Nettavisen has a report (my tr.):
Police turned away Jews
09.11.04 21:44
Jews who wanted to take part in the marking of Kristallnacht were turned away by the Oslo Police on Tuesday evening. The police over-reacted, say politicians. See Web-TV.
Several hundred anti-racists from a dozen organizations took part in the event on Oslo's Jernbanetorget to commemorate Kristallnacht, which took place 66 years ago. A group of Norwegian Jews and friends of Israel from the Democrat Party (Demokratene) had plans to mark Kristallnacht, but the organizing committee refused to accept Jewish symbols.
Member of Parliament Jan Simonsen was one of those who was asked to leave.
"The Democrats were just out to provoke. They wanted among other things to carry the Israeli flag, even though we had made it clear that neither slogans nor flags should be part of the procession," says Trond Thorbjørnsen, director of SOS Racism.
The police were afraid of confrontations, and therefore took steps to make sure that the group did not become a part of the event, TV2 News reports.
The police justify the turning away of the group by saying that they were afraid for the Jews' safety.
"They were turned away out of consideration for their own safety," Stig Tonsjø, police director of outdoor operations, told NTB.
Thus the commemoration of acts of violence against Jews in Germany in 1936 ended without a single representative from Norway's Jews.
"I think it is utterly deplorable that the state of democracy in today's Norway is such that the police protect people who use violence," Erez Uriely told TV2 News.
"The holding of the demonstration in a way that makes the presence of Jews undesirable produces extremely unfortunate associations. I think the police over-reacted," said Lars Riise (Christian People's Party [Kr F]).
Carl I. Hagen, leader of the Progress Party (Frp) also reacted.
"This was appalling. The Jews ought to have been the guests of honour during the commemoration. This was very negative behaviour on the part of the police," Hagen told TV2 News.
"On Kristallnacht, no matter what their views on the conflict in the Middle East, people ought to be able to unite in a commemoration. That it's not possible is sad, and food for thought. There should be room for Jewish symbols in a commemoration like this on a day like this," said Odd Einar Dørum in a statement to TV2 News.
3 comments:
As Gene said over at Harry's Place, while one can see the justification for excluding an anti-immigrant party from the demonstration, they should have excluded them for being anti-immigrant, not for carrying Jewish symbols. That was not only wrong, but also went totally against the very values SOS Rasisme were professing to uphold.
Det Mosaiske Trossamfund, the main Jewish congregation in Norway, has issued a press release refuting the "judenrein" stories about the Kristallnacht commemoration. Here's an English translation:
Unfair criticism against SOS Racism
Det Mosaiske Trossamfund in Oslo (DMT) notes that there is a debate in the media, after a group of people were stopped by the police during SOS Racism's demonstration in memory of the Kristallnacht on November 9. Accusations have been made against SOS Racism which we would like to comment on:
It is not correct that DMT as a congregation, or Jews as individuals, were unwanted at the demonstration. We deeply regret that such accusations have been made. It is unknown to us that Jewish symbols, such as the star of David, were unwanted at the event. What we were made aware of, and which we see as a correct decision, is that one wanted to ban national flags at the demonstration. From what we know, this was done to prevent the event from turning into a demonstration connected with the Middle East conflict or the war in Iraq.
DMT was invited to participate in the event, which we declined. This has to do with our skepticism against the way this event has taken place in Oslo the last years, where the demonstration in our view has turned into a political event, going far beyond the original intention. For us as survivors and descendants of survivors of the horrible crimes of the Nazis, it is sad that forces which in many ways use the same arguments against Jews which fascists and Nazis in their time used, are invited to take part in such an event. Or to say it even clearer: The Kristallnacht was the opening shot for the Nazi persecution of Jews in Europe, and the events that day were largely directed against Jewish businesses and institutions. Today we see that groups on the far left wing of the political landscape, together with some Muslim communities, (which we hope do not represent Muslims in general), use these very same methods. Jewish schools, retirement homes, cemeteries, and community houses are being attacked all over Europe along with Israely embassies and consulates. We see this beginning to happen also here. And it is mainly the same groups which are behind these acts here, as in the rest of the world. For us as Jews it becomes impossible to take part in such an event against racism, when other participants in the same demonstration carry banners which in Arabic contain clearly racist messages. But we are aware that SOS Racism has become aware of this, and that they in connection with this year's event did their utmost to avoid precisely these things. We wish to congratulate the organization for this, and that is why we also regret the criticism which is now directed against the organizers.
Even though we have been critical to parts of the event, we as a Jewish congregation do not in any way wish to stand in the way of these annual events, or to harm them in any way. Nor have we encouraged our members to stay away from the demonstrations.
As Norwegian Jews, we believe in dialogue as a means to greater understanding. We therefore completely reject any form of activism which furthers confrontation and builds up under increased opposition and hatred between ethnic groups. We therefore believe it was very unwise of some of our members to behave in a way which clearly would provoke other participants of the event in Oslo on November 9. This was not made any easier for us when we were made aware that people connected to right-wing extremist movements were part of this. That is why this led to the consequence that two of our members have been excluded from our congregation.
Claims are often made about increased anti-semitism in our society. To a certain degree, this is correct, but in the debate which has now begun, it is important to us to underline that the Jewish community in Norway does not experience this as an imminent danger. We see the trends, we warn against them, and we note to our satisfaction that both the government and the public deal with the problem. It is therefore completely wrong to claim that Jews see themselves as unwanted in Norway, or that anti-semitism has reached levels which create problems. It is just not true, and we should let such accusations rest until there is cause to make them. And so let us with G-d's help hope that this never occurs.
The statement provides a clarification of what's obviously a complicated issue in modern Norway. It also gives some additional background, which was not in the original press reports. Thank you for posting it. Though I still have a question about the banning of flags. It seems, to say the very least, disingenuous to ban the Palestinian flag and the Israeli flag as if they were both associated with Kristallnacht in equal measure. In the context of the march, and what it was ostensibly protesting against, there was something wrong about that ban.
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