Norway, Israel and the Jews
This week’s Morgenbladet, a weekly which caters to young urbanites, offers the entire Kairos document. Morgenbladet seems to feel that this document beckons in a new day. Perhaps, Morgenbladet seems to suggest, a new day in which we can all live in peace, regardless of ethnicity and religion? One way to find out is...
Sidsel Wold is NRK’s journalist to the Middle East, which for all practical purposes means Israel. Syria and Iran does not, as we all know, take too kindly to snooping journalists, whereas life in Israel is comfortable. Quite recently Sidsel Wold interviewed Israeli academic Manfred Gerstenfeld, who has written a book about anti-Semitism in...
The picture above is of deceased author Arthur Koestler, whose ghost we had to conjure in order to do justice by NRK journalist Sidsel Wold. Intrigued? Read on. Sidsel Wold and the McCarthyist spin Sidsel Wold, NRK’s Middle East correspondent since 2007, emphasizes criticism of Israel in accordance with the general slant of Norwegian...
… there is always going to be someone out there attributing evil to Israel. In the screenshot above you see the cover of Aftenposten.no. See top right, under Siste nytt, which is Norwegian for Last news. See how it says Israels brutalitet er årsaken? This is Norwegian for Israel’s brutality is the cause, and it’s...
The screenshot above is from the Aftenposten article This robot can replace the journalist. This is a highly dubious claim. Sure enough, according to the article this robot can take pictures, minutes and ask questions. But can it systematically indulge in the sort of pro-Palestinian bias which several surveys (Observer 2002, Observer 2004, Retriever...
In 2008 Manfred Gerstenfeld edited “Behind the Humanitarian Mask”, a book on anti-Semitism in the Nordic countries. After an interview with a Norwegian journalist he was misquoted throughout the Scandinavian peninsula and subsequently ridiculed and demonized. Last week, he published the Norwegian translation of an updated version of the same book, following which he...
Money can help you accomplish great things. It can also cause a lot of damage. Perhaps we Scandinavians ought to use our riches with a little less abandon. From NGO Monitor: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland contribute millions of dollars annually to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that include some of the most radical groups operating...
Lars Akerhaug is a journalist with Aftenposten, Norway’s second-largest daily. He is also a well-known pro-Palestinian activist who has served as leader for the Norwegian Palestine Committee. Exactly how Aftenposten manages to let precisely Mr.Akerhaug cover Israel remains a mystery. Today Akerhaug’s heading runs “Threatens new invasion“. Now if a pro-Israeli was to work...
NIJ has sent the e-mail below to NTB (Norwegian News Service). Dear Sir/Madam I refer to the NTB article as published in Dagbladet under the heading ”Israel systematically discrinates against arabs” here: http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/03/28/nyheter/utenriks/israel/11056012/ I have two inquiries regarding the contents of this article: 1) The article is based on an Embassy-report which NTB has...
NTB (Norwegian News Service) reports on a report it claims to have accessed (somehow) from the Norwegian embassy in Tel Aviv. The report claims that Israel is systematically discriminating against the Arab population in the country. This NTB article raises a few questions: which embassy report is this, how did NTB come by it,...
NIJ sent this letter to Bernt G.Apeland on Saturday, March 27th. We are eagerly looking forward to receiving his reply. No reply received as of July 2010. Dear Bernt G. Apeland I refer to NRK’s website, as of March 15th, where you call for an investigation of Norwegian citizens who have served in the...
Leader of the Oslo section of the Progress Party Christian Tybring-Gjedde suggests that muslim students wear the star of David to show solidarity with Norwegian Jews. This is in part a hamfisted idea – one should hesitate before suggesting that minorities identify themselves by wearing any specific badge. If it had been suggested instead...
Dagsavisen has unexpectedly decided to give Israeli academic Manfred Gerstenfeld a “fair go”, asking him relevant questions and presenting his answers in a straightforward and honest interview. Meanwhile Dagbladet sticks to the old, tried and tested method of allowing Gerstenfeld to be criticized by people who obviously have not read his book. Now this...
Dagsavisen is a struggling Norwegian daily traditionally associated with the Labor movment, unions and party. It is a newspaper which can be counted on to support the red-green coalition government in Norway. Today it gives Israeli academic Manfred Gerstenfeld a “fair go”: rather than just repeat the allegations made against him, the journalist asks...
Minerva is the journal of the “Conservatives Student Union”, which was founded in 1924. The journal has thankfully been following the current debate on anti-Semitism quite closely, and today offers an article titled “Anti-Semitism in Norwegian”, by Nils August Andresen. The lengthy piece provides “Anti-Semitism 101″ information with an emphasis on Norway. Excerpt: What...
Many Norwegian hold opinons of the contents of Gerstenfeld’s books. But how many of us have actually read them? Several Norwegian journalists have already commented upon Gerstenfeld’s press release, which he held on Wednesday. Yet how many of them actually refer to what he said? Here is his press release statement. Rest assured, the...
A lot of Norwegians are cheering US president Obama’s health-reform progress, as if American insurance policies were any of our business. Some Norwegians are hoping that the health-reform is just a stepping stone, and the Obama will take on the Israel-lobby next. We see this hope voiced among other by editor of Ny Tid,...
NRK journalist Tormod Strand has uncovered anti-Semitism among Norwegian muslims. This has attracted a lot of attention. People are nodding their heads saying “Yes, the muslims, fierce anti-Semites, ikke sant…” Now DagenMagazinet reports that Israeli academic Manfred Gerstenfeld, editor of the book on Nordic anti-Semitism Behind the Humanitarian Mask, is claiming that Norwegian Jews...
NRK is the Norwegian National Broadcasting Service. It belongs to the state. For many people it is becoming increasingly unclear where exactly the NRK stops and the Palestine Committee begins, the boundary is blurry. The clip above is an example: It tells the viewer of how Israel, even while negotiating with President Obama in...
The screenshot above is from State Television NRK and asks whether a mosque in south-eastern Oslo is Wahabi or not. The mosque in question belongs to Tablighi Jamaat, but there seems to be some uncertainty on whether Tablighi Jamaat is Wahabi or not. We will find out when Mohyeldeen Mohammed returns home from his...