Researcher: – The political leadership in Norway has appeared half-hearted in distancing itself from Jew-hatred

On Sunday, May 5, the Anti-Defamation League and Tel Aviv University published their annual Antisemitism Worldwide Report. The chapter on Scandinavia (eight pages) is written by Johannes D. Enstad, researcher for the Institute for Social Research (ISF) in Oslo.

The 7 October massacre and the subsequent war between Israel and Hamas triggered a wave of anti-Semitism that has shaken the Jewish communities in Norway, Denmark and Sweden. But Enstad is particularly critical of the Norwegian response.

– Anti-Semitic manifestations and their impact on Jewish communities seem to have been relatively similar in the three Scandinavian countries. But the political response has varied considerably. While Swedish and Danish government leaders have demonstrated strong and visible verbal support for their Jewish minorities, and also concrete political actions, the Norwegian political leadership has been markedly less clear in its actions and reactions, writes Enstad.

The researcher gives many examples of how the Swedish and Danish governments have called for their Jewish minority after 7 October. But the Norwegian response has been weaker. For example, there was no significant response from political leaders in Norway, “and not a word from the prime minister”, after NRK published an extensive case on 30 November which “retold harrowing experiences of anti-Semitic harassment and intimidation”.

– Norwegian political leaders gave some support to Norwegian Jews in the face of increasing anti-Semitism. However, compared to Sweden and Denmark, their public statements and actions were low in quantity, quality and visibility. While a heartfelt solidarity and care shines through in the words and actions of leading Swedish and Danish politicians, the Norwegian government’s statements have been short, reserved and often mixed in general terms instead of focusing on Jews and their particular challenge of anti-Semitism, writes One city. He believes in particular that the government abused the chance to use the Kristallnacht commemoration to strongly distance itself from Jew-hatred. Compared to Sweden and Denmark, “Norway’s political leadership has been muted and half-hearted in its stance regarding anti-Semitism and Jewish life in Norway”, writes the researcher.

Enstad believes the government’s weak response to anti-Semitism may be linked to the government’s foreign policy position in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. “It is possible that the government saw an opportunity to renew Norway’s role as a peace broker, and feared making itself unpopular with the Palestinians and the Arabs by signaling a pro-Israel position. Given that much current anti-Semitism is linked to hostility towards Israel and Zionism, foreign policy ambitions may have gotten in the way of a forceful stand against anti-Semitism. It is also possible that an underlying sympathy for the Palestinians’ cause, which has long been strong in the Norwegian labor movement and is reinforced by a large number of organizations and actors in civil society, has helped to shape the government’s response to anti-Semitism.”

Celebrations of October 7 in Sweden

In Sweden, the greatest immediate support for Hamas was recorded after the massacre, writes Enstad. Both in Helsingborg, Kristanstad, Växjö and Malmö, people were out in the streets to celebrate the massacre with Palestinian flags, singing and dancing as early as 7 October.

Enstad recalls the survey carried out by NRK in November, where 82 per cent of Norwegian Jews said that “experiences after 7 October have made them consider whether Norway is a safe country for Jews”. In Sweden, 71 percent said it had become “much more unsafe” and 20 percent said it had become “somewhat more unsafe” to live openly with their Jewish identity after 7 October.

Finally, the researcher points out that there is “relatively widespread dislike” of the Jewish state in Norway. In 2022, 33 percent of the Norwegian people said that they believe “Israel treats the Palestinians as badly as the Jews were treated during the Second World War.” In a new poll published this week, support for the claim increased to 50 percent!

Enstad believes it is important in the fight to limit the spread of the virus of Jew hatred that political leaders and the education sector in Norway “deal with such delusions – without stigmatizing standard criticism of Israeli governments and politics”.

90 times more anti-Jewish than anti-Muslim hate crime

In a section of the article, Enstad takes as a starting point an NRK case from 20 December 2023, where the police provided information on the number of reports of hate crimes against Jews and Muslims. After the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas carried out a major massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, the number of reports of hate crimes against Jews increased sharply, but not against Muslims.

In 2023, around 40 cases of hate crime against Jews were reported in Norway. There are 2.7 cases for every 100 Jews living in Norway, Enstad points out. In comparison, 80 cases of hate crime against Muslims were reported in 2023. This corresponds to around 0.03 cases for every 100 Muslims in Norway. (The researcher then uses as a base figure that there are 1,500 Jews and 250,000 Muslims in Norway.)

“In other words,” writes the researcher, “the Norwegian police registered 90 times more anti-Jewish than anti-Muslim hate crimes when adjusting for population size.”