– The situation is now so serious that part of the Jewish population feels compelled to conceal its identity.
On Tuesday, 26 May, the HL Centre published the report: Jewish Life and Antisemitism in Norway: Overview of Knowledge, Jewish Experiences after 7 October 2023, and Research Needs. The report, which the Centre Against Antisemitism has subjected to a thorough review, comprises a total of 54 pages and is supported by extensive source material. The data foundation is based on interviews with approximately 100 Jewish respondents from different geographical regions of Norway and across various age groups. These individuals describe, in their own words, their personal experiences of living as Jews in Norway both before and after the massacre of 7 October.
On the basis of this material, aspects such as the shared responsibility of politicians and the media for the troubling increase in hatred of Jews and the growing acceptance of it within Norwegian society are highlighted. The situation is now so serious that part of the Jewish population feels compelled to conceal its identity. The statement by the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Bjørnar Skjæran, once again illustrates what we had already observed: There exists a lack of ability and/or willingness among some of our elected representatives to acknowledge the political responsibility they bear for the spread of contemporary antisemitism. Among other things, the minister states the following:
” … It is serious that Jews in Norway experience insecurity and a sense of standing alone; I am particularly concerned that Jewish schoolchildren are so vulnerable. We all have a responsibility to counter antisemitism. This is a societal responsibility, and this report shows us that we must continue to strengthen our efforts against antisemitism. “
It is precisely this type of reaction, with its vague “we”, that the report addresses in the chapter “Absence of Public Support”, page 23:
“The absence of condolences from the King following the terrorist attack of 7 October has acquired important symbolic significance for the majority of the informants. The lack of a public expression of condolences is described as a cause of weakened trust in wider society and an intensified feeling of being ‘outside’. Some informants describe it as ‘the very worst’ betrayal and something one can ‘never forgive’. The story that the government actively prevented the King from offering condolences is interpreted as a failure to recognise a minority in a crisis situation. One informant describes it as a historic rupture:
‘I believe that the Jewish minority in Norway will never forgive it. They will be talking about it in 100 years’ time – the fact that the King was prevented from offering condolences. It was a tremendous mistake on their part. Because condolences are offered to everyone else.’
Informants describe a political silence that is experienced not merely as an absence of support, but as a loss of clear leadership in a period characterised by increased polarisation and insecurity. The Norwegian public sphere is compared with the Swedish and Danish ones, which many perceive as clearer in their condemnation of the Hamas attack and in their warnings against antisemitism.”
The fact that the minister chooses to speak of “concern” and a vague “we” rather than concrete measures underscores exactly what we are missing, and the same applies to the lack of reactions to the statements made by the two NTNU professors.
NTNU Professors Causing Concern
As on several previous occasions, and in the wake of the report from the HL Centre, we are shocked that the majority of today’s politicians still remain silent regarding NTNU professor Bassam Hussein’s praise of the Hamas terror attack. He described the acts as: “the most beautiful thing that has happened in our century.”
Those of us who until now assumed that Bassam Hussein represented the most extreme voice at NTNU were shocked by the outrageous attack published in Universitetsavisa by NTNU professor Antoine Bertrand Rauzy against a Norwegian Jew. The professor’s language is unworthy of an academic. Rauzy levels the most fanciful accusations against Israel – of a kind that any decent person ought to refrain from making. He advances a baseless accusation that this Jew is misusing the Shoah (Holocaust) to criticise Hussein, whom Rauzy describes in highly favourable terms.
Equally revealing is Rauzy’s conspiratorial portrayal of how figures whom he describes as “left-wing activists and leaders”, such as “Lula in Brazil, Jeremy Corbyn in Great Britain, Pablo Iglesias in Spain and Rima Hassan in France, – the list is endless ”, [my emphasis] are allegedly subjected to smear campaigns. This list reveals Rauzy’s standpoint as clearly as his indecent attack on a Norwegian Jew.
Lula da Silva is known for corruption within his own ranks and antisemitic statements that led to a diplomatic crisis in relations with Israel. Following the deterioration in relations with Israel, more than 100 members of the Brazilian parliament, including representatives of coalition parties, voted to impeach Lula.
Jeremy Corbyn, whom the NTNU professor also cites, is undoubtedly one of the most antisemitic figures in recent British political history. In August 2018, it was revealed that during a visit to Tunisia in 2014, Corbyn took part in prayers and laid a wreath at the graves of those who planned the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972. Corbyn has never seen any need to criticise Islamist terrorism, which certainly targets Jews, but to a large extent also Arabs, Muslims, and others. It took a long time before this bitter antisemite was forced to relinquish his position of power, a position he exploited to spread his destructive antisemitism.
Rima Hassan was born and raised in Syria, where the regime has killed up to 650,000 people. Instead of directing her engagement towards the genocides of the Muslim world – in Sudan, Kurdistan, Syria, Afghanistan, or Iran – she chooses, like the aforementioned NTNU professors, to accuse Israel. Hassan was arrested on 2 April, suspected of supporting terrorism, after publishing a post on X in which she quoted the Japanese terrorist Kōzō Okamoto, who led the terrorist cell that carried out the massacre at Lod Airport in Israel. When she was arrested, narcotics were found in her handbag.
The message of Professor Antoine Bertrand Rauzy reminds us of a well-known Jewish saying: Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are.
The friends of Hamas are not found only among NTNU employees. Yesterday we heard about two Hamas supporters who were arrested in Bergen. The two have been charged with involvement in the transfer of weapons to Hamas, for use against Jews in Europe. The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) does not rule out further arrests.
It frightens us that there is still so much silence surrounding the statement that the October massacre is “the most beautiful thing that has happened in our century”. Equally frightening is the fact that people such as NTNU professor Antoine Bertrand Rauzy describe the author of such bestial statements as “caring” and come to his defence. All of this while Rauzy attacks a Jew who dares to express an opinion. No one should be surprised that one of the principal messages of the HL Centre report is precisely that part of the Jewish population feels compelled to conceal its identity.
We must not sleep!