Norway’s Socialist Left Party Sparks Outrage With Hanukkah Ceremony ‘For the People of Palestine’

A political party in Norway sparked outrage within the local Jewish community after holding a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony “for the people of Palestine,” the latest controversy tied to the party’s long-standing anti-Israel record as the Norwegian government continues its hostile stance toward the Jewish state.

On Sunday, Norway’s Socialist Left Party, widely regarded as the most anti-Israel party in the Norwegian parliament, organized a public gathering during the holiday of Hanukkah to light a menorah. However, the party dedicated the ceremony “to the victims in Palestine,” rather than honoring the Jewish tradition, which celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, the restoration of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel, and the freedom of Jewish faith and culture.

“Today we lit candles to mark Hanukkah – together with Jewish Voices for Just Peace and The Palestinian Committee. This is what solidarity is all about. Standing up to injustice, no matter where. Standing together for human dignity, no matter who,” the party wrote in a post on Instagram. 

“The marking emphasizes the struggle for the liberation of all people and against antisemitism and racism,” the statement read. “Values that know no boundaries based on religion or ethnicity, but about which we all can and must unite. No one is free until everyone is free.”

This latest controversy follows diplomatic tensions that were sparked last month when pro-Palestinian Norwegian organizations held a ceremony in Oslo to commemorate an infamous 1938 Nazi pogrom, drawing parallels between Nazi atrocities and Israel’s defensive military campaign in Gaza.

On Nov. 9, 1938, Nazi paramilitary forces launched a coordinated nationwide attack on the German Jewish community — burning synagogues, destroying homes and businesses, and deporting thousands — a violent event that has come to be remembered as Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass.

The onslaught left at least 91 Jews dead and 30,000 Jewish men arrested and sent to concentration camps. Over 7,000 Jewish-owned stores were looted.

“This is not a joke. One of the parties represented in Norway’s Parliament, the Socialist Left Party, chose this week to light a public menorah in central Oslo — ‘for the people of Palestine and the victims there,'” Swedish Jewish journalist Daniel Schatz wrote in a post on X. 

“A Jewish symbol, tied to the holiday of Hanukkah, was deliberately appropriated to advance an anti-Israel agenda,” Schatz continued. 

“This took place the very same week Jews were massacred in Australia,” he added, referring to the deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that killed 15 people and wounded at least 40 others. “If this is where Norway’s political culture stands, then yes — Norway is lost.”

This is not a joke. One of the parties represented in Norway’s Parliament, the Socialist Left Party, chose this week to light a public menorah in central Oslo — “for the people of Palestine and the victims there.”

A Jewish symbol, tied to the holiday of Chanukah, was… pic.twitter.com/URS7dARV0I

— Daniel Schatz (@drdanielschatz) December 22, 2025

As one of the most staunchly anti-Israel political forces in Norway, the Socialist Left Party (SV) has made boycotting the world’s lone Jewish state a central focus of its platform. 

In the most recent elections held in September, the party — which won around 6 percent of the vote — demanded that Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, managing assets worth approximately $2 trillion, divest from Israeli companies, and conditioned support for any future government on implementing a full boycott of Israel.

Norway’s relationship with the Jewish state has deteriorated significantly after the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which ignited the war in Gaza, with Oslo becoming one of the most outspokenly hostile countries toward Jerusalem on the global stage.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has reportedly been considering closing Israel’s embassy in Norway, which has been operating without an ambassador since May 2024, following the country’s formal recognition of a Palestinian state, the Israeli news outlet Ynet reported. 

According to media reports, Israel was waiting for Norway’s elections before making a decision, hoping a political shift might pave the way for rehabilitating relations. However, that shift did not occur, as the left-wing government remained in power.

The Norwegian government has launched a relentless anti-Israel campaign over the past two years, imposing sanctions on Israeli officials, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in response to the war in Gaza, while also divesting investments from Israeli banks and companies.

Earlier this year, the fund, which is operated by Norway’s central bank, divested from US construction equipment group Caterpillar on ethics grounds over the use of the company’s products by Israeli authorities in Gaza and the West Bank. The fund also divested from five Israeli banking groups on ethics grounds. However, the government has objected to demands by SV and others that it divest from all Israeli firms, arguing that only companies involved in what it describes as occupation of Palestinian territories should be excluded.

Norway also made it clear that it would enforce the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza, should they visit the country. Both US and Israeli officials have lambasted the arrest warrants as a politicized farce, arguing the ICC is unfairly biased against the Jewish state.