Norway

New York comes to Scandinavia

Jenni Frazer — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 17:20:00 +0000

Boston-born Derek B Miller is a senior fellow with the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, with a slew of security-based academic degrees behind him. It is an unlikely background for the writer of one of the best novels of the year, the majestic Norwegian by Night, starring the magnetic, 82-year-old hero, Sheldon Horowitz.

Horowitz, an ex-marine, is a man brimming with memory and regret. With great reluctance, he has moved to Oslo to live with his granddaughter Rhea and her husband, Lars. It is not a good fit. Sheldon and his late wife, Mabel, brought up Rhea after her father, Sheldon’s son Saul, was killed in Vietnam but Sheldon, at the opening of the novel, seems profoundly out of place. He is an old New York Jew, and Oslo is, to put it mildly, not his milieu.

But then something happens to upset the Norwegian applecart. In the apartment complex where Sheldon lives, a woman is murdered. He rescues the woman’s six-year-old son and goes on the run with him in one of the most improbable link-ups in fiction, drawing deeply on his experience of 50 years earlier when he was a marine in Korea.

En route, we learn a great deal about Sheldon’s relationship with his late son, his guilt and despair at his loss and that of Mabel. She had been sure that Sheldon had dementia. The reader knows better.

We also learn of Sheldon’s passionate Jewish identity, Miller craftily introducing the subject into the mouths of Norwegian policemen, almost none of whom has ever encountered a Jew.

Norwegian by Night is much more than an enjoyable thriller. It is a beautifully written tale of loss and love and, in Sheldon Horowitz, Miller has created an outstanding, if unlikely, hero.

Norway police apologise for Holocaust deportation

Zoe Winograd — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:01:25 +0000

Norwegian police have apologised for sending over 750 Jews to concentration camps during the Holocaust.

On the 70th anniversary of the first deportation of 532 Jews on the SS Donau, police chief Odd Reidar Humlegaard said: "I want to apologise on behalf of the Norwegian police and those who were responsible for carrying out the deportation of Norwegian Jews to concentration camps."

"I express my regret for the role police played in the arrest and deportation of these completely innocent victims."

This gesture comes two months after Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg made a formal apology.

Samuel Steinmann, a Norwegian Auschwitz survivor, told news channel TV2 Nyhetskanalen: "That's good to hear, but it was high time for these apologies."

Of the 2,100 Jews who lived in Norway at the start of the Second World War, 772 were deported and only 34 survived.

Classic Cruise Voyage from Bergen to Kirkenes

Liz Gill — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 14:49:45 +0000

The passengers on the Classic Voyage from Bergen to Kirkenes, are normally a self-controlled, restrained sort of group: mostly middle-aged, well-educated professional types, seeking culture and history and the natural world.

Today, however, they are whooping and squealing like a bunch of school kids as they queue up to have the traditional induction of ice cubes ladled down the back of their necks.

Yes, that’s ice cubes down the neck, Not everyone’s idea of a good time but then not everyone has crossed the Arctic Circle and this old sea- faring tradition of dousing passengers this way lives on.

At precisely 07.37:47 our ship sounded its horn as we sailed past the 10 ft tall metal globe on a portside island of Vikingen that marks 66 degrees and 32 minutes latitude, the southernmost point at which the sun never sets at the summer solstice and never rises in the winter one — the Arctic Circle.

The winner of the competition to guess the time of the crossing will get a small prize and the dubious honour of being the first to be ice-doused by “King Neptune”. The rest of us follow, fortified by a hearty breakfast and lured by a shot of something hot, sweet and alcoholic and our Polarsirkel Sertifikat to prove we had been inducted: “Matte hell og lykke folge deg pa denne reise og i all din tid” which means “May good luck and happiness follow you on this voyage and forever after”.

There are some passengers, however, who pay no attention to all this malarkey. For them this is not a cruise ship but their public transport, car ferry and freight carrier. They will be hopping on and off at any of the 34 ports where the ship docks on its 2,900 mile round trip between Bergen and Kirkenes way up by the Russian border. Our ship is named by the founder of the Hurtigruten company, Captain Richard With who launched the Norwegian Coastal Express back in 1893 to serve the communities scattered among the fjords and islands.

