The good thing about a monologue is that you only get to hear one side of the story. Roy Vega writes about the “Gaza monologues” on Document.no: This years’ most one-sided political stunt, next after the Gaza convoys, is the “Gaza monologues”. Opening in Trondheim on Sunday evening. We thought Trondheim had had its...
Norway, Israel and the Jews
- Happy 17th of MayOnce more, we gather under our flag to celebrate our freedom. Each 17th of May, the Jewish community in Oslo organize a formal and serene commemoration of Henrik Wergeland, the son of one of the member of the Constituent Assembly for our Constitution. In its original version, our Constitution was shamed by the exclusion of Jews and Jesuits in Norway, som […]
- “Minister of justice” to Jews in Oslo: too badThe synagogue in Oslo – already one of the most fortified structures in Norway – applied to the government for additional funds to secure its congregation. They asked for NOK 21 million but got NOK 7 million. After all the speeches Støre and Stoltenberg with no end to the flowery assurances, this is what it comes down to: Jews should be content feeling prett […]
- The Jewish Community in Oslo applied for NOK 21 million for security measures, only got NOK 7,2lifted from Vårt Land Synagogues receive NOK 7.2 million for security The money goes towards securing doors, upgrade the monitoring system and setting up a security fence. The Government proposes in the revised national budget to allocate 7.2 million forsecurity at the Jewish Religious Community (DMT). - No one should have to be afraid to exercise their rel […]
- Letter from a 17-year old Jewish boyAftenposten today published an op-ed from “Daniel,” a 17-year old Norwegian student who happens to be Jewish. He feels surrounded by antisemitic attitudes, ranging from comments by a fellow video game player (“just pretend they’re Jews when you aim at them”), to the inevitable “so you support killing babies?” when he mentions he supports Israel, to the inabi […]
- PalCom action ‘small and unsuccessful’lifted from miff.no Palestine Committee’s action was “small and unsuccessful” Only a small number of provocateurs from Palestine Committee participated in a store action against Israel’s Dead Sea products in Oslo last Tuesday (May 16) evening. The police were notified in advance and got them quickly away from the place. By Conrad Myrland Published: 16/05/201 […]
- VG’s Astrid Meland attacks Pal activists and media for unethical focus on IsraelAstrid Meland published an OpEd in VG on May 14, which currently is not online. MIFF has published a review article online, from where I have lifted the following: Astrid Meland believes Israel’s critics in Norway are victim of a collective neurosis, where you turn a blind eye to much worse breaches of human rights by other states. - Unethical focus on Isra […]
- Stand up, stand up – for the Hebrew MamitaIf I were a man, I would seriously consider inviting this lady out for dinner. Since I am not, I can only say – WAY TO GO, SISTER! linkscolor = "000000"; highlightscolor = "888888"; backgroundcolor = "FFFFFF"; channel = "none"; […]
- Oopsie – Norwegian academia has become synonymous with academic anti-Semitismlifted from ynetnews.com This is the cost of allowing a guy like Galtung to roam free – regardless of round rejection of his recent remarks, this was by no means the first time the ‘mad professor’ let it rip, as is evident by the details of this op-ed. Why did not the Norwegian intelligentia react at an earlier stage? Did they perhaps agree with the previous […]
- Gloves are off: MIFF (With Israel for Peace) reports the PalCom to the policeLifted from miff.no What can I say? Bravo! MIFF is doing an incredibly important job and luckily their hard efforts are rewarded with a healthy growth in their memberships. Maybe readers of this blog could be entreated to find a way of supporting MIFF? By the way, I have no relation to MIFF, personally or professionally – this is just a courtesy call to reco […]
- What Karsten Tveit’s award really signifiesOdd Karsten Tveit wins the Gullruten lifetime award for his propaganda news coverage from the Middle East. When it comes to correspondents in the Middle East sent by NRK (the governmental broadcasting organization financed by a surcharge on owning a television), it’s a bit like watching the Eurovision song contest: you can endlessly discuss who is worse. Bu […]
Norwegian society
Self-censoring newspaper bemoans ‘censorship’ of Israel-hatred in Syria
Adresseavisen found it reasonable to publish the cartoon above, but burned 90 000 copies of its own newspaper because it contained a cartoon which Muslims might find insulting. Now Adresseavisen cries “censorship” over how the French embassy to Syria has removed two pieces of anti-Israel art from an exhibition by Norwegian artist Håkon Gullvåg....
Norway, the world’s greatest friend of Israel and the Jews
7 facts that prove rumors that we are anti-Israel and/or anti-Semitic wrong: Back in 1992, colonel Haukland, commander of f Norway’s UNIFIL troops to Lebanon proved Norway’s commitment to upholding the absolute neutrality of UN peacekeeping troops by helping PLO terrorists escape Israeli detention. Prohibition of ritual slaughter. Since 1929 Norway has had a...
Norwegian artist cries foul after two anti-Israel pieces removed from exhibit
Subscribers to Aftenposten, Norway’s second largest newspaper, woke up today to find out that the front page of the paper was devoted to how the French cultural institute in Syria has removed two anti-Israeli pieces from an exhibition by Norwegian artist Håkon Gullvåg. This, Aftenposten tells us, is pretty much the most important thing...
