I had been in Oslo for a couple of days, visiting one of my best friends. He works for the UN in Damascus, and was back in Norway for a short vacation. Wednesday and Thursday were beautiful days, the sun was shining, and the people were happy. The atmosphere were most peaceful – as peaceful as a summerday can be. However, that Friday I was disturbed. As a programme coordinator with responsibility for our Malawi operation, I had received shocking news of riots and violence after the demonstration there on July 20th. I considered returning to work, to get an overview of the situation, but, after calling most of our people there, I decided not to do so. They were safe, and our operation were not in danger.
Instead, my parents decided to come to Oslo and join us. Originally we planned to meet in the centre, perhaps in Youngs Square, but they were delayed, as usual, and came directly to Grunerløkka were I stayed. They arrived around three o’clock. We sat down for a late lunch. We did not really notice the blast – it was a busy street outside, construction work going on around, and a busy place. Suddenly, the waitress turns pale behind the counter, and she starts to inform us that a bomb has gone off in Oslo. a lady next to us rushes out as her phone rings, and then bursts into tears. Her sister was on a bus – and is now on her way to hospital. My friend turns pale as well. Another good friend works in the government offices. He rushes out with the phone in his hands. I follow him, I, too, have friends to call. Check if they are OK. Most are, and we return to his apartment to check the news. I check Facebook.
Firstly, I see a friend – a young member of parliament, and a true friend of Palestine – having posted the night before that she enjoyed wonderful moments at Utøya. No further updates. I believe she is safe, and not in the area around the blast. Many other friends are also there. In safety, I think. At the offices of my party, Venstre, which is three blocks away from the blast, two persons report light injuries from the bomb. My thoughts go to Libya and Ghaddafi. He would have access to the necessary resources for such a bomb, and bombing our government would be a logic response to our bombing of his government. It had to be Ghaddafi. We discuss the matter.
It is obvious that Al-Qaida would never manage such a blast. The few attempts they have had in Scandinavia have been feeble and incompetent. Directly pathetic. Cells are arrested before doing anything wrong. Are there really a threat here at all from Al-Qaida? Nobody believes so. It has to be Ghaddafi.
The short discussion ends. The doorbell rings, it is the boyfriend of one of the girls in the apartment. He is in shock, sweat is pouring from him. He has run from the centre, where he was meters from the blast. He is physically unhurt, but obviously disturbed. The blast came just a few inches closer. We all sink deeper into shock and disbelief.
At this point, I would like to clarify a few things. Firstly, I have been active in politics for the better half of my life, hence, I know many people both in the Labour party, and in their youth organization. I know many people who work for the government as well. My friend is a member of the Labour party. He knows a lot more people than me. His sisters, whose apartment we are sitting in, are both members of AUF – the Labour party’s youth organisation. They have friends on Utøya. So far, most of the people we know are safe, or only lightly injured.
Then we get the first report of shooting at Utøya. Disbelief. Soon after, we get the first witness statement: A white Norwegian male. It dawns on us; this is not Ghaddafi, this is right-wing extremism. Nothing new, they have always been there, but not like this! Unlike the usual suspects of violent extremists, the right wingers have more or less followed democratic rules. Spewing their hatred in internet chat forums, and little else. No more, it seems. The main threat to our democracy isn’t Islamism, it is, in fact, christian cultural conservatism – In Norwegian, the three ‘K’s of Kristen Kultur-Konservatisme makes sense in their own, violent, way.
The Prime Minister speaks. Good speech. ‘We will retaliate with more democacy!’ I am proud to be Norwegian. So much better than GWB’s ‘We will hunt them down!’ from 9/11.
A new wave of shock. The friends we thought were safe, are now in an inferno. We keep on getting information from unofficial sources, friends, witnesses, facebook, twitter, and so on. Some say 30-50 dead. All point to a Norwegian male. By 19.00 the police have denied all claims toward Islamic terror. The police stresses that there is a link between the two attacks – probably the same perpetrator. By 21.00 Friday evening the Norwegian press has mainly discarded the now obviously wrong Islamic track. My parents cancel their hotel room for the night, and we decide to drive back to my parents’ place in Hamar.
Driving through Oslo on Friday evening, we spot no living soul. The bars and night clubs are closed. People are home, watching the news. The city is deserted – it’s an eerie feeling.
At my parents place, I scan through the channels. We are the main headline in all international media. CNN still reporting on the Islamic terror plot. I am appalled. More than appalled. At this time, we have known for hours that this is a right-wing hate crime, with no Islamic link whatsoever. I am not sure if it is incompetence or Islamophobia that misleads CNN, but I am appalled – hurt – by the fact that they reduce themselves to send out the same message as the gunman: Muslims are terrorists, and should be watched closely. They are posing as an accomplice in his horrible deeds. They openly support his views, and that in this situation! I swear to never speak a positive word of CNN again, and turns to Norweigan media.
Finally, at about midnight, I think all my friends are safe. The last one, the MP, states that she has been sleeping all day, and has now awakened to hell. I am still in shock, I can’t sleep. I stay up on facebook, apparently, I have more friends on Utøya than I realized. A 32 year old from Hamar among those. He is there to volunteer, while looking after his younger brothers. At a quarter to three I check on his profile again. It is full of condolences. Shock! I feel sick. Scan through the latest news. FOX is still playing the Islamist card, spewing out the exact same ideas and viewpoints as the man who conducted the massacre, as the man who bombed my government. I feel even sicker. In an instant, Murdoch gets 5 million passionate enemies in Norway, I wonder when he will apologize to us.
