Norwegian anti semitism worst in Scandinavia Halal allowed shechita forbidden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_Norway
it's long so i won't post ancient times but heres about a quarter of the article
Early 20th century emerging public opinion
In spite of fears that Norway would be overwhelmed by Jewish immigration following the repeal, only about 25 Jews immigrated to Norway before 1870. Because of pogroms in Czarist Russia, however, the immigration accelerated somewhat in the late 19th and early 20th century. By 1910, there were about 1,000 Jews in Norway.
Though the minority was small and widely dispersed, several stereotypes of Jews gained currency in the Norwegian press and popular literature in the early 20th century. In books by the widely read authors Rudolf Muus and Øvre Richter Frich, in which Jews are described as obsessed with money and sadistic. The attorney Eivind Saxlund published a pamphlet Jøder og Gojim ("Jews and Goyim") in 1910, which was characterized i 1922 as "antisemitic smutt literature' by a writer in Dagbladet. Saxlund sued for libel and lost, but earned the admiration of the newspaper Nationen, who praised Saxlund for fighting "our race war." [21] In 1920, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was published in Norway under the title Den nye verdenskeiser ("The New World Emperor").
Opposition to antisemitic prejudice ran across party lines. Fridtjof Nansen, C J Hambro, and Sverre Støstad held a principled line against it. Primarily, the newspapers Aftenposten and Nationen, as well as Tidens Tegn served as platforms for anti-Jewish sentiments, also on the editorial pages.[citation needed]
More specifically, Jews as a group were characterized - in various contexts - as being:
Unscrupulous merchants and tradespeople - trade associations, including retailers, wholesalers, and craftsmen, were deeply suspicious about what they alleged were immoral, damaging, and even illegal activities from their Jewish competitors. Jewish merchants were various accused of overpricing for items and also dumping, usually for inferior goods. Jews were excluded from guilds and trade associations.
Subersive communists - Jews were often identified with the Bolshevik movement in Russia, this canard being conflated with the capitalist stereotype under the idea that Jewish capitalism was a tool in the service of communism.
Freeloaders - in particular, Norwegian authorities feared that an easing of restrictions on Jewish immigration would lead to an influx of immigrants who were dependent on public assistance, or who would displace employment among non-Jewish Norwegians.
Norwegian immigration policy shifted following World War I to a far more restrictive line, and Jews were particularly singled out. The ministries of justice and foreign affairs were often at odds on the issue of Jewish immigration, but in practice the policy made it difficult for Jews to immigrate or settle in Norway. Restrictions were justified on an economic basis (Jews would either create destructive competition for Norwegian merchants and tradespeople, or freeload on public assistance), political concerns (communists and other subversive elements would create political instability), or general xenophobia against "foreign" groups. Whether the immigration policy was driven by the characterizations above, or vice versa is not clear.
[edit] Shechita controversy
Prejudice against Jews became a focal point in the controversy about the legality of shechita, the Jewish practice of ritual slaughter. The issue had originally been raised in the 1890s, but a municipal ban on the practice in Oslo brought the matter to national attention.
Efforts to ban shechita put well-intended humane society activists in league with antisemitic individuals. In particular, Jonas Søhr, a senior police official, took a particular interest and eventually rose to the leadership of The Norwegian Federation for Animal Protection. The animal rights cause was used as a means to attack not just the method of slaughter, but also the community itself. Those opposing the ban included Fridtjof Nansen, but the division on the issue crossed party lines in all mainstream parties, except the Agrarian Party (today, the Centre Party), which was principled in its opposition to schechita.[22] Protests were raised in the Norwegian press, during the 1890s, against the practice of shechita, on the grounds that it was cruel to animals. The Jewish community responded to these objections by assuring the public that the method was in fact humane.