The company now has 11 ships with a government contract to provide a year round daily service for 400,000 passengers, 34,000 cars and the equivalent of 10,000 truckloads of freight.

For remote populations it is both a link with the outside world and in winter when the mountain passes and the airports of the far north are closed it can be a lifeline.

Excursions include sea eagle safaris, quad bike tours, fishing expeditions and visits to the Sami people, formerly known as Lapps, to learn about their use of plants as food and medicine.

We did a fantastically exhilarating RIB boat ride where you bang across the waves at 30 knots from the port of Bodo to an area called Saltstraumen which has the world’s most powerful tidal current. It’s caused by millions of gallons of water being squeezed through a 90 mile long and two-mile wide space between two fjords resulting in massive whirlpools.

On the quayside we’ve been kitted out in head-to-toe waterproofs and life jackets and provided with goggles.
These seem a bit excessive until we clear the shelter of the harbour at which point we realise that without them we would barely be able to open our eyes against the force of the wind.

The 10 of us in the inflatable straddle our seats and grip the rails in front of us and as the vessels swirls and spins, soars and dips, the feeling is of riding some wild creature. For those who prefer their fjord experience to be rather more relaxing there is the trip up the spectacular Hjorundfjord which cuts into the massive mountains of the Sunnmore Alps. As we step off at the little village of Urke we’re greeted by a group of children waving flags and singing for us. Then it’s off by bus along one of the country’s narrowest valleys, stopping along the way at the historic Union Hotel, visited among others by Kaiser Wilhelm II and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. We also take in a lake caused when an avalanche blocked the river where you can still see drowned dwellings; and various dramatic rock formations named after Queen Victoria and polar explorer Roald Amundsen.

On the first day of a Hurtigruten cruise the scenery seems breathtakingly beautiful and special. It’s only when you’ve been sailing for a while that you realise that splendour is not rare. On the contrary it is everywhere you look: dramatic jagged mountains, snow-capped peaks, glaciers, waterfalls, hillsides covered with trees in every autumnal shade, clearings dotted with little red wooden houses with grass roofs and fishing piers and all, on days of limpid light, perfectly mirrored in waters as smooth and dark as molten liquorice.

For although bad weather is not unknown — the captain has experienced waves over 30 ft high — the time spent in the open sea is limited to a couple of hours at a stretch. Mostly the ship slips along sounds, the stretches of water between islands on one side and the mainland on the other.

The shore is rarely out of sight and though I sometimes put acupressure travel bands on my wrists, I never felt a moment’s queasiness.

Breakfast and lunch are lavish buffets and dinner is three courses often with a regional theme like grilled stockfish (dried for three months, matured for two, soaked for a week), poached Arctic char or the Norwegian blue cheese selbu bla with cloudberry.

We have tasted these sweet golden berries earlier when a market trader gave us a sample during a walking tour of Trondheim, the third largest city in Norway after Oslo and Bergen with a population of around 165,000 and a history going back to 997. It is home to the second most northerly synagogue in the world, which also houses a Jewish museum and a memorial to those who perished in World War II.

Just across the road is the great Gothic Nidaros Cathedral. It dates back to mediaeval times but its statues and gargoyles were restored and in some cases recreated at the end of the 20th century. Sculptors were allowed some artistic licence with the result that the St Michael who stands atop the north tower has the face of Bob Dylan.

Back on board the emphasis is on peace and quiet and apart from a piano player in the evening in the bar there are no activities or entertainments for the 600 or so guests, so it is a good idea to bring plenty to read, downloads or dvds for a laptop, playing cards, knitting or needlework as lots of people seem to have done.

Alternatively you can just cruise ‘n’ snooze. The exception to the peace and quiet is when the ship docks in the middle of the night which can be extremely noisy for the aft cabins. Guests are warned in advance which are affected and can book accordingly. I stuck with mine because, for me, being woken briefly at 2am or 4am to peep out of a porthole to see the lights and harbour- side activity of some far flung place just added to the sense that this was no ordinary voyage.

