Mette-Marit of Norway
She is deeply affected by the suffering in Gaza
Crown Princess Mette-Marit is currently a guest at the book fair in Egypt’s capital Cairo as the Norwegian representative.
© IMAGO/PPE
To get an idea of the situation in Gaza, Crown Princess Mette-Marit met with volunteers in Cairo.
Moved to tears: Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit (50) met with aid workers from the Gaza Strip during her stay in Cairo. According to Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, the meeting, which was also attended by Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (59), took place on Thursday morning. “The stories we heard are shocking to say the least,” Mette-Marit said after the meeting.
The Crown Princess was particularly shocked by the situation of children and families in Gaza. Many children are severely affected and are left to fend for themselves because of the war: “They often have no other family to lean on, and they are often injured themselves,” reports Mette-Marit, according to NRK, with tears in her eyes. “Then you hear that the health system is completely collapsing. Women having to give birth in latrines… The whole system has collapsed.”
“We have to thank those who travel to Gaza with their lives and their own safety and try to improve the dramatic situation there,” Mette-Marit added in a statement on the palace’s website quoted.
An impression of “Hell on Earth”
The aid workers in the Gaza Strip agree that there is currently no worse place in the world than Gaza, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide reported after the conversation: “It’s simply hell on earth. Nothing works. There is an extreme lack of essentials for life the people. Some refer to it as ‘Zombieland’.”
Mette-Marit is currently visiting Egypt as an ambassador for Norwegian literature, as Norway is the guest country at the Cairo International Book Fair this year. She will open the Norwegian pavilion and the Norwegian program at the book fair. Apart from that, it was important to her to focus on the war that was raging just a few dozen kilometers away during her stay. “We wanted to have this meeting this morning to get some perspective on this. We didn’t think it was right to travel here without doing this.”