Journalism, Aftenposten style
It appears Aftenposten is unable to relate events as they happen in Israel, at least judging by what they chose to print. Whilst it did print a story about a Hamas operative who was shot and killed when refusing to cease approaching soldiers during a raid in the West Bank , it totally ignores...
University of Oslo debates whether to boycott… Israel
And so once again it is time, this time at the University of Oslo, to debate whether or not to boycott Israel. The fact that Israel is mainly populated by the only people Norwegians have helped try annihilate is generally not seen as relevant. So again it is time. In fact it is always...
NTNU academic goes easy on Sayid Qutb, is harsh on west’s ‘war on Islam’
NTNU is one of the most prestigous universities in Norway. It is also home to a handful of academics who are extraordinarily keen on assigning blame to the USA and Israel. As for the interviewer above, Kim Dino Saur, this is actaully his name. He says himself it was just “a matter of time”...
Flight of the (Norwegian) Intellectuals
From Amazon: Twenty years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini called for the assassination of Salman Rushdie—and writers around the world instinctively rallied to Rushdie’s defense. Today, according to writer Paul Berman, “Rushdie has metastasized into an entire social class”—an ever-growing group of sharp-tongued critics of Islamist extremism, especially critics from Muslim backgrounds, who survive only because...
Repeat of motifs: lie and fade away
It’s the same song and dance. Norwegians behave badly, then just drift away and pretend nothing happened. The media lets them get away with it too, because we all got to stick together as a nation when criticized by nasty foreigners. Here are a few cases: Sidsel Wold and the disappearing tapes Israeli academic...
Premium Price, Poor Performance: The Mads Gilbert effect on health care
The facsimile above is from the Harvard Business Journal and shows how different countries score on price versus performance in health care. As we can see the USA scores high on price, but not all that high on performance. Meanwhile Norway, underlined in red, scores high on price and not so bad on performance....
Manufacturing consent: Norwegian journalists on ‘Bibi’
In today’s Verdens Gang (VG) daredevil author Aslak Nore writes an editorial on Israel where he, surprise surprise, voices skepticism against Netanyahu. To such an extent is right-wing extremism rampant in Israel, Nore writes, that intelligent young people flee the political field and are driven into commerce. The political scene under Netanyahu has simply...
Mads Gilbert stops doctors from going to Afghanistan
Norwegian soldiers fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan have too few doctors backing them up. Aftenposten today reveals that this is in part due to the efforts of maoist anesthesiologist Mads Gilbert, who rose to fame after he doubled as a news reporter/doctor during his stay at Shifa hospital in Gaza, which Hamas used as...
Question of the week: ‘How do I avoid hiring an applicant who supports Israel’s existence?’
E24 is a Norwegian online newspaper covering finance and business. It offers a regular “agony aunt” column where readers are advised on how to proceed on tricky management issues. The screenshot above is from E24 on April 13th, where a reader asks the newspaper for advice on how he is to avoid hiring the...
Funnyman Jespersen says Magpies are ‘Israelis of the air’
The screenshot above is from last weekend’s edition of Verdens Gang (VG), Norway’s largest daily. It includes an interview with Norwegian funnyman Otto Jespersen, who speaks his mind on ten different issues. No.7 attracts our attention (see below). Unauthorized translation: “I enjoy watching the rich bird-life in my garden, but unfortunately some serious conflicts...
Opposition suggest muslims show solidarity by wearing star of David
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...
Op-ed: ‘Jews are the new jews of Europe’
A recurring topic is that of Europe’s muslims as “the new jews”, with miniscule similarities being turned into virtual likenesses. Norwegian author Herman Willis made every point there is to make on this issue years ago, but that’s yesterdays fish and chips and every day we have to fight the battle again. Here is...
Anti-Semitism is Norwegian problem, not ‘muslim-problem’
There is a lot of focus on muslim anti-Semitism right now, and rightly so. As NRK’s Tormod Strand has disclosed, muslim children have brought anti-Semitism back into the Norwegian schools. Yet Kristin Halvorsen of the Socialist Left has a point when she says anti-Semitism is not a “muslim-problem” but a “Norwegian problem”. Anti-Semitism in...
Johan Galtung finds Gaza ‘a replay of the Warsaw ghetto’
The Russel Tribunal for Palestine is supported by among other Ilan Pappe, Ken Loach and John Pilger. There is also a Norwegian onboard, Mr. Johan Galtung – above behind the rostrum at what appears to be a Turkish university. Below you see a section from a transcript from his lecture, where Mr.Galtung identifies Israel’s...
Is Afghanistan like Warsaw?
During Cast Lead, Hamas successfully hid behind their own civilian population. Their diabolical strategy left approximately 1400 Palestinian civilians dead. Now Norwegian politician Bjørnar Moxnes from Red (Rødt) claims in an op-ed in Dagsavisen that 2500 Afghan civilians have been killed during combat operations. While it is uncertain where Mr.Moxnes has this figure from,...
Danish newspaper Politikken settles with plaintiffs over cartoon dispute
Aftenposten today reports on how Danish newspaper Politiken has settled with muslim groups who were upset by Politiken’s re-publishing of the Muhammed cartoon in 2008. While Politiken does not apologize for having published the cartoon, nor promises to refrain from doing so again, the newspaper does apologize to “everyone who has been transgressed against“....