Cry! The beloved Norway

For many black Africans, Norway used to stimulate images of peaceful existence, humane care of citizens and generosity. Indeed, many an African will have often heard of Norway in association with the Nobel Peace Prize. These images are no more as Al Shabab style terrorism was visited upon Norwegians by their own, Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year-old ethnic Norwegian – a white, racist, xenophobic, Christian fundamentalist.

In keeping with the beliefs of extremist nationalists, Breivik is reportedly opposed to multiculturalism and believes that immigration has been eroding Norwegian cultural values and identity. It is also reported that Breivik had his own racist interpretation of Huntington's theory of the clash of civilisations, and found ‘wisdom’ in the words of John Stuart Mill: ‘One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests.’ I join those who find it ironic and scandalous that an ultra-right racist found ‘wisdom’ in the words of a liberal! What a tragedy that Breivik found it fit to utilise his ‘force of 100,000’ to murder on a massive scale, expressing his low regard of the importance of humankind.

In response to my condolence and solidarity message to my Norwegian friends and family living in Scandinavia, a posting on my Facebook wall by one of my childhood friends, a Muslim of Asian descent, now living in the United States of America, reads: ‘Glad he was not a Muslim nut case.’ Apparently, my friend is not alone in holding this view. It is reported that immigrants and Norwegians as well have expressed relief that the attacker was not an immigrant or a foreigner. Expressions such as these are symptoms of what we imagine would have been the scenario if it had been an immigrant, foreigner or ‘worse still’ a Muslim who would have carried out a terrorist act on Norway or elsewhere in the global West. Certainly, the way in which the dominant discourse of the global Western media is reporting on the riots in England lends credit to our fears and suspicions of deep-rooted animosity that exists between different groups of peoples based on race and religion, among others.

Our world is so polarised that I must admit that these days I am drawn even more to the writings of Steve Biko, particularly his definition and articulation of the concept of ‘black consciousness’. Unfortunately, perceptions of subjugation that are in some cases unwittingly perpetuated by the actions of peoples and nations in the global West – within and without their national boundaries – contribute to the creation of toxic superiority complexes of the nature that Breivik certainly holds, while also contributing to the creation of inferiority complexes, on the basis of which the ‘subjugated’ justify their need to terrorise.

Take for instance the way in which the global West is handling the situation in Libya, with utter disregard of the views of the African Union – the calls for peace talks by African leaders were just dismissed. It is no wonder that a significant section of peoples from the rest of the world feel the global West is so prejudiced that they do not believe that others are capable of free thinking without the ‘guidance’ of the global West. This status quo breeds mutual mistrust and ill-feelings, to the extent that some in Africa now refer to NATO as the ‘North Atlantic Terrorist Organisation’. To those thus persuaded, they perceive NATO as the brutal enforcer of neocolonialism worldwide under the guise of ‘spreading democracy’ and ‘humanitarian intervention’ – therefore, to them NATO is the epitome of the global West’s intolerance of multiculturalism.

The rhetoric with which the invasion of sovereign states and the push for regime change is justified by the ‘super powers’ of the global West, such as the case of Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Cote d’Ivoire, is fertile ground for breeding and nourishing extremists of all kinds – those with superiority complexes and those with inferiority complexes. Worse still, allegedly, Google is reinforcing this negative trend, as is argued by Eli Praiser in his article published in the Guardian Weekly (24/06/11) entitled: ‘In our own little internet bubbles: The personalisation of search engines traps us in a self-reinforcing world-view’.

Apparently, these days when one conducts a search using Google, the results that one shall be fed are what Google has determined that one wants to read. So, according to Praiser’s analysis, if you are a white supremacist, such as Breivik, Google will nourish your extreme views by showing you search results of sites and information that would be appreciated by white supremacists – thus reducing the opportunities that a white supremacist will encounter an alternative view, and so in the bliss of ignorance it is no wonder Breivik believes his actions were ‘necessary’!

Indeed, unfortunately, anti-immigrant, racist and xenophobic tendencies are gaining support among conservative sections the world over. How sad that our current world order and socialisation processes are nurturing and producing this kind of evil. Whether it is a white supremacist, a fundamentalist nationalist, a fundamentalist Christian, a fundamentalist Jew, a fundamentalist Muslim, racists and xenophobia of all kinds, we have absolutely nothing to be glad about.

I pray for healing at all levels – individual, family, community, regions and the world – may we find humanity, may we find true wisdom. Mercifully, there is hope. In its characteristic humanitarianism, Norway, once more is leading by example in showing us how we can productively and progressively triumph over evil. To further explain, I quote the words of my Norwegian friend who emailed me as follows:

‘Norway is still in deep mourning, people are putting down flowers, writing poems, children make drawings, artists paint to illustrate their pain. Others sing and compose. Among the first victims to be buried were two beautiful young talented Norwegian Muslims (who were active in the labour party youth), one of them was Bano Rashid. She was a strong advocate for democracy and human rights. She cared about the most vulnerable in our society. In her funeral an Imam and a Priest walked together along the casket – a powerful symbol of how this cruel terrorist act is UNITING Norwegians – irrespective of faith, culture or ethnic background. The murderer – when he gets access to the news – will discover that his cowardly acts have led to the opposite of what he intended to achieve! Our response to intolerance and racism is standing together united – with God’s help we will not let hatred dominate but be compassionate to each other and care for those who have lost their loved ones – and the youth who survived. They will need our support for many years to come…’

No doubt, England needs to find its way back to the Norwegian way. Otherwise, name-calling insults, will only add fuel to the proverbial fire.

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* Norah Owaraga is a sociologist and researcher – www.owaraganorah.net.
* This article was first published by the African Executive. Copyright © 2011 The African Executive
* Please send comments to editor[at]pambazuka[dot]org or comment online at Pambazuka News.