Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Why Did Not Kristin Halvorsen Leave The Demonstration?
It is possible that the Norwegian Finance Minister Halvorsen participated in a demonstration on January 8, and not January 10 as stated in my original blog entry. The actual date does not matter, however, as the outcome and content of the different anti-Israeli demonstrations were fairly identical. In fact, I previously posted a video of the January 8 demonstrations.
The blog "Tundra Tabloids" raises some good points regarding this issue, though it also acknowledges that Ms. Halvorsen did not shout any anti-Semitic slogans:
"What is one to think of a politician who understands well enough that, shouting "death to the Jews" is wrong, and doesn't want to be depicted as doing such a thing, but more than willing to participate in a demonstration with those who were doing just that? Kristin Halvorsen is of course justified in wanting to correct the facts to the J'lem Post story, but will she ever apologize for participation in an event where people were in fact shouting "death to the Jews"? I doubt it".
The blog "Tundra Tabloids" raises some good points regarding this issue, though it also acknowledges that Ms. Halvorsen did not shout any anti-Semitic slogans:
"What is one to think of a politician who understands well enough that, shouting "death to the Jews" is wrong, and doesn't want to be depicted as doing such a thing, but more than willing to participate in a demonstration with those who were doing just that? Kristin Halvorsen is of course justified in wanting to correct the facts to the J'lem Post story, but will she ever apologize for participation in an event where people were in fact shouting "death to the Jews"? I doubt it".
Labels: anti-semitism, hamas, israel, kristin halvorsen
Norwegian Newspapers Misinterpreting The Jerusalem Post
The big news in Norway today is an article that was published in the Jersualem Post on March 30 and removed shortly thereafter. The title of the article was "Norway: Increased anti-Semitism has local Jews anxious" (available for a short time through this link as it was cached by Google), and focused on the Anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment that have exploded in Norway.
While the article by Maya Spitzer focuses on a wide range of issues and examples of recent anti-Semitism in Norway, the Norwegian papers are focusing exclusively on the following paragraph:
"During the war, Olso was fraught with violent anti-Israel demonstrations. Numerous government officials decried Israel's actions in Gaza - including Minister of Finance Kristin Halvorsen, who led a march shouting, "Death to the Jews!" Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert, who worked in Gaza and disseminated stories about Israel's brutality, became a national hero in the Norwegian media".
It is the first sentence that is the subject of discussion, basically as it can be interpreted that Finance Minister Halvorsen herself shouted "Death to the Jews". While Kristin Halvorsen represents a political party that has an intense hatred of Israel (due to a mixture of anti-colonialism and anti-Semitism), the Socialist Left Party, Ms. Halvorsen never shouted racist slogans. However, the anti-Israeli demonstration on January 10, 2009, had a strong Anti-semitic element. In the picture, Kristin Halvorsen (the blonde woman in the left of the picture) is posing next to a poster saying "USA and Israel the biggest axis of evil". Your head needs to pretty messed up to think that the USA and Israel are more "evil" than countries like Saudi-Arabia, Iran, North-Korea, to take just a few examples.
The demonstration led by Finance Minister Halvorsen ultimately culminated in an attack on the Israeli embassy, after which 100 individuals were arrested (almost all have later been released due to Norway's broken judicial system). Please enjoy a video from the January 10 demonstration below (consider it a Norwegian version of the Planet of the Apes):
Ironically, when the conflict in Sri-Lanka erupted shortly thereafter, despite a much higher civilian toll it was ignored by both the Norwegian media and people. Of the hundreds of countries in the world, the only nation that the Socialist Left Party wants to boycott is Israel.
By the way, for a good laughter, check out Kristin Halvorsen's background to see what it takes to become finance minister in Norway:
"After taking some university courses in pedagogy (1,5 years) and criminology (1 year) without receiving a degree, Halvorsen worked for a while as a legal secretary".
That is it. That is all. Then again, thanks to its oil revenue, Norway could probably install a real monkey as finance minister (not just a human version) and still do ok.
Dagbladet has three articles on this story: 1, 2, 3. VG has also covered the story.
While the article by Maya Spitzer focuses on a wide range of issues and examples of recent anti-Semitism in Norway, the Norwegian papers are focusing exclusively on the following paragraph:
"During the war, Olso was fraught with violent anti-Israel demonstrations. Numerous government officials decried Israel's actions in Gaza - including Minister of Finance Kristin Halvorsen, who led a march shouting, "Death to the Jews!" Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert, who worked in Gaza and disseminated stories about Israel's brutality, became a national hero in the Norwegian media".
It is the first sentence that is the subject of discussion, basically as it can be interpreted that Finance Minister Halvorsen herself shouted "Death to the Jews". While Kristin Halvorsen represents a political party that has an intense hatred of Israel (due to a mixture of anti-colonialism and anti-Semitism), the Socialist Left Party, Ms. Halvorsen never shouted racist slogans. However, the anti-Israeli demonstration on January 10, 2009, had a strong Anti-semitic element. In the picture, Kristin Halvorsen (the blonde woman in the left of the picture) is posing next to a poster saying "USA and Israel the biggest axis of evil". Your head needs to pretty messed up to think that the USA and Israel are more "evil" than countries like Saudi-Arabia, Iran, North-Korea, to take just a few examples.The demonstration led by Finance Minister Halvorsen ultimately culminated in an attack on the Israeli embassy, after which 100 individuals were arrested (almost all have later been released due to Norway's broken judicial system). Please enjoy a video from the January 10 demonstration below (consider it a Norwegian version of the Planet of the Apes):
Ironically, when the conflict in Sri-Lanka erupted shortly thereafter, despite a much higher civilian toll it was ignored by both the Norwegian media and people. Of the hundreds of countries in the world, the only nation that the Socialist Left Party wants to boycott is Israel.
By the way, for a good laughter, check out Kristin Halvorsen's background to see what it takes to become finance minister in Norway:
"After taking some university courses in pedagogy (1,5 years) and criminology (1 year) without receiving a degree, Halvorsen worked for a while as a legal secretary".
That is it. That is all. Then again, thanks to its oil revenue, Norway could probably install a real monkey as finance minister (not just a human version) and still do ok.
Dagbladet has three articles on this story: 1, 2, 3. VG has also covered the story.
Labels: anti-semitism, jerusalem post, kristin halvorsen, norway
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