Antisemitism in Norway
Encyclopedia
While parallel to such bigotry elsewhere in Western Europe in Norway, antisemitism in Norway has had a distinct history, reaching its apex during the Holocaust in Norway
. It has also been a subject of discussion in the public debate about the Arab-Israeli conflict.
undoubtedly encountered Jews and attitudes toward them during their travels, but the first mention of Jews in Norse literature is found in Postola sögur in Iceland in the 13th century, where they are mentioned along with the more general pagans. The literature of this time referred to Jews as "gyðingar," "juði," or in the Latin form "judeus." Jews were also mentioned in unfavorable terms in subsequent literary Icelandic sagas, such as Gyðinga saga (Saga of the Jews).
.
While Norway was part of the Danish kingdom from 1536 to 1814, the Danish introduced a number of religious restrictions both to uphold the Protestant Reformation
in general and against Jews in particular. In 1569, Fredrik II
ordered that all foreigners in Denmark had to affirm their commitment to 25 articles of faith central to Lutheranism
on pain of deportation, forfeiture of all property, and death. These restrictions were lifted for Sephardic Jews already established as merchants in Altona
when Christian IV took over the town. Christian also issued the first letter of safe passage to a Jew (Albert Dionis) in 1619, and on 19 June 1630, general amnesty was granted to all Jews permanently in residence in Glückstadt
, including the right to travel freely throughout the kingdom.
Public policy toward Jews thus varied over the next several hundred years. The kings generally tolerated Jewish merchants, investors, and bankers whose contributions
benefited the economy of the Danish-Norwegian realm on the one hand, while seeking to restrict their movements, residence, and presence in public life. Several Jews, particularly in the Sephardic Teixera family but also some of Ashkenazi origins, were given letters of passage to visit places in Denmark and Norway; but there were also several incidents of Jews who were arrested, imprisoned, fined, and deported for violating the general ban against their presence, even when they claimed the exemption granted to Sephardim.
The European Enlightenment
led to moderately easier restrictions for Jews in Denmark-Norway, especially in Denmark's southern areas and cities. Some Jewish families that had converted to Christianity settled in Norway. Writers of the time increased their interest in the Jewish people, including Ludvig Holberg
, who figured Jews as comical figures in most of his playes and in 1742 wrote The Jewish History From the Beginning of the World, Continued till Present Day, presenting Jews to some extent in conventional, unfavorable stereotypes, but also raising the question about mistreatment of Jews in Europe.
Consequently, as stereotypes against Jews started entering the awareness of the general public during the Enlightenment, there were also those who rose in opposition to some, if not all, of the underlying hostility. Lutheran minister Nils Hertzberg was one of those who wrote against Norwegian prejudice, ultimately influencing the later votes on the constitutional amendment to allow Jews to settle in Norway.
in 1814
would allow for Norwegian independence, a constituent assembly
was convened in Eidsvoll
in the spring of 1814. Although Denmark had only a few months before completely lifted all restrictions on Jews, the assembly, after some debate, went the other way. Jews were to "continue" to be excluded from the realm, as part of the clause that made Lutheranism the official state religion, though with free exercise of religion as the general rule.
Several of the framers had formulated views on Jews before the convention had started, among them Lauritz Weidemann
, who wrote somewhat incoherently that "The Jewish nation's history proves, that this people always has been rebellious and deceitful, and their religious teachings, the hope of again arising as a nation, so often they have acquired some remarkable fortune, led them to intrigues and to create a state within a state. It is of vital importance to the security of the state that an absolute exception be made about them."
Those who supported the continued ban did so for several reasons, among them theological prejudice. Nicolai Wergeland
and Georg Sverdrup
felt that it would be incompatible with Judaism to deal honestly with Christians, writing that "no person of the Jewish faith may come within Norway's borders, far less reside there." Peter Motzfeld also supported the ban, but on the slightly different basis that the Jewish identity was too strong to allow for full citizenship. Other prominent framers, such as Hans Christian Ulrik Midelfart
spoke "beautifully" in defense of the Jews, and also Johan Caspar Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg
expressed in more muted terms the backwardness of the proposition.
Those who opposed admission of Jews prevailed decisively when the matter was put to a vote, and the second paragraph of constitution read:
This effectively maintained the legal status quo from about 1813 but put Norway sharply at odds with trends in both Denmark
and Sweden
, where laws and decrees in the early 19th century were granting Jews greater, not more limited liberties.
Meanwhile, a small number of Jewish converts to Christianity had settled in Norway, some of them rising to prominence. Among them were Ludvig Mariboe, Edvard Isach Hambro, and Heinrich Glogau. In 1817, Glogau had challenged Christian Magnus Falsen
, one of the proponents of the ban against Jews at the constitutional assembly about the meaning of the prohibition, asking whether he should be embarrassed by his ancestors or his homeland when relating his legacy to his children. Falsen responded by asserting that Judaism "carries nothing but ridicule and contempt toward the person that does not profess to it...making it a duty for each Jew to destroy[all nations that accept him] ."
Indeed, a number of Jews who found themselves in Norway were fined and deported. A ship bound for England floundered off the west coast of Norway in 1817, and one of those who washed ashore was Michael Jonas, a Polish Jew. He was escorted out of the country under heavy guard. This heavy-handed approach caused consternation, and the chief of police in Bergen was ordered to personally pay for the costs of the deportation. There were also deportation proceedings against suspected who couldn't produce a baptismal certificate, among them the singer Carl Fredrich Coppello (alias Meyer Marcus Koppel), opticians Martin Blumenbach and Henri Leia, Moritz Lichtenheim, and others.
The deportation of Jews who had either come to Norway by accident or in good faith caused some embarrassment among Norwegians. The first who advocated for a repeal was the poet Andreas Munch
in 1836. But it was Henrik Wergeland
who became the leading champion for the Jews in Norway.
