When Terrorism has a White Face

“There is a reason why the Norwegian police have not been overly concerned with rightwing extremism in recent years. It is plainly not very visible. An estimated 40 Norwegians currently belong to self-proclaimed extreme rightwing groups.

However, anyone familiar with the darker waters of the blogosphere would for years have been aware of the existence of a vibrant cyber scene characterized by unmitigated hatred of the new Europe, aggressive denunciations of the "corrupted, multiculturalist power elites" and pejorative generalizations about immigrants, targeting Muslims in particular …

The fact that Breivik was Made in Norway, a homegrown terrorist with a hairdo and an appearance suggesting the west end of Oslo, and not a bearded foreign import, should lead not only to a closer examination of these networks, but also to a calm, but critical reflection over the Norwegian self-identity itself.”-- Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Comment is Free.

On the same day Amy Winehouse is reported dead, a massive bomb blasts outside a government office building in downtown Oslo. A few hours later, the man responsible for this bombing disguises himself as a police officer and opens fire at a camp where the youth wing of the ruling Labor Party held a gathering.  With 93 people dead, it is the worse peacetime massacre in Norway’s modern history.

The man who claims responsibility for these two acts is a 32 year-old Norwegian, said he killed 93 to spark a “revolution” against the multiculturalism he believes is sapping Europe’s heritage.  This is within the same year that the British Prime Minister David Cameron, Germany’s Prime Minister Angela Merkel and France's Prime Minister Ncolas Sarkozy had all declared that, “multiculturalism has failed.”

Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of these attacks in Norway, wrote a 1,500 page manifesto. In this manifesto, he managed to mention that Denmark was one of the only two countries in Europe that had a satisfactory immigration policy. In his own writings, the alleged Norwegian bomber appears to have complained about the "Muslim ghettoization process'" in Oslo -- a term also used by the far right in Denmark.

Denmark was once seen as an open country. Copenhagen, being the largest harbor in the region, was like most other harbors in the world during its heyday: it was the place where differences convened.  But something started happening here.

Denmark always relied on immigration to fulfill an employment gap its countrymen were too educated and qualified to fill. In the early days, their doors were open to Turkish workers, who gladly did what no Dane would dare to do: pick the food that would later be served on their dinner plates.

One of the reasons I had no problem moving to Denmark was because of its reputation for being a socialized state.  I didn’t mind paying high taxes if it meant I could go see a doctor. I also loved the fact that university was free and accessible, I thought, for all--and to be honest, Copenhagen is just, well, beautiful.

Copenhagen is a small city, of around 1.7 million inhabitants. Almost a half of its population commute by bicycle and it’s clean. One of the first things I noticed about Copenhagen when I arrived here was how orderly everything seemed to be: and well designed. I never knew government buildings to have Poul Henningsen lamps.  It’s relatively safe and the busses usually arrive on time.

If the weather’s good, Copenhagen in the summer time is magical. The gray from the winter lifts and people shake their zombie like daze and become animated, alive, smile even.  During the summer here in Copenhagen, its citizens take back the streets replacing the winter emptiness with leisurely walks and sidewalk hang-outs. But the weather need not be good here for its inhabitants to leave the house. There’s an old Danish saying that there is no such things as bad weather, just bad clothing. So even in the rain, you witness whole families taking park strolls to få noget frisk luft[1]. 

Copenhagen is, in many regards, the quintessential middle class dream. Where the ugly head of poverty is hidden behind quaint little buildings that are humble enough not to compete with the sky.

