"We will facilitate and facilitate only."
Mona Juul (Ruth Wilson) makes her husband Terje Rød-Larsen (Andrew Scott) repeat these words—forces him, really—just before their "guests" arrive at Norway's Booregaard Manor. This is no cocktail party. The guests come from both sides of one of the most intractable conflicts of the 20th- and 21st century. The Norwegian couple, without official government approval, opened up secret back channels, bypassing the traditional diplomatic process. Under the auspices of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (where Mona is employed) and Fafo Foundation (Terje's think tank), the couple hope to "facilitate" a dialogue between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (then exiled in Tunis). Mona and Terje will not insert themselves into the process. They will "facilitate only." The result of all of this, of course, were the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords, and the subject of HBO's "Oslo," premiering this weekend.