A committee commissioned on February 11, 1927 consulted numerous experts and visited a slaughterhouse in Copenhagen. Its majority favored a ban and found support in the Department of Agriculture and the parliamentary agriculture committee. Those who opposed a ban spoke of religious tolerance, and also found that schechita was no more inhumane than other slaughter methods. C. J. Hambro was one of those most appalled by the antisemitic invective, noting that "where animal rights are protected to an exaggerated extent, it usually is done with the help of human sacrifice" [23]
The controversy continued until 1929, when the Norwegian parliament banned the practice. The ban remains in force today.[24]
The former chief rabbi of Norway, Michael Melchior, argued that antisemitism is one motive for the bans: "I won't say this is the only motivation, but it's certainly no coincidence that one of the first things Nazi Germany forbade was kosher slaughter. I also know that during the original debate on this issue in Norway, where shechitah has been banned since 1930, one of the parliamentarians said straight out, 'If they don't like it, let them go live somewhere else.'"[25]
Although Halal slaughter has been approved in Norway, the practice of shechita continues to be illegal.[26] Norwegian law requires that animals be sedated before being slaughtered, which is incompatible with shechita.[27][28] (The Norwegian Islamic Council, on the other hand, has found that sedation is compatible with halal rules, provided that the animal's heart is still beating at the time of slaughter.[29]) Representatives of both Muslim and Jewish communities, citing scientific studies, dispute the assertion that traditional halal and kosher slaughtering methods lead to unnecessary animal suffering. Norway's acceptance of hunting, whaling and sealing were also raised as proof of the hypocrisy of the Norwegian position. Minister of Agriculture, Lars Peder Brekk of the Centre Party (which has always rejected shechita, see above), rejected the comparison.[28][30]
Proponents of the continued ban, including officials from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority claimed that animals slaughtered according to shechita were conscious for "several minutes" after they were slaughtered, and writer and farmer Tore Stubberud claimed, apparently without consulting any religious authorities, that animals in Judaism had "no moral status... pure objects for ... archaic, religious needs", and wondered whether the EU, in allowing for such slaughter had become "purely a bank, without values".[31]
Anti-Semite graffiti on shop windows in Oslo in 1941.
[edit] Holocaust
See also: Holocaust in Norway
[edit] Post-World War II
[edit] Current issues
On 7 January 2004, the Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen printed an editorial cartoon that depicted a stereotypical religious Jew rewriting the ten commandments to include "thou shalt murder, kill, liquidate, execute".[32] According to the Israeli Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, this cartoon was antisemitic.
There have been episodes of desecration of the synagogue in Oslo,.[33] On 17 September 2006 the synagogue in Oslo was subjected to attack with an automatic weapon,[34] only days after it was made public that the building had been one the planned target for the Algerian terror group GSPC that had been plotting a bombing campaign in the Norwegian capital.[35] The synagogue in Oslo is under continuous surveillance and protected by barriers. On 2 June 2008 Arfan Qadeer Bhatti was convicted on the shooting attack and given an eight year preventive custody sentence for serious vandalism. The Oslo city court judge could not find sufficient evidence that the shots fired at the synagogue amounted to a terrorist act.[36] In July 2006 during the 2006 Lebanon War the congregation issued an advisory warning Jews not to wear kippot or other identifying items in public for fear of harassment or assault.[37]
In 2008, a symposium held by Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, entitled Behind the Humanitarian Mask: The Nordic Countries, Israel and the Jews, accused Norway and Sweden of institutional racism against Jews.[38] Dr Manfred Gerstenfeld, chairman of the Board of Fellows at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said that "Norway is the most anti-Semitic country in Scandinavia." Former Prime Minister Kåre Willoch responded to the accusations at the symposium by arguing that allegations of antisemitism is a "traditional deflection tactic aimed at diverting attention from the real problem, which is Israel's well-documented and incontestable abuse of Palestinians." [39]
On November 27, 2008 the satirical comedian Otto Jespersen said during a comedy routine on national television that
"I would like to take the opportunity to remember all the billions of fleas and lice that lost their lives in German gas chambers, without having done anything wrong other than settling on persons of Jewish background."
—Otto Jespersen
A Norwegian Jew who himself lost 50 family members during the Holocaust has filed a complaint against Jespersen. A number of fellow comedians and his TV station have backed the controversial performer. Jespersen also presented a satirical monologue on anti-Semitism that ended with, "Finally, I would like to wish all Norwegian Jews a Merry Christmas - no, what am I saying! You don't celebrate Christmas, do you!? It was you who crucified Jesus", on December 4.[40] Jespersen has received criticism for several of his satirical attacks on social and ethnic groups as well as royalty, politicians and celebrities, and in defence of the monologue TV2 noted that Jespersen attacks in all directions, and that "if you should take [the monologue] seriously, there are more than just the Jews that should feel offended." [41]