On 26 October 1842, Wergeland published his book Jødesagen i det norske Storthing ("The Jewish issue in the Norwegian parliament"), which in addition to arguing for the cause also provides interesting insights into the workings of the parliament at the time.
In 1848, the motion to repeal earned 59 to 43 votes, still falling short of the 2/3 required. In 1851, finally, the clause was repealed with 93 votes to 10. On September 10, all remaining legislation related to the ban was repealed by the passage of "Lov om Ophævelse af det hidtil bestaaende Forbud mot at Jøder indfinde sig i Riget m.v." ("Law regarding the repeal of the until now prohibition against Jews in the realm, etc.")
Though the minority was small and widely dispersed, several stereotypes of Jews gained currency in the Norwegian press and popular literature in the early 20th century. In books by the widely read authors Rudolf Muus
and Øvre Richter Frich
, in which Jews are described as obsessed with money and sadistic. The attorney Eivind Saxlund
published a pamphlet Jøder og Gojim ("Jews and Goyim") in 1910, which was characterized i 1922 as "antisemitic smutt literature' by a writer in Dagbladet
. Saxlund sued for libel and lost, but earned the admiration of the newspaper Nationen
, who praised Saxlund for fighting "our race war." In 1920, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
was published in Norway under the title Den nye verdenskeiser ("The New World Emperor").
Opposition to antisemitic prejudice ran across party lines. Fridtjof Nansen
, C J Hambro, and Sverre Støstad held a principled line against it. Primarily, the newspapers Aftenposten
and Nationen
, as well as Tidens Tegn
served as platforms for anti-Jewish sentiments, also on the editorial pages.
More specifically, Jews as a group were characterized - in various contexts - as being:
Norwegian immigration policy shifted following World War I
to a far more restrictive line, and Jews were particularly singled out. The ministries of justice and foreign affairs were often at odds on the issue of Jewish immigration, but in practice the policy made it difficult for Jews to immigrate or settle in Norway. Restrictions were justified on an economic basis (Jews would either create destructive competition for Norwegian merchants and tradespeople, or freeload on public assistance), political concerns (communists and other subversive elements would create political instability), or general xenophobia against "foreign" groups. Whether the immigration policy was driven by the characterizations above, or vice versa is not clear.
, the Jewish practice of ritual slaughter. The issue had originally been raised in the 1890s, but a municipal ban on the practice in Oslo
brought the matter to national attention.
Efforts to ban religious slaughter put well-intended humane society activists in league with antisemitic individuals. In particular, Jonas Søhr, a senior police official, took a particular interest and eventually rose to the leadership of The Norwegian Federation for Animal Protection. The animal rights cause was used as a means to attack not just the method of slaughter, but also the community itself. Those opposing the ban included Fridtjof Nansen
, but the division on the issue crossed party lines in all mainstream parties, except the Agrarian Party
(today, the Centre Party), which was principled in its opposition to schechita. Protests were raised in the Norwegian press, during the 1890s, against the practice of shechita, on the grounds that it was cruel to animals. The Jewish community responded to these objections by stating that the method was humane.
A committee commissioned on February 11, 1927 consulted numerous experts and visited a slaughterhouse in Copenhagen. Its majority favored a ban and found support in the Department of Agriculture and the parliamentary agriculture committee. Those who opposed a ban spoke of religious tolerance, and also found that schechita was no more inhumane than other slaughter methods. C. J. Hambro was one of those most appalled by the antisemitic invective, noting that "where animal rights are protected to an exaggerated extent, it usually is done with the help of human sacrifice"
The controversy continued until 1929, when the Norwegian parliament banned the practice. The ban remains in force today.
The former chief rabbi of Norway, Michael Melchior
, argued that antisemitism is one motive for the bans: "I won't say this is the only motivation, but it's certainly no coincidence that one of the first things Nazi Germany forbade was kosher slaughter. I also know that during the original debate on this issue in Norway, where shechitah has been banned since 1930, one of the parliamentarians said straight out, 'If they don't like it, let them go live somewhere else.'"
No forms of religious slaughter are named as being banned in the Norwegian legislation. Norwegian law requires that animals be sedated before being slaughtered, without exception for religious practices, which is incompatible with shechita. (The Norwegian Islamic Council, on the other hand, has found that sedation is compatible with halal rules, provided that the animal's heart is still beating at the time of slaughter.) Representatives of both Muslim and Jewish communities, citing scientific studies, dispute the assertion that traditional halal and kosher slaughtering methods lead to unnecessary animal suffering. Norway's acceptance of hunting, whaling and sealing were also raised as proof of the alleged hypocrisy of the Norwegian position. Minister of Agriculture, Lars Peder Brekk
of the Centre Party (which has always rejected shechita, see above), rejected the comparison.
Proponents of the continued ban, including officials from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority
claimed that animals slaughtered according to shechita were conscious for "several minutes" after they were slaughtered, and writer and farmer Tore Stubberud claimed that animals in Judaism had "no moral status... pure objects for ... archaic, religious needs", and wondered whether the EU, in allowing for such slaughter had become "purely a bank, without values".
printed an editorial cartoon
that depicted an ultra-orthodox Jew rewriting the ten commandments
to include "thou shall murder". According to the Israeli Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld
, this cartoon was antisemitic.
There have been episodes of desecration of the synagogue in Oslo,. On 17 September 2006 the synagogue in Oslo was subjected to attack with an automatic weapon, only days after it was made public that the building had been one the planned target for the Algerian terror group GSPC that had been plotting a bombing campaign in the Norwegian capital. The synagogue in Oslo is under continuous surveillance and protected by barriers. On 2 June 2008 Arfan Qadeer Bhatti was convicted on the shooting attack and given an eight year preventive custody sentence for serious vandalism. The Oslo city court judge could not find sufficient evidence that the shots fired at the synagogue amounted to a terrorist act. In July 2006 during the 2006 Lebanon War the congregation issued an advisory warning Jews not to wear kippot
or other identifying items in public for fear of harassment or assault.