Norway rejects medal for anti-Israel activist

Anna Sheinman — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:30:25 +0000

A well-known Norwegian activist who has advocated Arab terrorism against the state of Israel has had a prestigious award withdrawn by the state of Norway.

Trond Ali Linstad was nominated to receive Norway’s Royal Medal of Merit, which recognises service in the fields of art, science and industry, and outstanding public service.

The award was to recognise his work in promoting education for immigrants. He is the founder of Urtehagen, an Islamic charity that runs nurseries and educational programmes for women.

However, he warns on his website that his readers should “beware of the Jews” and alleges that Jews have control over the media and in politics. He refers to violence against Israel as a “great success” and frequently uses the term “Kharibat Khybar!” which the US-based Anti Defamation League states is: “a recognised jihadist term for violence against Jews in the context of anti-Israel actions”.

The medal was due to be awarded on Tuesday by Oslo Mayor Fabian Stang on behalf of the King of Norway, Harald V. “I usually award the king’s service medals with pleasure, but in this case I evaluated it as problematic,” Mayor Stang told Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten.

Norwegian anti-Israel activist has national award rescinded

Anna Sheinman — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:44:21 +0000

A well known Norwegian activist who has advocated Arab terrorism against the state of Israel has had a prestigious award withdrawn by the state of Norway.

Trond Ali Linstad was nominated to receive Norway's Royal Medal of Merit, which recognises service in the fields of art, science and industry and outstanding public service.

The award was to recognise his work in promoting education for immigrants. He is the founder of Urtehagen, an Islamic charity that runs nurseries and educational programmes for women.

However, he warns on his website that his readers should be “beware of the Jews” and writes about the control Jews have over the media and politics. He defends violence against Israel as a “great success” and frequently uses the term "Kharibat Khybar!” which the US based Anti Defamation League states is: “a recognized jihadist term for violence against Jews in the context of anti-Israel actions”.

In Norway, plan hatched for 'symbolic' circumcision

Zoe Winograd — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:48:01 +0100

Norway’s ombudsman for children’s rights has proposed that Jews and Muslims replace male circumcision with a non-surgical ritual.

Dr Anne Lindboe, ombudsman and paediatrician, told the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten last month that male circumcision is a violation of a person’s rights over their own body. She said: “Muslim and Jewish children are entitled to the same protection as all other children.”

Her statement came after the Norwegian Ministry of Health proposed earlier this year that circumcision should only take place in state hospitals.

“There are no health reasons for doing this procedure. It is wrong to do a surgical procedure on a healthy child,” Dr Lindboe said.

“You should not circumcise boys before they reach an age to make the decision themselves… I think we need to find other rituals for a young boy,” she said.

Ervin Kohn, President of the Oslo Jewish Community, said: “Circumcision is a religious mitzvah, it is a commandment, it is the most important Jewish factor we have. The Jewish community can not remain in existence if circumcision is banned.”

What is Norway's Jewish problem?

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:12:30 +0100

Recent events in Norway — a peaceful Scandinavian country which prides itself on championing universal human rights, tolerance and democracy — hold troubling messages for Israel and Jews.

A recent survey conducted by the Oslo-based Centre for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities found that more than one third of Norwegians polled believe that Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians is comparable to the Nazis’ treatment of Jews. Slightly more than half felt that Jews either exploit the Holocaust or have a superiority complex. Last week, a Norwegian pupil was branded with a hot coin on his neck at school, allegedly because his father is an Israeli. When the school refrained from taking disciplinary action, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre complained to the Norwegian Minister of Justice, Grete Faremo.

It should be remembered that overt forms of antisemitic physical violence in Norway are the exception, not the rule. However, Oslo’s recent anti-Zionist and antisemitic attitudes have no doubt contributed to an increasingly prejudicial climate which could explain a rise in hate crimes.

In the past decade, Norwegian leaders and corporate CEOs have demonstrated a proclivity for singling out Israel for unfair treatment, while exhibiting antisemitic traits. Politicians have equated Israel’s behaviour with Nazism; called for anti-Israel boycotts (while not advocating boycotting other nations); and one politician appeared to mimic Hamas or Hizbollah rhetoric by proposing that the United Nations launch “precision-guided missiles at Israeli targets”.

