A Few Obvious Points on Norway Massacre

I don’t usually use this blog for general ruminations and observations, but here goes:

1. Given the continuing threat from Islamic extremists, it was reasonable to suspect (although not to conclude) that the terrorist attacks on Oslo-Utoya were the work of Jihadi terrorists.

2. However, if you’re right-wing nationalist or “anti-Jihadist” who confidently asserted that this was Islamic terrorism and that it revealed the true face of Islam, the discovery that the attacks were in fact the work of a right-wing nationalist and “anti-Jihadist” ought to be a cue for a long period of silence.

3. If you’re an anonymous Norwegian right-wing nationalist who writes about the impossibility of co-existing with the left and the inevitability of civil war, you have little ground to complain if people suspect you’re the same person as a Norwegian right-wing nationalist who has just massacred a large number of people who identify with the left.

4. If you’ve endorsed or promoted the writings of an anonymous Norwegian right-wing nationalist who writes about the impossibility of co-existing with the left and the inevitability of civil war, you have little ground to complain if people suspect you have links with a a Norwegian right-wing nationalist who has just massacred a large number of people who identify with the left.

5. Just because someone who is unsavoury may appreciate something that you have written or said, it does not therefore follow that your views are tarnished by the association.

6. However, if you use conspiracy theories and inflammatory rhetoric to whip up hatred, you ought to feel some shame if someone who admires your writings is then inspired to do something terrible.

There. Apologies for stating the obvious.

5 Responses

  1. And it’s worth noting that Breivik gave explicit shoutouts to Fjordman and the GoV — in fact he called his ideology “The vienna school” — on a board where FM himself was active.

    eg “(Vienna school of thought) like Fjordman, Bat Yeor, Spencer + many others have already contributed so much. For the last three years I have been working full time on a cultural conservative work which will help to develop and market these political ideas”.

    [ACB translation] from http://goo.gl/1i4ZZ which is Google’s cache of his writings on Dokument.no

  2. Further, a very quick skim with F3 through ABB’s long English-language manifesto shows that he reprints, in full, 33 of Fjordman’s blog postings/essays, as well as numerous other references.

  3. You write: “Given the continuing threat from Islamic extremists, it was reasonable to suspect (although not to conclude) that the terrorist attacks on Oslo-Utoya were the work of Jihadi terrorists.”
    Fair enough, but it is one thing for an individual or even a blogger to think this way, an entirely different matter when newspapers like the New York Times and the Washington Post, with their enormous reach and influence, rush into print with such conclusions. Rushing to such judgements has a distasteful history that goes back to Oklahoma, at least, and by now responsible newspapers should at least pause before going to print, especially when they do so on the basis of information provided by faux terrorism experts.

  4. http://lacreusehostsevilcult.wordpress.com

    We have a far-right pseudo Christian cult in Benevent l’Abbaye that boasts of its roots and missionary status in the USA.
    Former members speak of a cache of semi-automatics hidden nearby to Benevent l’Abbaye.
    The similarities between this openly paedophile, violently extreme cult, and the published views of Anders Behring Breivik justify further investigation;

  5. I repect your views, and you are cleverer than me, but I think we should react to what he has done. It is symptomatic of the extremist attitudes of many hard right commentators in the Anglosphere. The horrendous hatred of Muslims is dreadful. His belief the EU is the “EUSSR” is a belief held by many Eurosceptics and I feel this is a terrifying statement. It’s ok to support withdrawal from the EU, but to think it is a dictatorship like the USSR is extreme. All it does is decided by elected leaders of Europe, or the EU parliament or by institutions ACCOUNTABLE TO THEM. Of course there will be extremists WITH EXTREME ACTIONS, if extreme beliefs are so run of the mill. I read the quote “EUSSR” on loads of forums, its disgusting as is constast demonising of centre left activists and thinkers which has happened in mainstream right wing papers for decades. Additionally deliberate missinterpretation by right wing tabloids and commentators of the views of the left will surely cause many to hate left wingers. Look at US right wingers, they have such horrible language about Obama, the hard right in the world need to tone down. You could say all terrorists are madmen, but they do not come out of thin air. The Oklahmoma Bombers, the 2001 Anthrax attacks, the KKK, the OAS, The ELD, the P2, and Oktoberfest bomber, and Franco are all in living memory, and have antecedants today, we should always react to such events, whether political or non-political events, and we should remember that peace, freedom, fraternity and equality are right every time. Just as his victims would have wanted I am sure.

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