In 2008, a symposium held by Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
, entitled Behind the Humanitarian Mask: The Nordic Countries, Israel and the Jews, accused Norway and Sweden of institutional racism
against Jews. Dr Manfred Gerstenfeld
, chairman of the Board of Fellows at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
, said that "Norway is the most anti-Semitic country in Scandinavia." Former Prime Minister Kåre Willoch
responded to the accusations at the symposium by arguing that allegations of antisemitism is a "traditional deflection tactic aimed at diverting attention from the real problem, which is Israel's well-documented and incontestable abuse of Palestinians."
On November 27, 2008 the satirical comedian Otto Jespersen
said during a comedy routine on national television that A Norwegian Jew who himself lost 50 family members during the Holocaust has filed a complaint against Jespersen. A number of fellow comedian
s and his TV station have backed the controversial performer. Jespersen also presented a satirical monologue on anti-Semitism that ended with, "Finally, I would like to wish all Norwegian Jews a Merry Christmas - no, what am I saying! You don't celebrate Christmas, do you!? It was you who crucified Jesus", on December 4. Jespersen has received criticism for several of his satirical attacks on social and ethnic groups as well as royalty, politicians and celebrities, and in defence of the monologue TV2 noted that Jespersen attacks in all directions, and that "if you should take [the monologue] seriously, there are more than just the Jews that should feel offended."
Also in December 2008, the Norwegian author and journalist Mona Levin claimed Kåre Willoch
made an allegedly racist
statement when his response to the question whether USA were likely to change their Middle East policy was: “It doesn’t look too good, because he has chosen a Chief of Staff
who is a Jew, and, as we know, many American voters look much more to the Bible than to the reality of our days — and with a meaninglessly mistaken interpretation of the Bible.” Levin made the accusation of Willoch making a racist statement on a live TV debate, Willoch denied the accusation, and received support from the three other debaters, excluding Levin. Willoch called Levin's allegations a "total distortion of his statements" adding that "This was a purely political assesment of whether this chief of staff will lead to greater or lesser changes in the relationship to the Middle East, and I imagine that it will lead to a more pro-Israel politic from USA.".
In January 2009, a Norwegian non-Jewish pro-Israel protester was attacked by anti-Israel protesters rioting in Oslo. Cries such as "take him, he's a Jew" and "fucking Jew" were heard. Forty-five arrests were made, the majority of which were people of foreign descent.
In 2009, two articles in Jerusalem Post discussed the alleged rise of anti-semitism in Norway. The articles stirred controversy in Norway, and several notable Norwegian Jews refuted the article. It also received strong criticism for basing the allegations on statements from controversial sources, most notably a source that later turned out to be lying about both his identity and his affiliation with the Norwegian army. The responses from Norwegian Jews led to Jerusalem Post posting a follow up piece called "Inside story: Stumbling in Norway" retracting many of the allegations, and summing up the response from Norwegian Jews:
In April 2011, Alan M. Dershowitz sharply criticized Norway for its treatment of Jews, writing that "All Jews are apparently the same in this country that has done everything in its power to make life in Norway nearly impossible for Jews. Norway was apparently the first modern nation to prohibit the production of Kosher meat, while at the same time permitting Halal meat and encouraging the slaughter of seals
, whales and other animals that are protected by international treaties. No wonder less than 1000 Jews live in Norway."
Dershowitz also stated, regarding efforts by Norwegian Academics to institute a boycott of Israelis that while administrations of Norwegian universities "have refused to go along with this form of collective punishment of all Israeli academics... in practice...Jewish pro-Israel speakers are subject to a de facto boycott" and cited this as a reason why the faculties of several Norwegian universities refused to invite him to speak about Israel (although he did subsequently give three lectures at the invitation of student groups). Dershowitz wrote that the only other country that prevented him from lecturing at its universities was South Africa
during the apartheid era.
In June 2011, a survey by the Oslo Municipality found that 33 per cent of Jewish students in Oslo are physically threatened or abused by other high school teens at least two to three times a month (compared to 10% for Buddhists and 5.3% of Muslims) The survey also found that 51% of high school students consider “Jew” a negative expression and 60% had heard other students use the term.
s revealed that Muslim students often "praise or admire Adolf Hitler
for his killing of Jews", that "Jew-hate is legitimate within vast groups of Muslim students" and that "Muslims laugh or demand [teachers] to stop when trying to educate about the Holocaust". Additionally that "while some students might protest when some express support for terrorism
, none object when students express hate of Jews" and that it says in "the Quran that you shall kill Jews, all true Muslims hate Jews". Most of these students were said to be born and raised in Norway. One Jewish father also told that his child after school had been taken by a Muslim mob (though managed to escape), reportedly "to be taken out to the forest and hanged
because he was a Jew".
Norwegian Education Minister Kristin Halvorsen referred to the antisemitism reported in this study as being “completely unacceptable.” The head of a local Islamic council joined Jewish leaders and Halvorsen in denouncing such antisemitism.
The Norwegian Broadcasting Council is composed of eight members appointed by the Norwegian parliament and six appointed by the government. In April 2011, it appointed an independent external investigation by Middle East expert Cecilie Hellestveit of the International Law and Policy Unit into complaints made by the Israeli embassy in Norway that the Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) had been biased. . A majority of the council decided that NRK’s coverage had been “reliable, balanced and thorough".
Holocaust in Norway
In the middle of the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, there were at least 2,173 Jews in Norway. At least 775 of these were arrested, detained, and/or deported. 742 were murdered in the camps, 23 died as a result of extrajudicial execution, murder, and suicide during the war; bringing the total...
