens in the Palestinian territories, we sell more, says Flatejord to VG.

Palestine commitment among most Norwegians has grown strongly, the Palestine Committee also tells VG.

They estimate a doubling of members since last autumn, so that they can now boast around 12,000 members.

– Every time we organize demonstrations there are also several thousand attendees, so we see that people really care, says Marte Olsen Svendal, Organizational Secretary of the Palestine Committee to VG.

– Does not hit the other side

There is reason to believe that interest in following Saturday’s music final in Malmö is low among the customers in the Palestine store. Interest in the Palestinians’ living conditions, on the other hand, they experience as increasing.

– To me, it seems that everyone is very committed to the Palestinians’ cause, but it is based on the customers we get here, says general manager Flatejord.

In recent days, several high-profile Norwegians, such as editor and social debater Vebjørn Selbekk, and Frp-top Erlend Wiborg, have said that they support Israel by giving 20 votes to the entry in Eurovision.

When asked by VG if she thinks the debate climate is more polarized than before, the Palestine store’s general manager replies:

– I don’t know, because I don’t meet the other side.

For customer Oda Malmin, the fire was lit when she herself visited the Palestinian territories in 2005. She has always boycotted Israeli goods, says Malmin.

She is happy to see that many people care.

– I see people on the demonstration trains who would not normally be there. I see thousands of people who cannot understand why this is happening, says the 37-year-old.