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Norway's Carnage And Israel
It was clear that Israel would somehow be drawn into debate on Norway attacks.
Manfred Gerstenfeld
Ynet News
F
riday's barbaric massacres in Oslo
and at the Labor Party's youth
movement camp on the island of
Utoya that killed at least 76 people raise
many questions. It once again proved,
however, what hate and terror experts
have known for many years: One does not
have to be a member of fanatic and violent
organizations to adopt their message and,
in the extreme case, act according to their
recommendations.
The Internet permits people to belong,
and at the same time, not belong. Even
though there are claims that murderer
Anders Breivik published posts on neo-
Nazi sites, a lone wolf like him can be
eclectic nowadays and take his ideas from
various sources.
The Norwegian extreme right is very
small in number. From what is known now,
Breivik is described as an extreme right-
ist and also as a Christian fundamentalist.
While there are numerous such fundamen-
talists in Norway, they operate within the
parameters of Norwegian democracy and
do not promote any violence.
The Israeli government has done what it
should do. President Shimon Peres, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other
cabinet members have expressed Israel's
condolences to Norway. The Israeli Embassy
in Oslo, in what is considered an unusual
act concerning an event in
This belief was backed
in part by Norway
the host country, lowered its
being one of the most
flag to half-staff to express
its horror at the tragedy that
appeasing democracies
toward
radical Islam. As
has befallen Norway.
soon as one of its small
It was clear from the
journals published the
beginning that Israel would
Danish Mohammed
somehow be drawn into the
cartoons, huge pressure
general debate on these ter-
was applied on the edi-
ror attacks. The first reason
tor to apologize. The
is that there is an obsession
Norwegian government
in Norway with Israel, and
also sent diplomatic
its mentions in the media
Captured right-wing terrorist
envoys to Muslim coun-
probably exceed those of,
Anders Breivik
tries to state that they
for instance, its giant neigh-
distance themselves
bor Russia, whose acts are
from any such criticism.
far more relevant to Norway than those of
One of my more memorable observa-
remote and small Israel.
tions during a stay in Oslo last year was
There were other reasons as well. Terror
in a democracy and how to defend oneself the relative absence of security at the
Storting, the Norwegian Parliament. I am
against it is an issue that almost by nature
not comparing it to security at the Israeli
draws in references to precedents from
Knesset but to, for instance, the Dutch
Israel. Additionally, the inefficient and
Parliament. The only two places in town
slow reaction of the Norwegian police to
where the security measures stand out
the Utoya massacre can best be evaluated
are the fortified Israeli Embassy and the
when one compares it to how Israel reacts
Jewish community buildings.
to such events.
In a societal climate such as this,
extremists of all shades are not subject to
Alt Cannot Happen Here'
much scrutiny. One can see this best con-
Many foreigners wonder why there were so
cerning extreme anti-Semites. Tore Tvedt,
many youngsters on the island without any
Norway's best known neo-Nazi, had once
security personnel around at all. Norway,
told the country's leading paper Verdens
however, has no experience with terrorism.
Gang the one whose buildings were
There was also a general mood in society
bombed last Friday — that "the Jews are
that terrorism "cannot happen here?'
—
Israel Offers Condolences
Jerusalem Post
fter sending a message of condolence
to King Harald V of Norway on Saturday,
President Shimon Peres on Sunday
followed up with a phone call to the king to
personally voice his own and the nation's con-
dolences on the appalling murders of innocent
civilians in Norway last weekend.
Peres told the king that Israel has been
closely following events in Norway since the
bombing by extreme right-
wing Christian fundamental-
ist Anders Breivik, and was
shocked by his callous behav-
ior.
Noting that Norway is a
country that symbolizes peace
and freedom, Peres said the
attack on innocent civilians
Shimon Peres
was a painful, heart-breaking
tragedy that touches every
human being.
Peres told the king Israel conveyed its sincere
condolences to those who lost loved ones and
wished the wounded a speedy recovery.
A
26 july 28 • 2011
the main enemy"; "they killed our people";
"they are evil murderers"; "they are not
human beings and should be uprooted."
In 2007, the District Court found him not
guilty of anti-Jewish harassment. This ver-
dict was later overturned.
This same court, however, found anoth-
er right-winger, Terje Sjolie, not guilty
because Norway grants freedom of expres-
sion. He had said that the country was
being destroyed by Jews.
Anti-Israel Youth Camp?
In the meantime, an additional element
has come to the fore and will stress Israeli
aspects remotely connected to the mas-
sacre even more: Well-known anti-Israelis
such as Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr
Stoere and Sidsel Wold, the NRK state
broadcasting group's correspondent in
Israel, spoke at the Labor Party's youth
camp before the massacre. Stoere was wel-
comed, while in the background posters
were hanging with "Boycott Israel" written
on them.
It is too early now to assess how all of
this will develop further. It is certain, how-
ever, that in future Israeli-Norwegian rela-
tions and the public debate around them,
the Breivik murders will be mentioned
quite frequently.
Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld has published 20
books. Two of these address Norwegian anti-
lsraelism and anti-Semitism.
Memories Of Oslo
He also offered Israel's assistance in anything
that Norway might need.
King Harald shared information with Peres
about the ongoing investigation into the mur-
derous attack, and said Norway was shocked
and grieving.
The King expressed appreciation for Israel's
show of solidarity at such a difficult time.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dis-
cussed the tragedy at the
opening of Sunday's cabinet
meeting, calling it a "shocking
murder" and saying, "We in
Israel completely identify with
this disaster and declare our
deepest shock over this crime."
Netanyahu said Israel has
experienced
this type of horror
Benjamin
"from
other
directions"
and
Netanyahu
knows "the families' and the
nation's agony.
"Therefore, I again send the condolences
of the state, government and people of Israel
to the Norwegian people, state and govern-
ment." 7
oreen Hermelin of Bingham Farms lived in Oslo
along with her late husband, David, when he was U.S.
ambassador to Norway during the Clinton adminis-
tration from December 1997 to January 2000. She was
appalled at the bombing of the government buildings in
Olso and the massacre of teenagers on a nearby island.
"It's crazy," she said. "This whole thing
is disgusting."
Hermelin remembers Oslo as a very safe
environment. "We never had security," she
said, "until Al Qaida bombed the American
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania [on Aug.
7,1998]. That was the first time we had
security." Hermelin said that her husband
suggested moving the embassy from the
Doreen
governmental center in Oslo to a location
Hermelin
at a former airport that would be more
defensible from terrorist attacks.
"Norwegians see themselves as being a saving nation, a
refuge for people who are oppressed - and Norway has wel-
comed a lot of immigrants from Muslim countries," Hermelin
said. "It looks like, in the killer's mind, he was trying to 'save'
Europe from immigration and multiculturalism." I I
D
— David Sachs, senior copy editor