. It has also been a subject of discussion in the public debate about the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Middle Ages
Norwegian kings, Vikings, and others who traveled in Europe in the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
undoubtedly encountered Jews and attitudes toward them during their travels, but the first mention of Jews in Norse literature is found in Postola sögur in Iceland in the 13th century, where they are mentioned along with the more general pagans. The literature of this time referred to Jews as "gyðingar," "juði," or in the Latin form "judeus." Jews were also mentioned in unfavorable terms in subsequent literary Icelandic sagas, such as Gyðinga saga (Saga of the Jews).
Reformation and Enlightenment
In 1436 and 1438, archbishop Aslak Bolt prohibited celebrating a day of rest on Saturday, lest Christians replicate the "way of Jews," and this prohibition was reinforced through several subsequent ordinances, including those in Diplomatarium NorvegicumDiplomatarium Norvegicum
Diplomatarium Norvegicum is a series of books containing the texts of documents and letters from Norway older than 1590, verbatim and in the original language. The series consists of 22 volumes, containing the texts of approximately 20,000 documents....
.
While Norway was part of the Danish kingdom from 1536 to 1814, the Danish introduced a number of religious restrictions both to uphold the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
in general and against Jews in particular. In 1569, Fredrik II
Frederick II of Denmark
Frederick II was King of Denmark and Norway and duke of Schleswig from 1559 until his death.-King of Denmark:Frederick II was the son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg. Frederick II stands as the typical renaissance ruler of Denmark. Unlike his father, he...
ordered that all foreigners in Denmark had to affirm their commitment to 25 articles of faith central to Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
on pain of deportation, forfeiture of all property, and death. These restrictions were lifted for Sephardic Jews already established as merchants in Altona
Altona, Hamburg
Altona is the westernmost urban borough of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937...
when Christian IV took over the town. Christian also issued the first letter of safe passage to a Jew (Albert Dionis) in 1619, and on 19 June 1630, general amnesty was granted to all Jews permanently in residence in Glückstadt
Glückstadt
Glückstadt is a town in the Steinburg district of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located on the right bank of the Lower Elbe at the confluence of the small Rhin river, about northwest of Altona...
, including the right to travel freely throughout the kingdom.
Public policy toward Jews thus varied over the next several hundred years. The kings generally tolerated Jewish merchants, investors, and bankers whose contributions
Useful Jew
The term useful Jew was used in various historical contexts, typically describing a Jewish person useful in implementing an official authorities' policy, sometimes by oppressing other Jews....
benefited the economy of the Danish-Norwegian realm on the one hand, while seeking to restrict their movements, residence, and presence in public life. Several Jews, particularly in the Sephardic Teixera family but also some of Ashkenazi origins, were given letters of passage to visit places in Denmark and Norway; but there were also several incidents of Jews who were arrested, imprisoned, fined, and deported for violating the general ban against their presence, even when they claimed the exemption granted to Sephardim.
The European Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
led to moderately easier restrictions for Jews in Denmark-Norway, especially in Denmark's southern areas and cities. Some Jewish families that had converted to Christianity settled in Norway. Writers of the time increased their interest in the Jewish people, including Ludvig Holberg
Ludvig Holberg
Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian double monarchy, who spent most of his adult life in Denmark. He was influenced by Humanism, the Enlightenment and the Baroque...
, who figured Jews as comical figures in most of his playes and in 1742 wrote The Jewish History From the Beginning of the World, Continued till Present Day, presenting Jews to some extent in conventional, unfavorable stereotypes, but also raising the question about mistreatment of Jews in Europe.
Consequently, as stereotypes against Jews started entering the awareness of the general public during the Enlightenment, there were also those who rose in opposition to some, if not all, of the underlying hostility. Lutheran minister Nils Hertzberg was one of those who wrote against Norwegian prejudice, ultimately influencing the later votes on the constitutional amendment to allow Jews to settle in Norway.
Constitutional ban
Based on short-lived hopes that Denmark's concessions at the Treaty of KielTreaty of Kiel
The Treaty of Kiel or Peace of Kiel was concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden on one side and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway on the other side on 14 January 1814 in Kiel...
in 1814
Norway in 1814
1814 was a pivotal year in the history of Norway. It started with Norway in a union with the Kingdom of Denmark subject to a naval blockade being ceded to the king of Sweden. In May a constitutional convention declared Norway an independent kingdom. By the end of the year the Norwegian parliament...
would allow for Norwegian independence, a constituent assembly
Riksforsamlingen
Norwegian Constituent Assembly is the name given to the 1814 Constitutional Assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that voted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark...
was convened in Eidsvoll
Eidsvoll
is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet.-Name:...
in the spring of 1814. Although Denmark had only a few months before completely lifted all restrictions on Jews, the assembly, after some debate, went the other way. Jews were to "continue" to be excluded from the realm, as part of the clause that made Lutheranism the official state religion, though with free exercise of religion as the general rule.
Several of the framers had formulated views on Jews before the convention had started, among them Lauritz Weidemann
Lauritz Weidemann
Lauritz Weidemann was a Norwegian judge, civil servant and politician. He served as county governor for almost 35 years, participated at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in 1814, and was a member of the Parliament of Norway for several periods.-Personal life:Weidemann was born at Toten as the...
, who wrote somewhat incoherently that "The Jewish nation's history proves, that this people always has been rebellious and deceitful, and their religious teachings, the hope of again arising as a nation, so often they have acquired some remarkable fortune, led them to intrigues and to create a state within a state. It is of vital importance to the security of the state that an absolute exception be made about them."
