RSS Norway, Israel and the Jews

  • 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 Norway goes [...] […]
  • Synagogue-shooter aspires to become poster-boy of Islam
    As a young boy Arfan Q. Bhatti was diagnosed as suffering from an anti-social personality disorder. As a young man he ventured into a life of crime which reached its high mark when he opened fire on the Oslo synagogue in 2006. Mr.Bhatti has previously said that he supports the death penalty against homosexuals and [...] […]
  • Escandinavia, a la cabeza de la Europa del bienestar y del ¿antisemitismo infantil y juvenil? – Norway, Israel and the jews
    Safed-Tzfat, keeping the Spanish-speaking world up to date: La estación nacional noruega de televisión, la NRK, ha entrevistado a unos maestros de la escuela primaria y secundaria de ciudades donde la inmigración es muy fuerte (y mayoritariamente musulmana). Ningún maestro ha hablado con la cara descubierta por temor a las represalias. Todos por lo tanto han […]
  • Klassekampen – the anatomy of deceit
    Klassekampen article claiming NRK's broadacst exaggerates the problem of anti-Semitism in the schools Often you will not read an entire article. Often you will merely glance at the heading and first paragraphs. Journalists know this, and structure their articles so you read the most important parts first. Except for when the journalist does not have [.. […]
  • Aftenposten journalist is Palestine-activist
    Aftenposten: "Beat Palestinian children during interrogations" On March 15th Norway’s second largest newspaper Aftenposten published an editorial on the importance of combatting anti-Semitism. As Document.no points out, Aftenposten can start by examining its own journalists. John J.Mearsheimer og Stephen M.Walt write about the media (in “The Israel […]
  • Aftenposten journalist and Palestine-activist covers Pension fund investments in Israel
    Journalist and Palestine-activist Lars Akerhaug covers Israel for Aftenposten Aftenposten journalist Lars Akerhaug is a committed left-wing politician and Palestine-activist. In spite of this Aftenposten often assigns him to cover Israel. In the article “Builds Norwegian settlements with Norwegian savings” Mr.Akerhaug covers the Norwegian Pension Fund, also […]
  • Norwegian student faces court in Saudi-Arabia
    Mohyeldeen Mohammed achieved some measure of fame when he as a key note speaker at a muslim rally warned of a 9/11 on Norwegian soil if transgressions against muslims did not cease. It was later revealed that Mr.Mohammed also supported that homosexuals be killed. Shortly after giving his speech Mohammed returned to his [...] […]
  • Action Plan focuses on islamophobia, not anti-Semitism
    Anniken Huitfelt in Dagbladet, April 17th 2009 Following NRK journalist Tormod Strand’s program on anti-Semitism in Norwegian schools, the media is all over the issue. But this is not new. Anti-Semitism in the schools was a big issue almost exactly one year ago as well. The news is that even the problem was known, it [...] […]
  • Situation in Norway proves necessity of Jewish state
    Aftenposten op-ed "The Norwegian Jew disappears" Norway is one of those societies which has great difficulties in providing Jews with circumstances in which they can thrive. The author of the op-ed in Aftenposten above raises an interesting question: If Jews cannot live in Norway, does not that prove the necessity of a Jewish state where [...] […]
  • Opposition gently demands action plan against anti-Semitism
    Syversen of the Christian Democrats Hans Olav Syversen of the Christian Democrats is asking that the authorities take anti-Semitism seriously. Mr.Syversen has a good track record of doing so himself, although there are those who say that he is too much of a gentleman to be a match for the brawlers he faces. Unauthorized translation [...] […]

About this site

What: This is a Norwegian blog.

Mission: To examine and cover matters pertaining to the relationships between Norway, Israel and the jews, with an emphasis on bias, the anti-Israel lobby and anti-Semitism.

Vision: To contribute to the transparency of Norwegian debate on the Middle East. This is necessary in Norway for two reasons: 1) The Norwegian debate on the Middle East can after the events of January 8th and the perpetual necessity for police protection of the Oslo synagogue no longer be said to be sound 2) After the termination of Aftenposten’s News in English, Norway has become linguistically isolated to the extent that events and processes in Norway almost completely escape international attention, which is scarce enough under even the best circumstances.

Why? As the findings of this site suggest, there is reason to believe that criticism of Israel has become axiomatic in Norway. Compared to other countries in the Middle East, criticism of Israel: a) is more frequent than criticism of the other countries in the ME b) has become dangerously easy for the public to accept and c) is notoriously difficult to dislodge from the public consciousness, even when the allegations are proven wrong.

There are also indications that excessive criticism of Israel bears stronger relation to outright Jew hatred than many would prefer to believe. There is reason to believe that Jew-hatred as a force may not be confined to the WWII era.

Whom? There are currently three people contributing to this site on a regular basis. We happily accept criticism, feedback and tips from readers. We are just as happy to abandon ship at a moment’s notice. After the death threat against Siv Jensen on January 8th, the Norwegian debate on the Middle East can be said to be neither safe nor sound. For reasons of convenience as well as safety we prefer to remain anonymous.

How: Our goal is to translate as much as possible, and comment as little as possible. We are currently in the process of removing unauthorised pictures, photographs and graphics. Where the content in question is available in English on the Internet, we will publish only an excerpt and link to the source. Where the content is unavailable, as in articles published only in the paper press, we will on occasion publish the entire text. We will remove any text on request. If you are unhappy about the contents on this site, please contact NIJ@israelwhat.com and we will do whatever we can for you.

When: This site was started in January 2009. It will continue until someone else, preferably a state-backed NGO, does what we do, better than us.

Is this site part of a smear-campaign against Norway? Prominent Norwegians are already doing an excellent smear-job on themselves. Our contribution primarily consists of translating Norwegian texts into English.