Irony: Norwegian campers were taught to hate
It seems that no matter what the topic, news story, fashion, rage, epic disaster or front headline, the tiny state of Israel can be found meandering through the narrative. With the case of the Norway massacre, the Jewish State went from having no part in the event, to offering condolences, to then finding itself front and center in an international debate.
The controversial discussions stem from various circumstances including:
1. The gunman being a white supremacist racist, an anti-Muslim activist and a possible pro-Zionist.
2. Norway’s strong support against what they call Israel’s “occupation” of the “Palestinian people.”
3. Norway’s trade union federation divesting from Israeli companies.
4. Norway’s arms ban to Israel.
5. More ironically poignant and specific to the matter, the “boycott Israel” banner held by children at the camp in front of Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, one day before the shooting.
Certainly within Israel, emotions were complicated and conflicted as reports surfaced telling of anti-Semitic lessons being taught at the children’s camp, including games, which involved acting out the breaking of the Gaza blockade. But following the details of the bloody episode and hearing about the man behind the bombing and the killings, feelings changed. “At first, many Israelis reacted with they got what they deserved,” said Adi Gold, New York Bureau Chief for the Yediot Ahronot, Israel’s largest newspaper. “But when people heard the killer wasn’t just some psycho killer and possibly pro-Israel, their reaction was muted by the depth of the tragedy and its details.”
Norway, which has not shown sympathy to the plight of the ongoing terror against the Jewish people within Israel and worldwide, faced a taste of Israeli life. “Israel’s basic human reaction is always to help people,” Gold said. “In this case it is also true, but there is also the matter that Norway experienced the sadness we deal with on a regular basis.”
Blogs and numerous online comments were sated with discussions that teetered on the politically incorrect to the apologetic sensitivity surrounding the killing of young people who were involved in hate themselves. Blogmacracy.com noted, “When the shooting began, some thought it was a simulation of what they are taught Israel does in Gaza.” The website of the Australian Broadcasting Company quoted a surviving camper Adrian Pracon saying, “Many people think on the island that it was a test ... comparing it to how it is to live in Gaza. So many people went to him and tried to talk to him, but they were shot immediately.”
Anonymous Internet comments illustrated the cynicism of some of the population. “If they were simulating a Palestinian state then they should give the murderer Breivik a Nobel Peace Prize just like they did Arafat.” One comment was linked to a Wikipedia page “Antisemitism in Norway” which includes descriptions of Norwegian society’s degradation of Jews in the Middles Ages, Norway’s collaboration in the mass murder of Jews during the Holocaust and the present day Norwegian government’s push to ban shechitah, the Jewish ritual slaughter of kosher animals.
Publically, all official Israeli comments have been offered with utmost diplomacy. “We in Israel followed what was going on in Norway over the weekend and the harm to innocents broke our hearts,” President Shimon Peres told Norwegian King Harald V. “This is a tragedy that hurts and touches every human being.” While the Israel Foreign Ministry offered Oslo assistance without any historical commentary, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement hinted at the true history and ongoing life of Israeli citizens, “We have experienced it from other directions and we know the families’ and the nation’s agony. Therefore, I again send the condolences of the state, government and people of Israel to the Norwegian people, state and government.”
Although the story of the Norway camp massacre was prominent in Israeli media, the socio-economic discussion throughout the country has still led in importance. “The big story in Israel are the tents being set up throughout the country protesting the high housing costs,” Gold said. “People are not necessarily paying attention to anything else; Israeli’s only know that Norway is against Israel; and the Norwegians don’t know anything about Israel; ultimately it’s really a shame that people died for nothing.”