Back to my friend. I wonder what is going on. He is injured in the leg, not serious. Good. His younger brother is shot dead. Bad. I am exhausted, going to bed. Sleeping a little, crying a little. While reflecting on the events, I wonder why I have such a strong reaction, when almost all I know are safe and well. I should be used to this, after all. Occasionally, I work in dangerous places. I see mayhem quite often. The same with my friend who lives in Damascus. He lives in mayhem. Nevertheless, he reacts even stronger than me. I conclude it has to be because of our work. We go to dangerous places, risky situations, and we are alert. Then, exhausted, we return home to absolute safety. Little, peaceful, Norway. This peace has now been broken, and we do not relax even a little bit.
Saturday is unreal. My wife arrives, and we return home. I am in shock, my wife is annoyed. Why am I so upset? These kind of things happens! Relax! She grew up in Yugoslavia, she should know. But it’s different. If a bomb went of next to me in Belgrade, or Split, or Sarajevo, I would probably not be so shaken. It would perhaps not be expected, but such things could happen there. But not here. Another friend calls me. He has a friend in the hospital after the blast. Situation is critical, but stable. The question now is how bad his head injuries are. They don’t know. How bad? Head injuries! Sounds awful…
I give up on the international news. They make me sick – adding insult to injury with their still appalling reporting. They are spreading lies and cheap ideological propaganda on our catastrophe. Abusing our national trauma in the worst possible way. Particularly FOX - I feel they are a category worse than the gunman. A lower form of life. I wonder when they will apologize. When they will admit that the major threat to our democracy and our way of life is people echoing their opinions and their ideology of hate. At least, that is how I feel. And I am apparently not alone. Norwegian news reports the same observation.
Sunday goes fast. I get up late. In shock. Make a very nice barbecue with my wife. Cooking usually makes me relax, makes me think of other things. Clears my mind. But not this time. The day is like a black hole. I hope Monday will be better.
Monday, still no names released. FOX stop reporting the matter. I realize that both SKY and BBC have actually been decent. It’s mostly the US media that has disgraced themselves. But it has occupied my mind. Added insult and pain. Christian Whiton in particular. A lower form of life.
Some names are out. Missing, dead. Official body count is reduced. I feel better. There is a commemorative observation at 18.00. I go with my wife. Impossible to find parking. The whole town is out, to go to the observation. Carrying roses, people walk through the centre, and stop in front of the town hall. I did not get hold of any roses, I feel bad. The mayor speaks – not very good, then the bishop follow – excellent speech. I feel better. Meet friends. We are a lot of people. Police say around 10.000 – which is a lot considering the fact that my town has less than 20.000 inhabitants in total. We sing ‘Til Ungdommen’. It is a beautiful poem, and a beautiful song. Reminds me of my youth. I feel better, my spirits are up. It is time to fight for our beliefs, to make sure that the dead did not die in vain. It is spoken of tolerance, it is spoken of democracy. Of non-violence. My thoughts go to my Israeli and Palestinian friends who struggle with such harsh conditions for the non-violent struggle. Such harsh conditions for the basic ingredients of democracy: The right to assembly, the right to speech, the right to information. The right to a fair trial. Basic human rights. We will not be misled by hate. We will not hate. Even Mr. Behring Breivik deserves a fair trial. 4 in 5 Norwegians have stated that they do not support the death penalty for him. A 30 year prison sentence – the longest permitted by Norwegian law – will do. Mr. B.B. has himself said that he expects to be tortured in jail. We will prove him wrong.
Back at a friend’s place – still no news on the head injuries – we turn on the news. 120,000 out in Oslo. Some say 100,000-150,000 in Stavanger. Millions all over Norway – it seems like half the country is out walking, commemorating. We stand united for democracy. We stand united for openness. United for a society where top politicians can move freely around without armed guards, and united for a society in which politically committed youth can gather safely, without armed guards around. We stand united, as a nation, for what we are.
Perhaps some are not embracing the ideals of multi-culturalism. Perhaps most are not embracing them. I don’t know. But I am embracing them, especially now. It is not multi-culturalism that is threatening our society, as the gunman believed. It is intolerance. Ignorance and narrow-mindedness. It is the willingness to use violence to attain political goals. Certainly, the political left have done this in the past. Conservative Islamists too. And now, conservative ‘Christianists’ – if you can call them that. Multi-culturalism is not the problem, extremism is, in all its forms. People who advocate violence as the main mean to solve problems, they are themselves the real problem, regardless of religion, ethnicity, or shoe size, for that matter.
I believe Norway, as a nation, will stay stronger after this. When we talk about democracy and tolerance, we are not joking (we always think the Americans are), we actually mean it. It is good to see that my entire country is solidly behind the ideals of democracy and human rights. Democracy and human rights in the Nowegian way. Tonight, I will sleep well. It will be the first night in a while. With ‘Mitt Lille Land’ in my ears I say goodnight.
Tord Steiro works as a programme coordinator for the NGO FORUT, coordinating projects in Malawi, and is currently active in the centrist liberal party (Venstre). He has been interested in issues regarding Israel/Palestine for the past 5-6 years, although the Middle East has been high on his family’s agenda since the 1930’s, when his grandfather grew up in the Zionist ‘Israel Mission Church’ (the family turned away from that worldview during his service as a UN officer in the Golan during the early 1970s). Steiro grew up in Hamar, Norway where his parents still live and are active in friendship projects between Hamar and Khan Younis.
