Breivik giving a Nazi salute in court.
Unite Against Fascism (UAF)
welcomes the guilty verdict handed down to racist mass murderer Anders
Breivik by a Norwegian court. The verdict that Breivik was “not insane”
means that the far-right cannot dodge its responsibility by claiming
that its virulent anti-Muslim racism and anti-immigrant rhetoric played
no part in Breivik actions.
Weyman Bennett, joint secretary of UAF, said:
Our
thoughts at this moment are with the families of Breivik’s victims. We
hope that the guilty verdict will help ease the deep pain they are
feeling. Too many of our young people — black, white, Asian — have
fallen victim to the hatred spouted by the fascists and the far-right
parties.
We believe that all those who
are deeply repulsed by Breivik’s actions, and the politics of hate that
he represents, should stand together to say ‘Never Again’. We are united
in our condemnation of racism and fascism, and condemn those in the
mainstream parties who are attempting to make political capital by
echoing the far right’s dangerous anti-migrant and anti-Muslim
rhetoric.”
UAF’s Unity Magazine spoke to
Norwegian anti-racism campaigners before the guilty verdict was known.
They spelt out the significance of the trial, and why Breivik actions
were politically motivated.
On 22 July 2011, Breivik set
off a car bomb in central Oslo, the capital of Norway, killing eight
people and injuring at least 209, many of them seriously.
As
authorities struggled to cope with the devastation, Breivik headed off
to a Norwegian Labour Party youth camp on the tiny island of Utoeya
where he gunned down 69 young people in a rampage that has left a deep
scar on the country.
This was a political massacre. These young people Breivik gunned down were killed for their ideas.
Breivik
used his trial as a platform to spout his hatred of immigrants, Muslims
and multiculturalism. While his defence team has attempted to write off
his actions as that of a “madman”.
His case has come to symbolise
growing fears over the influence of far-right groups, Islamophobia and a
new breed of fascism in Europe.
This was not the first racist
murder in Norway, but the scale of the killings revealed the depth to
which debate about immigration has plummeted.
In 2001 a group of
neo-Nazis called the “Boot Boys” murdered black teenager Benjamin
Labaran Hermansen. Some 40,000 people protested in one of the biggest
demonstrations in Norway’s history. That popular protest killed off the
chances for the neo-Nazis groups to grow at the time.
Racist rhetoric
But over the following decade far-right parties gradually began to
dominate the debate over immigration and the harsh tones of
anti-immigrant as well as anti-Muslim rhetoric became more acceptable.
Kari Helene Partapooli and
Shoaib Sultan are from the
Antirasistisk Senter (anti-racism centre) in Oslo.
Kari
said: “The way we see it, the Breivik trial is not the breakthrough we
were hoping for. Among ordinary people attitudes are changing, but not
for those in power.
“The temperature in the debate over
immigration has gone down, and people are more careful in what they say.
In the upcoming elections they will be more nuanced in how they frame
their message so as to distance themselves from Breivik.”
Shoaib
said: “The influence of the far-right is now widespread, but they have
softened their language, especially among some of the better-known
figures.
“But they are testing the waters, and there has been a
return to some of the unpleasant pre-22 July language — that
multiculturalism and immigration is a problem, and that the government
is to blame.“
Norway is a big country with a tiny population. It
has vast oil reserves and unemployment hovers at 3 percent. On the
surface it has few of the problems facing other countries.
Yet, Islamophobia has been gaining ground. Norway has become an “echo chamber” for the far-right ideas sweeping Europe.
EDL links
In his “manifesto”, Breivik praised the English Defence League (EDL)
and other anti-Muslim groups. He drew inspiration from Islamophobic
rhetoric, as well as the standard fascist imagery and myths.
Although Breivik’s ideas are from the fringes of the extreme right, the racism that he preaches has become acceptable in Norway.
Kari believes that the insanity plea will allow the right wing to dissociate themselves from his actions.
“In
2008 there was an attack on a Somali centre, the perpetrators said they
were influenced by articles on immigration in the local media. But the
man who murdered a Somali migrant was simply declared ‘insane’.”
“The
right wing will be very pleased if the court finds Breivik insane. They
can say it is not his ‘ideas’ that lead him to his actions. But what is
clear is that he is not confused, and he is clear in his politics.”
Islamophobia
constantly seeps into the mainstream, and 2009 was one of the worst
years. A survey of the media in the national elections found that the
word “Muslim” received more mentions than “prime minister”. All of it
was negative.
The biggest group of immigrants to Norway are from
Sweden, followed by those from Poland and other eastern European
countries. But the debate about migration focuses mainly on those from
Muslim or African countries.
“We must remember that there are only
100,000 Muslims in Norway out of half a million immigrants, in a
country of five million people,” Kari said.
Backlash
The trial exposed the breadth of these racist ideas, but it also
created a backlash, with more people questioning the anti-immigrant
rhetoric.
Shoaib said, “A small campaign called Tea Time, where
immigrant communities invited their Norwegian neighbours for tea,
suddenly became very popular and very significant.
“What the
far-right need is the illusion that they are bigger than they are. Let
us not miss the big picture that the majority of people in Norway do not
agree with these groups.”
Two incidents during the trial
dramatically illustrated the scale of this backlash. During the trial
one of the victim’s relatives threw a shoe at Breivik. The act was full
of symbolism.
This “Arab insult” (made famous when an Iraqi threw
his shoe at US President George Bush) has become a popular expression of
disgust at acts of tyranny.
One relative said after the incident,
“I am pleased that we can express our love for each other. But when and
where can we express our anger?”
The second incident was when it
emerged that Breivik hated the popular 1970s pop hit Children of the
Rainbow. Tens of thousands of people descended on central Oslo to sing
the song. It was an emotional act of mass rejection of Breivik and all
he stood for. This popular sentiment fed a growing anti-racist movement.
In
June the Norwegian branch of the EDL attempted to hold a demonstration
in a small town of Stavanger. Only 30 turned up, to be met by a
counter-demonstration of 800 people.
As the trial draws to its
conclusion, many Norwegians are determined that the ideas Breivik
represents are pushed back into the gutter.
The 22 July massacre
serves as a warning of right-wing terrorism feeding off the toxic mix of
anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant racism.
‘We need to ask more questions’ ROY
Pederson is head of Oslo’s Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions
(LO). He spoke to Unity Magazine on the trade union response to the
massacre.
‘The events of 22 July were a shock to all of us.
No-one expected such things to happen. Now we are asking what can be
done to prevent this happening again.
Breivik is a neo-fascist. Many people dismiss his actions as “insane” and refuse to challenge his political views.
But it is important that we challenge Islamophobia, that the “immigrants are taking over”, as well as other such myths.
We
have to tackle the inequality and low wages, and we need to work harder
to organise immigrant workers. We need to raise questions over the
impact of the “soft neo-liberal” policies on our country, especially as
we are rich in resources and our country is growing fast.
Instead we should be helping immigrants get access to learning Norwegian and work on integration in our schools.
At
the heart of this is the attempts to divide people. So our fight
against racism is also one for a better solution for us all.’
ASBO Margaret Walker
Since
then, the racist street movement has been dogged by splits and internal
fighting, with one faction known as the “Infidels” distributing a
leaflet that accused EDL leader Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen
Yaxley-Lennon) of being a “pedophile” after he described a 15-year-old
Muslim woman as “fit” on his twitter account.