A translated transcript of the Norwegian killers motives as said by his lawyer can be found here and on the BBC wesbite here.
It's a sad state of affairs that any human being can be consumed with so much hatred that he is willing to orchestrate and carry out the murder of nearly 100 innocent people - his own people.
This of course is in a country with a relatively small population. I gather that the death toll accounts for 1 in 5000 of the Norwegian populace. To put that into context, I think that would be he equivalent of some 1,200 British people being targetted in this way which doesn't bare thinking about.
It's a sad world that makes people resort to such desperate and devastating measures.
I have heard some of this on Sky and I can understand, partly, where he is coming from.
ReplyDeleteThere is an issue that needs to be discussed as a result of a failure of Labour's immigration policies.
The issue cannot be brushed under the carpet, but it is not being discussed either, for the usual reason - ie, any discussion of any issue about Islam, automatically results in their knee jerk reaction to complain. No wonder there is a problem.
But Breivik's actions cannot be supported by any sane person and his court appearance will no doubt give him an even bigger platform to speak his mind and the comments will probably strike a chord with many people.
Some Islamic fundamentalists have called for Buckingham Palace to become a mosque.
I myself would say over my dead body.
There are so many issues to be discussed as I want Britain to remain a nation open to all and in which all religions or none, are respected. Its those who's aims is for an Islamic Republic in the UK, that concern me and probably many in this country and in Europe. Breivik has gone about it the wrong way, but his actions will no doubt be the start of that open discussion, as he will be able to saywhat he wants in court and it will be reported.
Its how the debate is then handled in the UK, that needs careful handling.
The death toll is one in 50,000 (not 5000) of the Norwegian population, which is still dreadful. (Your second calculation that the British equivalent would be 1200 is correct.)
ReplyDelete@Andrew Lye: Like Sweden, Norway has not been very successful at integrating immigrants (mainly I suspect because both countries' labour markets are heavily weighted in favour of insiders and against outsiders like young people and immigrants).
But it is inaccurate to say that the issue is not being discussed. The second largest party in Norway's Parliament, the Progress Party, has campaigned for years on restricting immigration. (In fact it is very like UKIP in many of its policies, with the difference that it has had much greater electoral success.) Indeed, Norway's Labour government (the one that Breivik was attacking) has tightened rules on asylum and is cracking down on people working illegally.
So no one should suggest that immigration and Islam are not a live political issues in Norway. The success of the Progress Party has made criticism of immigration socially acceptable in a way it is not (yet) in Sweden.
The truth is that Breivik was in the past a member of the Progress Party but left because they were not "radical" enough. And no decent citizen who finds that no one agrees with them uses that as a justification for murdering defenceless teenagers. Breivik is the most disgraceful man Norway has seen since Vidkun Quisling asked Hitler to invade his own country. His actions don't contribute anything to any discussion.
P.S. Which fundamentalists have called for Buckingham Palace to be turned into a mosque? I think it would be a struggle to find many Muslims who agree with that. Certainly they would not outnumber the sort of white-power neo-Nazis who seem to be Breivik's intellectual hinterland. I think it is important for people who want to defend secularism not to overreact to obvious provokations from an unrepresentative minority.
10 seconds on Google (Buckingham Palace mosque) throws up the name of Anjem Choudary, leader of Islam4UK leading a march on Downing St in 2009 calling for Buckingham Palace to be turned into a mosque.
ReplyDeleteBreivik is as evil as Quisling. Agreed.
Unfortunately, whilst I know most UK moslems dont agree with the daft ones like Choudary and others, they do not speak out against them. They are seen to keep their mouths shut. Unlike Christian religions, there appears to be no hierarchy that stamps on those with views that are heretical or contrary to Islamic teachings. I would love to see a Muslim leader to publicly denounce those nutters. The nutters get the press attention and that has a knock on effect with the British people.
Labour admitted they failed to listen to the worries of the Electorate at the 2010 election and the immigration issue was one of them. I'm not saying I am anti immigration. I'm NOT. I support those who want to come here and fit in with the British way of life, as much as possible. But there are many British people who do worry about the issue of immigration.
An interesting article on the BBC Wales website today saying rickets is reappearing in Cardiff, particularly in the Muslim community as the women dont get enough sunlight and so are vitamin D deficient which they then pass onto their children.
I want to retain Britain as it is and one where people like Mark is free to write his blog and others can respond in a free manner. A few bigots should not be allowed to destroy what we have, whether they are religious or political, or both.
I certainly dont want a Islamic Republic of Great Britain, but unless issues are confronted, I do fear that we could be heading that way in 20 or 30 years time and maybe Breivik will start the debate. All political parties have failed to address the issues in the UK for fear of being accused of being racist, anti Islamic etc... Just look what happens every time there's a Mohammed cartoon.