The Christian Democratic Party’s Joel Ystebø is demanding answers from Minister Sigrun Aasland regarding NTNU Professor Bassam Hussein’s praise of terror.
In Ystebø’s question to the Storting question period, he asks the Minister of Research and Higher Education, Aasland, for her assessment of Professor Hussein, as a university employee, referring to the terror attack against Israel on 7 October 2023 as “the most beautiful thing that has happened in our century”.
NTNU professor on the October 7 Pogrom: “The most beautiful thing that has happened”
Aasland’s response is not expected before Wednesday 13 May at the earliest. The agenda for tomorrow’s question period is already fully packed.
The minister is moreover participating today, Tuesday 5 May, in the Ahmadiyya Muslims’ “Constitution Dinner” at the Baitun Nasr Mosque in Furuset in Oslo.
Document was the first to report the news of Hussein’s characterisation of the terror attack, a matter later picked up by, among others, Universitetsavisa, The Jerusalem Post, VG, Aftenposten, Adresseavisen, Vårt Land, Dagen, Utrop, MIFF, NRK and NTB.
To NRK yesterday, Hussein expressed the view that he believes there has been “an exaggerated focus on the use of an adjective”.
– Has a particular responsibility
In the justification for the question to Aasland, Ystebø refers to the fact that Hussein’s statement has provoked major reactions and received international attention.
He writes:
To describe a terror attack, in which a large number of civilians were killed, as “the most beautiful thing that has happened in our century”, is rightly perceived as a legitimisation or glorification of terror.
Universities have a particular responsibility to steward knowledge, promote critical thinking and contribute to ethical reflection. When an employee at such an institution makes this type of statement, it raises questions concerning where the boundaries lie for statements by employees in academia.
The KrF representative, who sits on the Education and Research Committee in the Storting, believes the matter has significance for trust in Norwegian universities:
– It is therefore relevant to clarify how the minister assesses such statements, and whether there is a need for measures or clearer guidelines.
– No connection
Joel Ystebø said in an interview with Henrik Beckheim on Monday that he expects a clear and unequivocal condemnation of the statement from the leadership at NTNU, and that a personnel case be opened against Hussein.
But Rector Tor Grande at NTNU will not condemn the statement. He emphasises that Professor Hussein participated in the meeting in a private capacity.
– NTNU was not the organiser and Hussein did not represent NTNU at this meeting. The topic of his contribution also had no connection with his teaching and research at the university, Grande writes in an email to NRK.
– General freedom of expression stands strong in Norway, and it gives Hussein, like other citizens, the freedom to express his opinions, so long as they fall within the broad framework established by Norwegian law, writes the rector.
For the time being, the matter will have no consequences for the professor’s employment relationship.
– No, not with the knowledge we currently have regarding the matter. Whether the statement breaches Norwegian law will be for the courts to assess, says Grande to MIFF (Med Israel for fred).
Admission
In his simultaneous response to Document on 1 May, Hussein avoided answering specifically the question of how he defends the statement.
Instead, he replied that 7 October “is the single most important turning point in our history in Palestine and in the Levant, for very many reasons”, and that he “does not view 7 October as either a victory or a triumph, considering the number of innocent people killed – not only on 7 October, but also after 7 October”.
To Adresseavisen four days later, Hussein was more humble and admitted that he could have chosen a different adjective than “beautiful”.
– Let me emphasise that the loss of civilian life is deeply tragic, without the slightest trace of anything beautiful. It should never be romanticised, he replied at that time.
In 2024 Hussein told Adresseavisen that Israel does not have the right to exist: