Last Friday Norway suffered two horrifying terrorist attacks that left 76 people dead in Oslo and the nearby island of Utoya. Anders Behring Breivik, the terrorist apprehended for these attacks, claimed sole responsibility for both attacks.
Breivik published a 1,500 page manifesto explaining why he committed such heinous crimes. A self-described Christian and right-wing fundamentalist, Breivik believed in cleansing Norway of liberals, proponents of multi-culturalism and immigrants (particularly Muslims). In the manifesto, Breivik praises the Tea Party, the ultra-Zionist government of Netanyahu in Israel, the English Defense League in Britain, and other movements all over the Western world.
Details of this manifesto were obviously not available in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. In the absence of any information, contrasting the reactions of the American media to the European media was quite revealing.
Fox News placed the blame on so-called “Islamic terrorism” almost at once, not waiting to consider how such speculation could harm Muslim immigrants in the US and abroad. The European media, on the other hand, refrained from repeating such racist stereotypes.
Perhaps we can forgive the right-wing in this country from doing what they do best — race-baiting and jumping to conclusions when there was little information to go on. However, nothing excuses their reaction after it became clear this was not an Al-Qaeda attack as they claimed.
The perpetrator was no longer called a terrorist, he became a “lone-wolf.” And, of course, his ideology was no longer important to the story since it implicated the Fox News machine.
Most inexcusably, the American media continued to discuss the dangers and supposed inevitability of Islamic terrorism despite the fact that it was completely irrelevant to the Norway incident.
The American conservative movement, led by Fox News celebrities, proved that no situation is too sensitive for them to abuse. They blatantly attempted to take advantage of the Norway terrorist attacks in order to blame the ills of the world on an imaginary “clash of civilizations.” The right-wing in this country is not beyond using any tragedy to legitimize their cynical narrative of Islamophobia and racism.
The sad reality is Breivik is indeed a terrorist, and not a lone wolf. To characterize him as anything other than that is disingenuous and dangerous. He was preceded by many right-wing extremists—such as Timothy McVeigh, Robert Cottage and Nathan Worrell.
And, he was animated by right-wing propaganda in Europe and in this country. In that sense, right-wing fascism is more dangerous than “Islamic” terrorism; at least the latter is kept out of the mainstream while the former demands a place in it. Conservative pundits and politicians share the blame for such tragedies, and yet all we hear from them is more fear-mongering about Muslims.
Despite the horror of such a tragedy, the Norwegian people and government have reacted in a way that is an inspiration for all civilized societies. They have affirmed their commitment to a multi-cultural, liberal democracy and have resisted stigmatizing traditionally marginalized populations. In this country, we would do well to learn from their example.