Those who supported the continued ban did so for several reasons, among them theological prejudice. Nicolai Wergeland
Nicolai Wergeland
Nicolai Wergeland was a Norwegian priest, writer and politician, and a member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll that wrote the Constitution of Norway on 17 May 1814. He was elected as one of two delegates from Christiansand to the Eidsvoll Assembly in 1814...
and Georg Sverdrup
Georg Sverdrup
Georg Sverdrup , born Jørgen Sverdrup, was a Norwegian philologist, who is well known for being a member of Norwegian Constituent Assembly in Eidsvoll in 1814 and later the parliament. He was also responsible for building the first Norwegian university library...
felt that it would be incompatible with Judaism to deal honestly with Christians, writing that "no person of the Jewish faith may come within Norway's borders, far less reside there." Peter Motzfeld also supported the ban, but on the slightly different basis that the Jewish identity was too strong to allow for full citizenship. Other prominent framers, such as Hans Christian Ulrik Midelfart
Hans Christian Ulrik Midelfart
Hans Christian Ulrik Midelfart was a Norwegian Lutheran minister and politician. He was born in Trondheim. He served as minister in Beitstad from 1802 to 1815, and in Skogn from 1815 to 1823. He represented Nordre Trondhjems amt at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in 1814.-References:...
spoke "beautifully" in defense of the Jews, and also Johan Caspar Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg
Johan Caspar Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg
Johan Caspar Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg was a politician and a Norwegian count, one of only two titled noblemen in Norway...
expressed in more muted terms the backwardness of the proposition.
Those who opposed admission of Jews prevailed decisively when the matter was put to a vote, and the second paragraph of constitution read:
This effectively maintained the legal status quo from about 1813 but put Norway sharply at odds with trends in both Denmark
History of the Jews in Denmark
The Jewish community of Denmark constitutes a small minority with a known history back to the 17th century.-Origins:Medieval Danish art contains depictions of Jews – visibly wearing pointed hats – but there is no evidence any Jews actually lived in Denmark during that time...
and Sweden
History of the Jews in Sweden
The History of the Jews in Sweden probably began with arrivals from the Hanseatic League in medieval times, but there are no records. In Elizabethan times it was common for European royalty to have Jewish doctors at court, and there is a record of a Jewish doctor who served Gustav Vasa in the 16th...
, where laws and decrees in the early 19th century were granting Jews greater, not more limited liberties.
Meanwhile, a small number of Jewish converts to Christianity had settled in Norway, some of them rising to prominence. Among them were Ludvig Mariboe, Edvard Isach Hambro, and Heinrich Glogau. In 1817, Glogau had challenged Christian Magnus Falsen
Christian Magnus Falsen
Christian Magnus Falsen was a Norwegian constitutional father, statesman, jurist, and historian. He was an important member of the constitutional assembly and was one of the writers of the constitutional laws....
, one of the proponents of the ban against Jews at the constitutional assembly about the meaning of the prohibition, asking whether he should be embarrassed by his ancestors or his homeland when relating his legacy to his children. Falsen responded by asserting that Judaism "carries nothing but ridicule and contempt toward the person that does not profess to it...making it a duty for each Jew to destroy
Indeed, a number of Jews who found themselves in Norway were fined and deported. A ship bound for England floundered off the west coast of Norway in 1817, and one of those who washed ashore was Michael Jonas, a Polish Jew. He was escorted out of the country under heavy guard. This heavy-handed approach caused consternation, and the chief of police in Bergen was ordered to personally pay for the costs of the deportation. There were also deportation proceedings against suspected who couldn't produce a baptismal certificate, among them the singer Carl Fredrich Coppello (alias Meyer Marcus Koppel), opticians Martin Blumenbach and Henri Leia, Moritz Lichtenheim, and others.
Repeal and initial immigration
Andreas Munch
Andreas Munch was a Norwegian poet, novelist, playwright and newspaper editor. He was the first person to be granted a poet's pension by the Parliament of Norway.-Personal life:...
in 1836. But it was Henrik Wergeland
Henrik Wergeland
Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist...
who became the leading champion for the Jews in Norway.
10th parliamentary session, 1842
Henrik Wergeland was the son of Nikolai Wergeland, one of the members at the constitutional assembly who had most strongly objected to admitting Jews to the country. The younger Wergeland had long harbored prejudice against Jews, but travels in Europe had changed his mind. He published the pamphlet Indlæg i Jødesagen on August 26, 1841, arguing passionately for a repeal of the clause. On February 19, 1842, his efforts to put the matter to a vote in the Norwegian parliament was successful, when the proposition was referred to the Constitution Committee. On September 9, 1842, the motion to repeal won a simple majority: 51 to 43, but, falling short of a supermajority (2/3) it failed.On 26 October 1842, Wergeland published his book Jødesagen i det norske Storthing ("The Jewish issue in the Norwegian parliament"), which in addition to arguing for the cause also provides interesting insights into the workings of the parliament at the time.
Parliamentary sessions in 1845, 1848, and 1851
Wergeland had submitted a new proposal to parliament later on the same day that the first repeal had failed. He died on July 12, 1845. The constitution committee referred their recommendation to repeal exactly a month after his death, on August 12. Several versions were put to vote, but the most popular version won 52 votes to repeal, only 47 to keep; worse than the last vote.In 1848, the motion to repeal earned 59 to 43 votes, still falling short of the 2/3 required. In 1851, finally, the clause was repealed with 93 votes to 10. On September 10, all remaining legislation related to the ban was repealed by the passage of "Lov om Ophævelse af det hidtil bestaaende Forbud mot at Jøder indfinde sig i Riget m.v." ("Law regarding the repeal of the until now prohibition against Jews in the realm, etc.")
Early 20th century emerging public opinion
In spite of fears that Norway would be overwhelmed by Jewish immigration following the repeal, only about 25 Jews immigrated to Norway before 1870. Because of pogroms in Czarist Russia, however, the immigration accelerated somewhat in the late 19th and early 20th century. By 1910, there were about 1,000 Jews in Norway.Though the minority was small and widely dispersed, several stereotypes of Jews gained currency in the Norwegian press and popular literature in the early 20th century. In books by the widely read authors Rudolf Muus
Rudolf Muus
Rudolf Muus was a Norwegian author, among the best selling and most read authors of popular literature of his time.-Biography:...
and Øvre Richter Frich
Øvre Richter Frich
Øvre Richter Frich , full name Gjert Øvre Richter Frich, was a Norwegian reporter, newspaper editor and crime writer...