Also in December 2008, the Norwegian author and journalist Mona Levin claimed Kåre Willoch made a racist statement when his response to the question whether USA were likely to change their Middle East policy was: “It doesn’t look too good, because he has chosen a Chief of Staff who is a Jew, and, as we know, many American voters look much more to the Bible than to the reality of our days — and with a meaninglessly mistaken interpretation of the Bible.” Levin made the accusation of Willoch making a racist statement on a live TV debate, Willoch denied the accusation, and received support from the three other debaters, excluding Levin.[42] Willoch called Levin's allegations a "total distortion of his statements" adding that "This was a purely political assesment of whether this chief of staff will lead to greater or lesser changes in the relationship to the Middle East, and I imagine that it will lead to a more pro-Israel politic from USA.".[43]
In January 2009, a Norwegian non-Jewish pro-Israel protester was attacked by anti-Israel protesters rioting in Oslo. Cries such as "take him, he's a Jew" and "[censored] Jew" were heard. Fortyfive arrests were made, the majority of which were people of foreign descent.[44][45]
In 2009, two articles in Jerusalem Post discussed the alleged rise of anti-semitism in Norway. The articles stirred controversy in Norway, and several notable Norwegian Jews refuted the article. It also received strong criticism for basing the allegations on statements from controversial sources, most notably a source that later turned out to be lying about both his identity and his affiliation with the Norwegian army. The responses from Norwegian Jews led to Jerusalem Post posting a follow up piece called "Inside story: Stumbling in Norway" [46] retracting many of the allegations, and summing up the response from Norwegian Jews:
In general, they say, Norway does not suffer from widespread anti-Semitism. Norwegian Jews are an accepted and respected part of the country. But, they add, there are rare incidents of tension over their Jewishness, usually with children being teased in school or with Muslim immigrants bringing their politics into their day-to-day meetings with Jews.[46]
In April 2011, Alan M. Dershowitz sharply criticized Norway for its treatment of Jews, writing that "All Jews are apparently the same in this country that has done everything in its power to make life in Norway nearly impossible for Jews. Norway was apparently the first modern nation to prohibit the production of Kosher meat, while at the same time permitting Halal meat and encouraging the slaughter of seals, whales and other animals that are protected by international treaties. No wonder less than 1000 Jews live in Norway.[47]
Dershowitz also stated, regarding efforts by Norwegion Academics to institute a boycott of Israelis that while administrations of Norwegion universities "have refused to go along with this form of collective punishment of all Israeli academics... in practice...Jewish pro-Israel speakers are subject to a de facto boycott" and cited this as a reason why the faculties of several Norwegion universities refused to invite him to speak about Israel (although he did subsequently give three lectures at the invitation of student groups). Dershowitz noted that the only other country that prevented him from lecturing at its universities was South Africa during the apartheid era.[48]
In June 2011, a survey by the Oslo Municipality found that 33% per cent of Jewish students Oslo are physically threatened or abused by other high school teens at least two to three times a month (compared to 10% for Buddhists and 5.3% of Muslims) The survey also found that 51% of high school students consider “Jew” a negative expression and 60% had heard other students use the term.[49]
[edit] 2010 Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation report
In 2010, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation reported that antisemitic attitudes were prevalent at some Norwegian schools. Teachers at schools with large shares of Muslims revealed that Muslim students often "praise or admire Adolf Hitler for his killing of Jews", that "Jew-hate is legitimate within vast groups of Muslim students" and that "Muslims laugh or demand [teachers] to stop when trying to educate about the Holocaust". Additionally that "while some students might protest when some express support for terrorism, none object when students express hate of Jews" and that it says in "the Quran that you shall kill Jews, all true Muslims hate Jews". Most of these students were said to be born and raised in Norway. One Jewish father also told that his child after school had been taken by a Muslim mob (though managed to escape), reportedly "to be taken out to the forest and hanged because he was a Jew".[50]
[edit] See also
The Jewish community of Oslo et al. v. Norway
[edit] Bibliography
Johansen, Per Ole (in Norwegian). Oss selv nærmest: Norge og jødene 1914-1943. Oslo: Gyldendal. ISBN 82-05-15062-1.
Abrahamsen, Samuel. Norway's Response to the Holocaust: A Historical Perspective. Holocaust Library. ISBN 0896041174.
Søbye, Espen (in Norwegian). Kathe, alltid vært i Norge. Oslo: Oktober. ISBN 82-7094-926-4.
Mendelsohn, Oskar (in Norwegian). Jødenes historie i Norge gjennom 300 år: Bind 1 1660-1940. Universitetsforlaget. ISBN 82-00-02523-3.
Mendelsohn, Oskar (in Norwegian). Jødenes historie i Norge gjennom 300 år: Bind 2 1940-1985 (2nd edition ed.). Universitetsforlaget. ISBN 82-00-02524-3.
Mendelsohn, Oskar (in Norwegian). Jødene i Norge: Historien om en minoritet. Universitetsforlaget. ISBN 82-00-21669-1.
Fure, Odd Bjørn (2003-06-23). "Antisemitism in Norway. Background paper". The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
Selbekk, Vebjørn (in Norwegian). Jødehat på norsk - Fra Eidsvollmennene til Boot Boys. Skjetten: Hermon. ISBN 82-7341-936-3.
Johansen, Per Ole. På siden av rettsoppgjøret. Unipub. ISBN 978-82-7477-233-5.
Kirsti Lothe Jacobsen (2006-11-17). "Jøders rettsstilling i Norge - en historisk oversikt frem til 1851" (in Norwegian). University of Bergen University Library for Legal Studies. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
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