Another interesting fact about Copenhagen is that it is considered the site for the first ever terror attack in Europe. No, it wasn’t the Muslims, as many would probably think, it was the British.[2]

But Copenhagen’s easy-going and open façade begins to crack. My arrival coincided with the rise of the Danish People’s Party whose motto is, “Your country, Your Choice.” Sounds innocent enough until you realize their anti-immigration policy.  The problem is, the Danish People’s Party also talks about things that other politicians aren’t taking up, like the rights of the elderly and even animal rights. They also put voice to a lot fears that many Danes have, but will not openly admit.  The Danish People’s party is now  Denmark’s largest political party. This is from their website:                

·     1.  The country is founded on the Danish cultural heritage and therefore, Danish culture must be preserved and strengthened

2.  Denmark is not an immigrant-country and never has been. Thus we will not accept transformation to a multiethnic society

I could understand why Danes would want to protect their country: it’s pretty good living.  I’ve mentioned all the perks before, but what really enrages me on the whole about this immigration issue in Europe in general is the lack of understanding that European wealth was built on the exploiting what is commonly termed, in their newspapers, as developing countries- and if its wealth has been so built – how can you refuse the natural flow of that mathematic equation which inevitably brings workers back to your shores? Europe’s failure in connecting the cause and effect of its global and financial practices are suspect, at best.  

A few years ago Sweden suffered a crashing defeat. My friend and I took a road trip from Copenhagen to Sweden. Although the countries are neighbors, the landscape is very different. Where Denmark is flat like a pancake, Sweden has rolling hills, gurgling springs and forests that speak from centuries past. We were borrowing a house of his friends in this southern Swedish town called Bromøller[3].  Since 2000, the Øresund Bridge has made it easy to drive or take the train from Copenhagen to Sweden. Before, if you wanted to get to southern Sweden, you would have to take a ferry.

Anyway, we wanted to get out of the city, get on the road and see some nature.  The house was spectacular: a simple two-story Swedish style summer house with a sauna and meditation room. The house was on a lake.

Although Sweden and Denmark are so close, you also get the satisfactory feeling of being in another country. Sweden is huge compared to Denmark, and you can feel that size in the layout of the roads, the expanse of land that surrounds you and you hear it when they speak. Nothing soothes my contentious soul than to hear foreign languages. It is as if the words spoken, say to my heart, “hush hush now, you are someplace different.” We ended up exploring the town, doing some grocery shopping and getting a general vibe of the town.  Although I’ve traveled a lot, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to exclusively white vicinities.  But I brushed my discomfort aside, focused on my friend and experienced being high on the simple fact that hey, we were out of Denmark.

I did feel all eyes on me, but didn’t speak it to my friend. I learned a long time ago that it was better not to put words into those sensations, not to feed into it. In the end we fell in love with this little Swedish hide-out and dreamt about creating a space much like it, where we could be away from the city, close to nature and be able to create. 

It did come up though, that conversation about standing out.  My friend, admitted he felt it too. I also did notice that once when we were in town, a political party called the Swedish Democrats seemed to be holding a gathering just right outside the coffee shop we drank our lattes and cortados. But all the individuals we met up with were nice.  We both figured that we could definitely spend some more time there. When we returned to Copenhagen we bumped into some mutual friends who had a Swedish friend in tow. We told her that we had recently just been to Sweden, and that we had been to Bromøller. “That’s funny,” she said, “because today, for the first time ever, the Swedish right has been voted into Parliament. And Bromøller, was one of the largest municipalities to vote them in.”

These are the things I contemplate while raising my child here. These are the things I contemplated as a teacher in a multicultural school. I wonder, why are people so scared? Why the hate? And then I think about Albert Einstein who once wrote, “Our separation from each other is an optical illusion of consciousness.” And I know that this is the message I must spread.

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[1] get some fresh air. 

[2] The Second Battle of Copenhagen (or the Bombardment of Copenhagen) (16 August – 5 September 1807) was from a British point of view a preemptive attack on Copenhagen, targeting the civilian population in order to seize the Dano-Norwegian fleet.[17][19][22][23] But from a Danish point of view the battle was a terror bombardment on their capital. Particularly notable was the use of incendiary Congreve rockets (containing phosphorus, which cannot be extinguished with water) that randomly hit the city. Few houses with straw roofs remained after the bombardment. The largest church, Vor frue kirke, was destroyed by the sea artillery. The battle is considered the first terror attack against a major European city in modern times by several historians.[23][24] The confiscation of the navy, would later source the term to Copenhagenize.

[3] The name means “Bridge Mill”