, in which Jews are described as obsessed with money and sadistic. The attorney Eivind Saxlund
Eivind Saxlund
Eivind Saxlund was a Norwegian lawyer and writer.Saxlund was a barrister by occupation, a lawyer with access to work with cases in the Supreme Court of Norway. However, he is better remembered for his anti-Semitic literature...
published a pamphlet Jøder og Gojim ("Jews and Goyim") in 1910, which was characterized i 1922 as "antisemitic smutt literature' by a writer in Dagbladet
Dagbladet
Dagbladet is Norway's second largest tabloid newspaper, and the third largest newspaper overall with a circulation of 105,255 copies in 2009, 18,128 papers less than in 2008. The editor in chief is Lars Helle....
. Saxlund sued for libel and lost, but earned the admiration of the newspaper Nationen
Nationen
Nationen is a Norwegian daily newspaper, founded in 1918. It has a circulation of approximately 14,000 and primarily targets farmers and the agriarian sector, with focus on district politics, farming, commentaries and features. It is based in Oslo, with offices in Trondheim and Fagernes, and edited...
, who praised Saxlund for fighting "our race war." In 1920, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a fraudulent, antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for achieving global domination. It was first published in Russia in 1903, translated into multiple languages, and disseminated internationally in the early part of the twentieth century...
was published in Norway under the title Den nye verdenskeiser ("The New World Emperor").
Opposition to antisemitic prejudice ran across party lines. Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In his youth a champion skier and ice skater, he led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, and won international fame after reaching a...
, C J Hambro, and Sverre Støstad held a principled line against it. Primarily, the newspapers Aftenposten
Aftenposten
Aftenposten is Norway's largest newspaper. It retook this position in 2010, taking it from the tabloid Verdens Gang which had been the largest newspaper for several decades. It is based in Oslo. The morning edition, which is distributed across all of Norway, had a circulation of 250,179 in 2007...
and Nationen
Nationen
Nationen is a Norwegian daily newspaper, founded in 1918. It has a circulation of approximately 14,000 and primarily targets farmers and the agriarian sector, with focus on district politics, farming, commentaries and features. It is based in Oslo, with offices in Trondheim and Fagernes, and edited...
, as well as Tidens Tegn
Tidens Tegn
Tidens Tegn is a former Norwegian newspaper, issued in Oslo from 1910 to 1941.-Editors:The founder and first editor-in-chief of Tidens Tegn was Ola Thommessen, who edited the newspaper until 1917. Thommessen had recently left the editor chair of Verdens Gang in protest, bringing much of Verdens...
served as platforms for anti-Jewish sentiments, also on the editorial pages.
More specifically, Jews as a group were characterized - in various contexts - as being:
- Unscrupulous merchants and tradespeople - trade associations, including retailers, wholesalers, and craftsmen, were deeply suspicious about what they alleged were immoral, damaging, and even illegal activities from their Jewish competitors. Jewish merchants were various accused of overpricing for items and also dumpingDumping (pricing policy)In economics, "dumping" is any kind of predatory pricing, especially in the context of international trade. It occurs when manufacturers export a product to another country at a price either below the price charged in its home market, or in quantities that cannot be explained through normal market...
, usually for inferior goods. Jews were excluded from guilds and trade associations. - Subersive communists - Jews were often identified with the BolshevikBolshevikThe Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
movement in Russia, this canard being conflated with the capitalist stereotype under the idea that Jewish capitalism was a tool in the service of communism. - Freeloaders - in particular, Norwegian authorities feared that an easing of restrictions on Jewish immigration would lead to an influx of immigrants who were dependent on public assistance, or who would displace employment among non-Jewish Norwegians.
Norwegian immigration policy shifted following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
to a far more restrictive line, and Jews were particularly singled out. The ministries of justice and foreign affairs were often at odds on the issue of Jewish immigration, but in practice the policy made it difficult for Jews to immigrate or settle in Norway. Restrictions were justified on an economic basis (Jews would either create destructive competition for Norwegian merchants and tradespeople, or freeload on public assistance), political concerns (communists and other subversive elements would create political instability), or general xenophobia against "foreign" groups. Whether the immigration policy was driven by the characterizations above, or vice versa is not clear.
Shechita controversy
Prejudice against Jews became a focal point in the controversy about the legality of shechitaShechita
Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws...
, the Jewish practice of ritual slaughter. The issue had originally been raised in the 1890s, but a municipal ban on the practice in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
brought the matter to national attention.
Efforts to ban religious slaughter put well-intended humane society activists in league with antisemitic individuals. In particular, Jonas Søhr, a senior police official, took a particular interest and eventually rose to the leadership of The Norwegian Federation for Animal Protection. The animal rights cause was used as a means to attack not just the method of slaughter, but also the community itself. Those opposing the ban included Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In his youth a champion skier and ice skater, he led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, and won international fame after reaching a...
, but the division on the issue crossed party lines in all mainstream parties, except the Agrarian Party
Centre Party (Norway)
The Centre Party is a centrist and agrarian political party in Norway, founded in 1920. The Centre Party's policy is not based on any of the major ideologies of the 19th and 20th century, but has a focus on maintaining decentralised economic development and political decision-making.From its...
(today, the Centre Party), which was principled in its opposition to schechita. Protests were raised in the Norwegian press, during the 1890s, against the practice of shechita, on the grounds that it was cruel to animals. The Jewish community responded to these objections by stating that the method was humane.
