Unauthorized translation from NRK (State Broadcasting) on anti-Semitism in Norwegian schools:
Pupils admire Hitler
NRK has spoken with teachers of 10th – 12th form (junior high) schools where many of the pupils are muslim. None of the teachers dare let themselves be interviewed. They fear reprisals from pupils, and are therefore anonymous:
Teacher 1, woman:
«There is a notorious harangue against Jews. Everything from jokes to overt death-threats. “It says in the Koran that you are to kill Jews, all real muslims hate Jews. Jews are to be killed if they come to this school”, there are pupils who say. To praise Hitler for what he did to the Jews is another repeat-performance from pupils at my school. The worst about this Jew-hatred is that it has become completely legitimate among large groups of pupils with muslim backgrounds”.Teacher 2, male:
«I see Jew-hatred especially during civic classes. Pupils say Jews control everything, all the West is controlled by Jews. Several also say that they admire Hitler, because he killed Jews. “The attacks on the Twin Towers in New York on September 11th 2001 was the work of the Jews”. In my class, if anyone voices support for terrorism, there is someone to protest. But if anyone voices hatred for Jews, nobody protests.”Teacher 3, woman:
“Several pupils grin when I talk about the Holocaust. One boy stood up and ordered me to to stop speaking about Jews and the Holocaust. Most of these kids are born and raised in Norway. I think it is shocking that it is possible to grow up in Norway with such attitudes”.Teacher 4. Man.
“Damn Jew” is an often used insult during class. If I had been Jewish I would have felt it as a violation. These statements are a large problem”.
It is worthwhile to reflect upon how an Oslo high school pupil wrote a letter to Dagsavisen on precisely this state of affairs for more than one year ago.
You’re website is very interesting and also very important.
Thank you very much for your hard work.
On the Norway side – I myself visited Norway a couple of years ago (during the 2th Lebanon War on 2006) and was very terrified, as an Israeli, to walk the streets of Oslo with all the demonstrations against Israel. I decided to shorten my visit and left Oslo after only 2 days there (when originally I planned to stay for 2 weeks).
In ironic way I felt more safe in Israel (even though a war was going on) than in Oslo.
Norway is such a beautiful country and I was really eager to visit it, but I don’t think I would ever come again. The beautiful landscapes don’t compensate for the hostile atmosphere against Israelis\Jews.
Regards,
An Israeli from Israel.
Wow… It’s terrifying!
I’ll take this article for my site if you don’t mind.
BTW, I published something about the mayor of Malmö and anti-semitism. You can check it out here (in french):
http://jssnews.com/2010/03/15/le-maire-de-malmo-et-la-haine-du-juif/
Hi JSS
Good to see you here. Yes, Malmö is scary. What went wrong and how? Go ahead and use whatever you need, anytime.
C
My dear friend
The fervor of the anti-Israeli movement scares me too. In the end however, this is not as much about Norway’s relationship to Israel as it is about Norway coming to terms with itself as a society. As Robin Shepherd states in his book “A state beyond the pale”, it is not as much a case of Europe judging Israel as it is a matter of Europe’s soul. We will persevere and succeed and one day you will want to come and visit us again.
Your sincerely
Christian