Det Mosaiske Trossamfund, Oslo district court | Elisabeth was shocked by the incitement: – Death is wanted for Jews

OSLO DISTRICT COURT (Nettavisen): – We are Norwegians first and foremost, and even if we support Israel’s right to exist, there are many of us who do not support the policy Israel is pursuing. It is not possible for us to feel threatened in Norway. I have friends who say they are thinking of moving from Norway, because there is so much hate out there now, says Elisabeth to Nettavisen.

She works at Det Mosaiske Trossamfund in Oslo and was the one who received the many, very aggressive and threatening e-mails from the woman in her 50s who is being prosecuted in the Oslo district court. The verdict is expected in a few weeks.

– Hate

The woman wrote 136 e-mails to Det Mosaiske Trossamfund in Oslo between November 2023 and February this year. She is charged with the wording in 77 of them.

“… you are the worst thing the world has ever seen, get out of my country religious fanatics”, “I am anti-Semitic”, “Jews are the worst people on this earth”, “the world does not want more Jews” and ” I want the Jewish section,” wrote the woman, referring to the repealed constitutional section that denied Jews entry to Norway.

– It is very unpleasant when such messages are the first thing you open when you get to work in the morning. It expresses so much hatred towards you because you are Jewish. It does something to the feeling of security. You look over your shoulder because it was clear that the person in question knew where we were, says Elisabeth.

Nettavisen has chosen to anonymize her for her own safety.

The woman’s many e-mails have been part of a growing threat to Jews in Norway after Hamas carried out the terrorist attack in Israel on 7 October, which triggered Israel’s war against Hamas.

Several cases

More than this woman have sent unpleasant e-mails to the religious community. Nettavisen has also previously written about Jews who have been subjected to incitement through social media.

Read: Elinor is hanged as a child murderer: – They spread lies about me

Elisabeth and other Norwegian Jews experience that Jew-hatred has become very strong after Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip, which has led to large death tolls among Palestinian civilians. She and other Jews experience that in the Norwegian public debate and in demonstrations against bombing, it has become commonplace to say that one is anti-Semitic, “no Zionists in our streets”, and that Palestine should be free “from the river to the sea”, as in reality means that Israel will cease to exist.

– Although many of us do not agree with Israel’s policy, and have great compassion for the residents of the Gaza Strip, we feel that it is also necessary to clarify the responsibility that lies with Hamas and the the Iranian-backed proxies for what is now happening, she says.

The religious community now receives increased police protection and separate health teams have been set up to look after the 750 members of the religious community.

Read also: Do ​​not feel safe in Norway: – Dangerous to life

– My way of fighting

The accused woman told the Oslo district court that she was horrified by Israel’s bombing and the many innocents who are killed, and that she fears that the war will spread.

– There is a storm in the world now and those who sit in the Mosaic Faith Society must think about that too, said the woman.

She admits to sending all the emails.

– Yes, it was violent. I made it a goal to send emails every day. It was my way of fighting, said the woman in court.

The woman explained that she has nothing against Jews in principle, but expressed a strong aversion to all oppression done on the basis of religion.

– I am completely horrified by the holocaust, but I think that everyone must learn from what happened during the holocaust, she said.

Read also: Major survey: – Many Jews in Norway are now afraid

The woman said that she has been active in the religious debate for many years. When the war in Gaza started, she also discussed it from a religious perspective with, among others, people friendly to Israel.

– There was not much mercy towards the Palestinians to be found there. I get upset that those in Gaza are being bombed to bits and pieces and that we are sitting and watching on TV under pressure, she said.

It was these discussions that triggered the violent aggression she displayed in the e-mails to the Mosaic Faith Community.

Trauma from family conflict

The woman is also charged with having sent a number of other very threatening e-mails. Here she has written, among other things, that “I’m going to beat you up the next time I see you”, “It wouldn’t have cost me a calorie to cut your head off” and “If I could, I would kill you all in one go”.

These reports meant that the woman has both been banned from visiting and contacting family members, and has been detained due to the risk of recidivism.

The messages are linked to a family conflict which has affected her strongly, and which may also help to explain her strong feelings when it comes to religion.

The woman’s mother died when she was young, and her father quickly remarried a religious woman. In the Oslo district court, she told that she had been pushed out of the family, and today has been disinherited in favor of her father’s children with the new woman.

Among other things, the farm had been transferred to her younger half-sister. A farm she hoped she would get on her own. This conflict has been going on for many years and has caused her to become mentally ill.

– I wanted them to feel a little of my pain, said the woman, who assured that she would never take the crude threats seriously.