A committee commissioned on February 11, 1927 consulted numerous experts and visited a slaughterhouse in Copenhagen. Its majority favored a ban and found support in the Department of Agriculture and the parliamentary agriculture committee. Those who opposed a ban spoke of religious tolerance, and also found that schechita was no more inhumane than other slaughter methods. C. J. Hambro was one of those most appalled by the antisemitic invective, noting that "where animal rights are protected to an exaggerated extent, it usually is done with the help of human sacrifice"
The controversy continued until 1929, when the Norwegian parliament banned the practice. The ban remains in force today.
The former chief rabbi of Norway, Michael Melchior
Michael Melchior
A renowned Jewish leader, thinker and activist, Rabbi Michael Melchior is a leading advocate for social justice in Israel, quality education for all, Jewish-Arab reconciliation and co-existence, protection of the environment, Israel-Diaspora relations and the strengthening of Civic Society as a...
, argued that antisemitism is one motive for the bans: "I won't say this is the only motivation, but it's certainly no coincidence that one of the first things Nazi Germany forbade was kosher slaughter. I also know that during the original debate on this issue in Norway, where shechitah has been banned since 1930, one of the parliamentarians said straight out, 'If they don't like it, let them go live somewhere else.'"
No forms of religious slaughter are named as being banned in the Norwegian legislation. Norwegian law requires that animals be sedated before being slaughtered, without exception for religious practices, which is incompatible with shechita. (The Norwegian Islamic Council, on the other hand, has found that sedation is compatible with halal rules, provided that the animal's heart is still beating at the time of slaughter.) Representatives of both Muslim and Jewish communities, citing scientific studies, dispute the assertion that traditional halal and kosher slaughtering methods lead to unnecessary animal suffering. Norway's acceptance of hunting, whaling and sealing were also raised as proof of the alleged hypocrisy of the Norwegian position. Minister of Agriculture, Lars Peder Brekk
Lars Peder Brekk
Lars Peder Brekk is a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party. He was private secretary to the Minister of Fisheries 1985-1986, and himself Minister of Fisheries in 2000. He was elected to parliament in 2005. From 20 June 2008, he has been Minister of Agriculture and Food...
of the Centre Party (which has always rejected shechita, see above), rejected the comparison.
Proponents of the continued ban, including officials from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority
Norwegian Food Safety Authority
Norwegian Food Safety Authority is a Norwegian government agency responsible for safe food and drinking water, and works within the fields of human, plant, fish and animal health as well as environmentally friendly production and ethically acceptable farming of animals and fish...
claimed that animals slaughtered according to shechita were conscious for "several minutes" after they were slaughtered, and writer and farmer Tore Stubberud claimed that animals in Judaism had "no moral status... pure objects for ... archaic, religious needs", and wondered whether the EU, in allowing for such slaughter had become "purely a bank, without values".
Current issues
On 7 January 2004, the Norwegian newspaper DagsavisenDagsavisen
Dagsavisen is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999, and it is now fully independent...
printed an editorial cartoon
Editorial cartoon
An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration containing a commentary that usually relates to current events or personalities....
that depicted an ultra-orthodox Jew rewriting the ten commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
to include "thou shall murder". According to the Israeli Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld
Manfred Gerstenfeld
Manfred Gerstenfeld is an Austrian-born Israeli author and political activist.-Biography:Manfred Gerstenfeld was born in Vienna, grew up in Amsterdam and moved to Israel in 1968. He has a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from the University of Amsterdam. Gerstenfeld was a board member of the Israel...
, this cartoon was antisemitic.
There have been episodes of desecration of the synagogue in Oslo,. On 17 September 2006 the synagogue in Oslo was subjected to attack with an automatic weapon, only days after it was made public that the building had been one the planned target for the Algerian terror group GSPC that had been plotting a bombing campaign in the Norwegian capital. The synagogue in Oslo is under continuous surveillance and protected by barriers. On 2 June 2008 Arfan Qadeer Bhatti was convicted on the shooting attack and given an eight year preventive custody sentence for serious vandalism. The Oslo city court judge could not find sufficient evidence that the shots fired at the synagogue amounted to a terrorist act. In July 2006 during the 2006 Lebanon War the congregation issued an advisory warning Jews not to wear kippot
Kippah
A kippah or kipa , also known as a yarmulke , kapele , is a hemispherical or platter-shaped head cover, usually made of cloth, often worn by Orthodox Jewish men to fulfill the customary requirement that their head be covered at all times, and sometimes worn by both men and, less frequently, women...
or other identifying items in public for fear of harassment or assault.
In 2008, a symposium held by Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs is a public policy think tank devoted to research and analysis of critical issues facing the Middle East. The center is located in Jerusalem, Israel...
, entitled Behind the Humanitarian Mask: The Nordic Countries, Israel and the Jews, accused Norway and Sweden of institutional racism
Institutional racism
Institutional racism describes any kind of system of inequality based on race. It can occur in institutions such as public government bodies, private business corporations , and universities . The term was coined by Black Power activist Stokely Carmichael in the late 1960s...
against Jews. Dr Manfred Gerstenfeld
Manfred Gerstenfeld
Manfred Gerstenfeld is an Austrian-born Israeli author and political activist.-Biography:Manfred Gerstenfeld was born in Vienna, grew up in Amsterdam and moved to Israel in 1968. He has a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from the University of Amsterdam. Gerstenfeld was a board member of the Israel...
, chairman of the Board of Fellows at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs is a public policy think tank devoted to research and analysis of critical issues facing the Middle East. The center is located in Jerusalem, Israel...
, said that "Norway is the most anti-Semitic country in Scandinavia." Former Prime Minister Kåre Willoch
Kåre Willoch
Kåre Isaachsen Willoch is a Norwegian politician from the Conservative Party. He served as Minister of Trade and Shipping in 1963 and 1965–1970, and as Prime Minister of Norway from 1981 to 1986...
responded to the accusations at the symposium by arguing that allegations of antisemitism is a "traditional deflection tactic aimed at diverting attention from the real problem, which is Israel's well-documented and incontestable abuse of Palestinians."
