Historian and Middle East expert Hilde Henriksen Waage has been awarded the Fritt Ord Prize, the highest honor bestowed by the Fritt Ord Foundation. The prize recognizes her decades of courageous research and her uncompromising criticism of power.
During the award ceremony held at the Oslo Opera House, Waage addressed the personal cost of her professional persistence. She noted that while it is “very easy to be a hero,” it is “quite difficult to be a witch.”
Waage questioned why she stood alone for more than 20 years without public support, asking, “Why was there no one who stood with me in public and defended me and helped me? Where was the rest of Norway?”
A Legacy of Challenging Consensus
The foundation awarded Waage for her steadfast pursuit of truth and her demands for greater transparency regarding Norway’s consensus-driven foreign policy. Bård Vegar Solhjell, the chair of the board, presented the award.
Solhjell reflected on the timing of the award, admitting that the board discussed whether Waage had already become a “hero” and if the time she most needed the recognition had passed. He acknowledged that historically, the foundation has often awarded “heroes” rather than “witches.”
Waage expressed gratitude to the environments that consistently supported her, specifically academia and her employers: the University of Oslo, where she is a professor, and the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
The Oslo Process and Missing Archives
Waage’s research has frequently caused controversy, particularly her analyses of Israel’s policy and Norway’s role in the Middle East peace process. Her commitment to these findings dates back to her master’s thesis in the 1980s.
A pivotal moment in her work occurred between 2001 and 2003, while she was reviewing archive material on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During this assignment, she discovered that key documents regarding the Oslo process were missing from the ministry’s archives.
Since that discovery, Waage has consistently criticized the secrecy surrounding these records and demanded full transparency to ensure empirically-based research.
Public Rehabilitation and Current Context
Waage noted that her public perception has shifted recently, leading to a wave of positive comments from the public. She attributed this rehabilitation to current events, including the nature of Israel’s warfare in Gaza and the Jeffrey Epstein revelations.
However, she described it as a “great point of reflection” that a sexual offender like Jeffrey Epstein played a role in the public’s eventual acceptance of her research findings.
This shift in public sentiment may lead to renewed pressure on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to address the missing archive materials, as the findings of her research are now viewed through a different lens by the public.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the purpose of the Fritt Ord Prize?
It is the Fritt Ord Foundation’s highest honor, given to individuals who promote freedom of expression, transparency, and an enlightened public discourse. - What specific archival issue did Hilde Henriksen Waage uncover?
Between 2001 and 2003, while working on an assignment for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she discovered that central documents concerning the Oslo process were missing from the archives. - Which institutions have supported Waage’s work?
She has received consistent support from academia and her employers, the University of Oslo and the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
Do you believe academic researchers should be protected by institutions when their findings contradict official government narratives?
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