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.

Comments

[Ylving]

>>"No Jews were allowed."

Simply untrue. Several jews participated in the march.

>>"Without a doubt, a Jew who carried a Hamas flag or wore a kaffiyeh would be welcomed with open arms."

Nope, untrue again. Those symbols would have been banned as well. Symbols related to the Israeli - Palistini conflict where the ones banned. This includes the Israeli flag, the Palestinian flag, the Hamas flag among others.

This is a official statemant from before the march.
http://www.sos-rasisme.no/tekst.php?teksti=166

The small group of jews who where turned away, has later been banned from "The Mosaic Religious Body", because of their choice of racist and right-wing extremist companions. Even "The Norwegian Society Against Anti-Semitism" agrees with the decision to turn them away and to keep the Middle-East conflict seperate from this marking.

http://www.sos-rasisme.no/tekst.php?teksti=167

Ylving