A powerful account from the Christian Democratic Party (KrF)’s politician Joel Ystebø illustrates how serious the situation is for Jews in Norway, particularly for the children who are met by police with machine guns every time they go to nursery school.

I condemn the hateful messages directed at AUF leader Gaute Skjervø. Threats, doxxing, wishes for violence and references to 22 July are repulsive and have no place in a civilised society. No one should live in fear because of their political views.

And neither should anyone live in fear because of their origin and religion.

But that is precisely what the small Jewish community in Norway does, those who have not already fled the country. Every single day. That is the real scandal.

Gaute Skjervø, his party and large parts of the Left in Norway are, in my opinion, jointly responsible for having created and maintained a climate in which Jews live in fear.

Jews do not dare display visible religious symbols in the street, many conceal their identity, they are attacked during demonstrations, denied participation in marches on International Women’s Day against violence towards women, and Israeli flags where the Star of David has been replaced with a swastika may be displayed without the authorities intervening.

VG, NRK and other mainstream media eagerly cover hateful statements against figures such as Skjervø, but the problems faced by Jews are largely ignored.

In October 2024, PST raised the terror threat level in Norway from moderate to high. It was above all the threat against Jewish and Israeli targets that was further intensified. In a press release, PST wrote:

There are several negative factors that have intensified the terror threat, including those connected to the ongoing escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

Even PST explains away why Jews and Israel are terror targets. If conflicts in the Middle East are the reason, then surely all people from this region living in Norway should have been exposed to terror threats and attacks. But they are not.

Conflicts exist all over the world, but they ought not to have such a dramatic effect on how one specific group experiences threats in a country such as Norway. Jewish targets are singled out because Norway has become an antisemitic country, possibly among the worst in Europe, together with Ireland and Spain.

In reality, “antisemitism” is not even a strong enough word. It is pure and simple Jew-hatred.

Nowhere was this more obvious during the past week than when a professor at NTNU could deliver a lecture full of coarse attacks on Israel and its people, and describe Hamas’ 7 October massacre in Israel in 2023 as “the most beautiful thing that has happened in this century”, without any noteworthy reaction from the Left.

At the same time, the whole righteous Norway cried “racism” following Hårek Hansen’s drunken comment about Pakistanis. Indeed, even Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre called it pure and simple racism. The same Prime Minister has remained entirely silent regarding Bassam Hussein’s statements. That says everything about the attitude of Støre and the rest of the chorus of outrage towards Jews and Israel, an attitude that seeps into society. The Prime Minister constantly speaks about “our ideological heritage”, but ought to take a look in the mirror.

This is not really the subject of this text, but how many ethnically Norwegian men do the media and the rabid Left intend to destroy? I hope Hårek has good supporters around him. The herd mentality in Norway can break anyone, regardless of how strong one is.

The only politician with enough courage and compassion to raise Bassam Hussein’s statements in the Storting was Joel Ystebø from the Christian Democratic Party. The young, wise and sensible politician was a guest on Henrik Beckheim’s podcast, where he spoke about Hussein’s comments, the hateful chants during the Israel demonstration on Sunday 26 April 2026 at Eidsvolls plass, and the lack of action from police and politicians.

Ystebø had submitted questions to Minister of Justice Astri Aas-Hansen concerning the demonstration. Why has there been no follow-up? Why do the authorities not pursue hateful speech directed at Norway’s most vulnerable minority?

Ystebø pointed out that we have a government that has not realised the seriousness of what such language can lead to. He fears that it contributes to further dehumanisation. Together with the antisemitic statements from the NTNU professor, he described an atmosphere from the 1930s in Norway, a language and a practice accepted by the Norwegian authorities. That ought to concern us all deeply.

Ystebø then recounted a story from a visit to Oslo’s synagogue a few weeks ago. He met Ervin Kohn outside. There was heavy security: police, concrete blocks and barriers. Inside, Kohn pointed to the Jewish nursery school located within the synagogue building.

What struck Ystebø was that this is everyday life for Norwegian Jews, and especially for the children in that nursery school. It made a profound impression on him, because only half an hour earlier he had delivered his own daughter to an ordinary nursery school, without thinking about security for even a second.

“It testifies to how critical the situation is for Jews in Norway,” he said. In that light, it is especially disturbing that only a short walk from the synagogue such hateful chants can resound, and the Minister of Justice cannot even manage to condemn what is being said and done.

Beckheim highlighted the contrast for Norwegian children today: Imagine having to explain to your daughter why there are police officers with machine guns outside the nursery school every morning. “Yes, because there are some people who wish to harm or kill you. And if the police officers were not standing there, we know what would happen.”

The conversation between the two made a strong impression on me as well, especially Ystebø’s story about the nursery school. I still cannot comprehend that this is the Norway I left so many years ago.

No one should escape consequences for wishing that Skjervø had died at Utøya on 22 July. That is a horrific thing to say and must be condemned. But at the same time, individuals and milieus who receive such threats have themselves contributed to creating the climate of fear for Norway’s small Jewish community.

Imagine if someone had stood on a stage and said that 22 July 2011 was “the most beautiful thing that has happened in Norway in this century”. No one would have escaped consequences for that. But praising the slaughter of 1,200 Jews in Israel is apparently acceptable.

That is why Jewish children must be met by police with machine guns every time they go to nursery school.

It is a shameful and deeply tragic situation.

AUF har anmeldt flere hatefulle meldinger – leder Gaute Skjervø har voldsalarm