Heretics' almanac

Defamation and antisemitism

As I've mentioned before, SOS Rasisme in Norway is threatening to press charges of defamation against Demokratene and anyone else who accuses the organization of being antisemitic.  In correspondence with me, the organization has said that it feels it must defend itself vigorously against such charges.

It is indeed understandable that an organization founded to combat racism and bigotry must resist such allegations.  And by all accounts, the leaders of SOS Rasisme are sincerely outraged by the criticism they've been getting.

I'd predict that SOS Rasisme will get more controversy than they bargained for if they press charges.

There are several reasons why, keeping in mind that I am not a lawyer:

More Kristallnacht ruckus

So, I wrote an e-mail to the group that arranges the Kristallnacht commemoration in Oslo each year, making the following points:

• Kristallnacht concerns not only Jews, but it concerns Jews especially.  Since Israel was founded on the ashes of European Jewry, it would be naive and possibly revisionistic to ban Israeli flags from the commemoration.
• Bigotry knows no ideological boundaries, and it is time that anti-racist groups seriously examine racism on the left as well as the right.

Then I get a letter that was probably sent to everyone:

Update on Kristallnacht in Oslo

The organization that arranged the Kristallnacht - SOS Rasisme - categorically refute the notion that Jews were prevented from participating in the Kristallnacht march in Oslo two days ago.

The story - as they explain it - is that three "half-brown" extremist groups were banned from participating, among them a newish political party, Demokratene (the Democrats), as well as the organizations Forum mot Islamisering (Forum Against Islamization), and Norsk Israelsenter (Norwegian Israel Center). 

As far as I can tell, these three organizations are supportive of Israel and against Islamic influence of (and immigration to) Norway.  The synagogue in Oslo expelled two of their members who are part of Norsk Israelsenter because of their affiliation with Demokratene and Forum mot Islamisering. 

SOS Rasisme says that the Jewish community in Norway was invited to participated in the march.  In a press release, the synagogue board "deplores that representatives from the both the extreme left and right use [the anniversary of Kristallnacht] for political purposes," pointing out that the congregation has chosen to stay away from the march the last few years for this reason.

So, which is it?

Fighting words on Kristallnacht in Oslo

With TOH to Elise Conradi: Bruce Bawer wrote to Andrew Sullivan, telling him about last night's march in Oslo commemorating Kristallnacht.  It's a good thing that Kristallnacht is commemorated, but there's a twist in the way it's done in Oslo:

No Jews were allowed.

Well, no Jews that were visibly Jewish, anyway.  The Oslo police thought that Stars of David, Israeli flags, etc., were simply too provocative and turned back anyone carrying them.  Without a doubt, a Jew who carried a Hamas flag or wore a kaffiyeh would be welcomed with open arms.

The irony boggles the mind: Kristallnacht happened in large part because German authorities refused to protect Jews against violence from fanatics and bullies.  It appears that the Norwegian authorities in practice wanted to avoid a reënactment of Kristallnacht.

This is not all that unusual in Norway: Wearers of jewelry with Stars of David are regularly told to take it off lest they provoke violence.  My suggestion would be that in place of jewelry they start wearing yellow badges shaped like Stars of David, with the word "Jude" written in it.  Maybe the irony would sink in then.

Is Paul Peru a fool or a knave?

A fellow who identifies himself as Paul Peru has posted his opinion on antisemitism in Scandinavia, helpfully in Norwegian. It would take too much time to translate his entire post here, but his point of view is so common yet so full of fallacies that it requires some attention.

NRK must come clean

As discussed several times before, the state-run Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) created a blatantly misleading news report with decidedly antisemitic undertones that it stubbornly defends.

Ester Kristoffersen, the woman arguably defamed by this report, has asked the network to make public the raw footage of the report, so that independent experts can assess the extent to which the report conveys anything remotely resembling what she and others said and did in the report.

NRK refuses, claiming that it doesn't understand the usefulness of such footage. A tacit admission of guilt, if you ask me.

There are two issues to consider:

In Norway and Sweden: no such thing as antisemitism

Norway and Sweden have a pretty decent record of not killing people who are different from the vast, homogenous majority who are Lutheran, white, ethnically Norwegian, and politically just a little left of center. Sure, there is a tendency to differentiate between "Norwegians" and, say, "Muslims," and the Sami people were treated like crap for too long; and gypsies are still ostracized. But very little killing, and even the discrimination has its bounds, if the person being discriminated against can earn his or her right to be different.

Not only that, but these are countries that have made racism illegal. Politicians will tell you with a straight face that it is punishable by law to be a racist in Norway. Pressed on the issue, they'll concede they're not talking about mind control but rather restrictions on speech.

And that takes care of that. There may be a few residual racists in Norway and Sweden, but they're all part of the (right wing) lunatic fringe.

So when Norwegian journalists, politicians, and other local experts are confronted with charges of antisemitism, they 1) are offended by the mere suggestion (victims of bigotry have no business making the charge); and 2) make the following argument:

Update on Der Norwegian Broadcasting Stürmer

Now that Bjørn Stærk has gone through the trouble of translating the NRK report I previously, well, condemned in this blog, I'd like to dwell on one particular point the reporter made:

Eirik Veum: "50 years later much has changed. It is now Palestinians who receive support and sympathy. This is what the network wants to change."

By the way, the "network" is a fabrication - it's a result of the reporter putting words in the mouth of some of the people he interviewed and imagining a conspiracy with the Israeli embassy in the middle.

But my main point is this: What makes these people think that being pro-Israel is incompatible with having sympathy for the Palestinians?

I can't speak for all the various (and notably disorganized) pro-Israeli groups in Norway, but I think it's safe to assume that they are trying to change the anti-Israeli attitudes. I don't think even Kach's goal is to increase Palestinian suffering - yes, they want to forcibly transfer Arabs out of the West Bank and Gaza, and yes, they advocate lots of "armed resistance;" but only to the extent that they believe it will make Israel more secure.

Der Norwegian Broadcasting Stürmer

In the category of "lame but disturbingly effective ways to malign Israel and Jews in general," the state-owned Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation recently aired a documentary about the pro-Israel activists in Norway, concluding - or rather precluding that it's not unlike a conspiracy of fundamentalist, end-of-day Christians run by devious, shadowy Jews at the Israeli embassy in Oslo.

I am one of the "pro-Israel" (though I rather think that peace should be of some passing interest to Palestinians as well) Norwegians, and I am not Christian nor particularly fundamentalist, and the Israeli embassy in Oslo won't respond to my e-mails even when I ask questions.

Remember Newsradio? That much admired but too little viewed TV show with Phil Hartman? Remember when he bumped into Jerry Seinfeld and interviewed him, only to edit the responses so as to distort not only what Seinfeld meant but what he actually said?