Iranian “refugees” praised the regime they have “fled” from in Trondheim on Tuesday, and they mourned that Khamenei had been killed. As a journalist, I myself was chased away while attempting to cover the event, which the police present considered perfectly acceptable. Among the organisers were LO, AUF, SV, Rødt, NKP, Norwegian People’s Aid (Norsk Folkehjelp) and the Palestine Committee (Palestinakomiteen).

After several decades as a member of the Norwegian Union of Journalists (Norsk Journalistlag), I have never experienced anything like what I experienced in the centre of Trondheim on Thursday 3 March. I went there as a journalist, to see what would unfold there now in these dramatic times of war. And not least to see which Iranians would turn up — whether they were pro-regime, the regime they allegedly fled all the way to Norway from, or the opposite. In Trondheim there are many Iranians who genuinely hope that the regime they actually fled from will fall, but there was no trace of them during Tuesday’s demonstration. Wisely enough, they kept away, evidently.

Both LO, SV, Rødt and AUF were organisers

There were as many as nine organisers of the demonstration “Condemn the attack on Iran – Stop the war”: Palestinakomiteen Trøndelag, LO i Trondheim og Omegn, SV Trondheim, Rødt Trondheim, Rødt Strinda, AUF i Trondheim, Akademisk nettverk for Palestina ved NTNU, Studenter for Palestina i Trh, Kampkomiteen i Trh, Internasjonale Kvinneliga for fred og frihet i Trh, NKP Trøndelag, Sosialistisk Forum, Norsk Folkehjelp and Internasjonale sosialister i Trondheim.

Was first prevented from taking photographs

I had not been there long before a young woman began positioning herself in front of me. Eventually I realised that it was in order to prevent me from taking photographs; I am both a journalist and a photographer. The woman was Lise Behne Eie, a board member of Palestinakomiteen Trøndelag, who recently shared on social media that she has converted to Islam. The attempts to prevent me from taking photographs were perhaps an attempt to “defend” the ideology she has converted to? In any case, it was of no use for me to explain that I was a journalist at work and that this was democratic Norway, not Iran. She stayed on me like a gadfly the whole time.

Being prevented from taking photographs of a public demonstration in a public place was not the worst thing, as it turned out.

Was physically removed from the demonstration

I had not been there long before I was grabbed by the shoulder and physically pushed away from the demonstration. With the message that I had no right to be there.

– But I am a journalist at work, I said.

– We have the authority to remove you. We do not want you here, said someone who appears to be Zuhair Swaid, who has spoken to Adresseavisen on behalf of Palestinakomiteen several times. He fled from Syria all the way to Trondheim at the age of 23, and is now being provided with a medical education in Trondheim, according to Universitetsavisa. He evidently does not like journalists whom he assumes to hold opinions different from his own being allowed to work freely in Norway.

NTNU professor took part in removing me

Nor does Bassam Hussein, who wore the same “security vest” as Swaid and who readily took part in removing me from the demonstration. Hussein, originally from Gaza, is a professor at NTNU, and we wrote about him when he was recently central to Palestinakomiteen’s tribute to the terror leader Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader described as the mastermind behind the Israel terror attack of 7 October 2023. Something the rector at NTNU, incidentally, considered perfectly acceptable to praise.

But Professor Hussein does not appear to think that the press should be free in Norway, and took part when I was physically removed from the demonstration I was there to cover. The two Arabs claimed that, according to Norwegian law, they had the right to prevent me from carrying out my work. Two female police officers were standing at the edge of the demonstration, and we ended up there. I showed my press card to the two women, but it apparently made no impression. They had evidently not heard that in Norway we have a free press and cover what we choose. The two from the police agreed with the two Islamists who wanted me gone.

The police were present during the Iran demonstration in Trondheim on 3 March 2026, but did not appear to have heard that we have a free press in Norway. Photo: Bente Haarstad.

The police threatened to remove me

– You must move away, otherwise we will have to remove you. We cannot have any provocations here.

As if it were I who was provoking.

I was not able to find out how far away the two policewomen and the Islamists believed I should disappear to for them to find it acceptable. As a result, I left. I have never been so shaken. Angry, disappointed and very, very sad about what is now unfolding in this country of ours, and about how the police authorities behaved on this occasion.

A Danish journalist was also attacked

Something similar has been experienced by journalists in Denmark and Sweden in connection with Gaza demonstrations, and now Iran demonstrations, but there the Islamists may not have received assistance from the police?

Claes Theilgaard, society editor of the Danish newspaper B.T., was a couple of days ago chased away by Islamists from an Iran demonstration he was there to cover, and writes on Facebook:

“Several of the participants held up pictures of the ayatollah while they cried loudly. A kind of memorial altar had also been arranged in his honour. While I stood calmly recording the speeches and shouts that characterised the memorial gathering, some participants began to protest that I was taking pictures. This quickly led to me being surrounded by a group of young participants, primarily male and masked. They pushed me up against a car and made it very clear in a threatening manner that I was not welcome, and they also switched off my recording on my phone. It was quite unpleasant. Before the situation escalated completely, another participant stepped in between me and the group of young people to help me ‘to safety’. I then left the gathering with a couple of angry participants on my heels. Afterwards I spoke with the police, who noted the incident, and shortly afterwards I went home again. It is sad that in certain environments people behave like this towards journalists.”

Unfortunately, it sounds familiar.