A Norwegian University unsuccessfully attempted to impose a boycott against Israeli universities in 2009. In October 2010, the Norwegian government banned a German shipbuilder from testing its submarines in Norwegian waters because the subs were being purchased by Israel.

The CEO of a leading pharmaceutical chain in Norway boycotted Ahava cosmetics because they are manufactured in the West Bank. Apparently it is immoral to purchase products from Israeli occupied territory, but the same rules do not apply to other nations with territorial disputes — for example, Turkey’s occupation of Northern Cyprus, Russia’s occupation of the Kuril Islands and China’s occupation of Tibet.

On April 30, 2012, I wrote an article in the Jerusalem Post about this pattern of hypocrisy, entitled What People of Conscience Need to Know about Norway.

On May 9, Svein Sevje, the Norwegian Ambassador to Israel, wrote an official response to my op-ed. At no point did he state that what I wrote was factually incorrect. Rather, he asserted that my remarks were taken out context, even though the facts are indisputable. Many of the ambassador’s comments reinforced my argument that Oslo has tolerated an atmosphere of singling out Israel, applies a double standard and equates Israeli behaviour with Nazism — actions defined by the European Union as a manifestation of antisemitism.
Israel has gone to the extent of announcing a Arab Druze envoy, Naim Araidi, for Oslo in order to combat its ‘Nazi’ reputation there. Mr Araidi is yet to take up his post.

During the past week, two events have occurred which, taken together, reinforce my argument.
First, the Norwegian Pension Fund Global announced that they would no longer invest in an Israeli construction company as it is involved in projects in East Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities forced a woman who was in her seventh month of pregnancy to have an abortion.

Will the ethics board in Oslo now boycott Chinese goods or divest Chinese stocks from their portfolio? We will be watching this closely.

Professor links Mossad to Breivik massacre

Jessica Elgot — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:57:48 +0100

A Norwegian professor dubbed "the father of peace studies" has attempted to link Utoya murderer Anders Breivik's massacre with Israeli intelligence.

Johan Galtung reportedly made antisemitic and anti-Israel remarks during his lecture at Oslo University, recommending that his students read The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Professor Galtung, founder of the Peace Research Institute, suggested that because Breivik had alleged ties to Freemasons, he was in some way connected to Israel, Jews and Zionism.

He also mentioned the theory that the bomb attack in Oslo and gun massacre on Utoya Island, perpetrated by Breivik, were committed on July 22 – the same day as the attack on the King David Hotel in 1946. "Random? hardly," Professor Galtung observed.

A report of the lecture from journalist John Faerseth and a rebuttal by Professor Galtung were published on the website of the Norwegian periodical Humanist.

Professor Galtung later told Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz: "I consider the Mossad [link] highly unlikely, but it is illegitimate to eliminate it as a hypothesis with no evidence." Other claims he made included theories that "six Jewish companies control 96 per cent of the media" and "70 per cent of the professors at the 20 most important American universities are Jewish."

Also in the Norwegian press this week was the former head of the English Defence League's Jewish Division, criticised for expressing solidarity with Breivik's anti-Islamic motivation.

Dagbladet, one of Norway's biggest newspapers, claimed that Roberta Moore, now the self-styled "head of the Jewish Defence League UK", had posted on the Four Freedoms community website that Breivik "missed one" when he did not kill Eskil Pedersen, leader of the Norwegian Labour party's youth wing.

She told the JC: "If posing a hypothetical philosophical moral dilemma regarding a choice about who would be given escape, my opinion is that he was the least deserving of escape."

In a post on Ms Moore's website JDL UK, entitled "Breivik is not alone" written by "the JDL team", the blog said: "I personally do not think Breivik is evil."

Although the article conceded Breivik committed a "heinous crime", it continued: "There are thousands of people in this planet that think exactly like Breivik. Many people are fed up with the way our governments are ignoring the people's complaints.

"... This is what happens when animals are cornered. A cornered animal is a dangerous animal. I must remind the reader that the crimes committed by Muslims are far more gruesome than the one committed by Breivik. And that is not just my opinion, but a factual observation."