On November 27, 2008 the satirical comedian Otto Jespersen
Otto Jespersen (comedian)
Otto Jespersen is a controversial Norwegian comedian, actor and television personality.-Biography:At the age of 19 Jespersen became a Marxist-Leninist, and was for a short period of time a member of the Communist organization Red Youth...
said during a comedy routine on national television that A Norwegian Jew who himself lost 50 family members during the Holocaust has filed a complaint against Jespersen. A number of fellow comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
s and his TV station have backed the controversial performer. Jespersen also presented a satirical monologue on anti-Semitism that ended with, "Finally, I would like to wish all Norwegian Jews a Merry Christmas - no, what am I saying! You don't celebrate Christmas, do you!? It was you who crucified Jesus", on December 4. Jespersen has received criticism for several of his satirical attacks on social and ethnic groups as well as royalty, politicians and celebrities, and in defence of the monologue TV2 noted that Jespersen attacks in all directions, and that "if you should take [the monologue] seriously, there are more than just the Jews that should feel offended."
Also in December 2008, the Norwegian author and journalist Mona Levin claimed Kåre Willoch
Kåre Willoch
Kåre Isaachsen Willoch is a Norwegian politician from the Conservative Party. He served as Minister of Trade and Shipping in 1963 and 1965–1970, and as Prime Minister of Norway from 1981 to 1986...
made an allegedly racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
statement when his response to the question whether USA were likely to change their Middle East policy was: “It doesn’t look too good, because he has chosen a Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
who is a Jew, and, as we know, many American voters look much more to the Bible than to the reality of our days — and with a meaninglessly mistaken interpretation of the Bible.” Levin made the accusation of Willoch making a racist statement on a live TV debate, Willoch denied the accusation, and received support from the three other debaters, excluding Levin. Willoch called Levin's allegations a "total distortion of his statements" adding that "This was a purely political assesment of whether this chief of staff will lead to greater or lesser changes in the relationship to the Middle East, and I imagine that it will lead to a more pro-Israel politic from USA.".
In January 2009, a Norwegian non-Jewish pro-Israel protester was attacked by anti-Israel protesters rioting in Oslo. Cries such as "take him, he's a Jew" and "fucking Jew" were heard. Forty-five arrests were made, the majority of which were people of foreign descent.
In 2009, two articles in Jerusalem Post discussed the alleged rise of anti-semitism in Norway. The articles stirred controversy in Norway, and several notable Norwegian Jews refuted the article. It also received strong criticism for basing the allegations on statements from controversial sources, most notably a source that later turned out to be lying about both his identity and his affiliation with the Norwegian army. The responses from Norwegian Jews led to Jerusalem Post posting a follow up piece called "Inside story: Stumbling in Norway" retracting many of the allegations, and summing up the response from Norwegian Jews:
In general, they say, Norway does not suffer from widespread anti-Semitism. Norwegian Jews are an accepted and respected part of the country. But, they add, there are rare incidents of tension over their Jewishness, usually with children being teased in school or with Muslim immigrants bringing their politics into their day-to-day meetings with Jews.
In April 2011, Alan M. Dershowitz sharply criticized Norway for its treatment of Jews, writing that "All Jews are apparently the same in this country that has done everything in its power to make life in Norway nearly impossible for Jews. Norway was apparently the first modern nation to prohibit the production of Kosher meat, while at the same time permitting Halal meat and encouraging the slaughter of seals
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
, whales and other animals that are protected by international treaties. No wonder less than 1000 Jews live in Norway."
Dershowitz also stated, regarding efforts by Norwegian Academics to institute a boycott of Israelis that while administrations of Norwegian universities "have refused to go along with this form of collective punishment of all Israeli academics... in practice...Jewish pro-Israel speakers are subject to a de facto boycott" and cited this as a reason why the faculties of several Norwegian universities refused to invite him to speak about Israel (although he did subsequently give three lectures at the invitation of student groups). Dershowitz wrote that the only other country that prevented him from lecturing at its universities was South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
during the apartheid era.
In June 2011, a survey by the Oslo Municipality found that 33 per cent of Jewish students in Oslo are physically threatened or abused by other high school teens at least two to three times a month (compared to 10% for Buddhists and 5.3% of Muslims) The survey also found that 51% of high school students consider “Jew” a negative expression and 60% had heard other students use the term.
2010 Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation report
In 2010, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation reported that anti-Semitic attitudes were prevalent at some Norwegian schools. Teachers at schools with large shares of MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s revealed that Muslim students often "praise or admire Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
for his killing of Jews", that "Jew-hate is legitimate within vast groups of Muslim students" and that "Muslims laugh or demand [teachers] to stop when trying to educate about the Holocaust". Additionally that "while some students might protest when some express support for terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, none object when students express hate of Jews" and that it says in "the Quran that you shall kill Jews, all true Muslims hate Jews". Most of these students were said to be born and raised in Norway. One Jewish father also told that his child after school had been taken by a Muslim mob (though managed to escape), reportedly "to be taken out to the forest and hanged
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
because he was a Jew".
Norwegian Education Minister Kristin Halvorsen referred to the antisemitism reported in this study as being “completely unacceptable.” The head of a local Islamic council joined Jewish leaders and Halvorsen in denouncing such antisemitism.
2011 Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation report
The Norwegian Broadcasting Council is composed of eight members appointed by the Norwegian parliament and six appointed by the government. In April 2011, it appointed an independent external investigation by Middle East expert Cecilie Hellestveit of the International Law and Policy Unit into complaints made by the Israeli embassy in Norway that the Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) had been biased. . A majority of the council decided that NRK’s coverage had been “reliable, balanced and thorough".