2008–09 Oslo riots

2008–09 Oslo riots

Riot police guarding arrested rioters.
Location Oslo, Norway
Date 29 December 2008 – 10 January 2009
Attack type
 Riots, protests
Weapons Rioters: stones, molotov cocktails, bottles, iron rods, fireworks
Perpetrators Rioters: 200 arrested
Number of participants
 Directly involved: hundreds
Protesters: thousands
Defenders Oslo police department
Asker and Bærum police

The 2008–09 Oslo riots were a series of violent anti-Israel and anti-Jewish riots in Oslo that took place in the area around the Israeli embassy and the Norwegian parliament amid protests against the Gaza War from late December 2008 to January 2009. On several occasions there were clashes between rioters and police as the protesters attacked civilians and destroyed private and public property. Around 200 people were arrested in total, mainly Muslim youth, supported by Blitz activists.

Timeline of the riots

On 29 December 2008, a demonstration of around 1,000 anti-Israel protesters moved towards the Israeli embassy, where speeches were held by Inga Marte Thorkildsen of the Socialist Left Party.[1] The protest turned violent when around 100 youth, including Muslims and Blitz activists began throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks at the embassy and the police.[1][2][3] Three windows of the hair salon of a well-known homosexual was smashed, with circumstances suggesting a hate crime.[4][5] Police responded by firing tear gas at the rioters, and eventually detained nine youths of which four were arrested, including two asylum seekers.[1][2]

On 4 January 2009, hundreds demonstrated against Israel outside the Storting and then moved to the Israeli embassy in Parkveien. Members of the crowd grew violent, throwing stone and shooting fireworks, and again the police were called in. The rioters were dispersed by police firing tear gas, after receiving several warnings.[6][7]

On 8 January, 200 police were stationed out as a peaceful pro-Israel demonstration arranged by organisations including With Israel for Peace (MIFF) was to be held outside the Norwegian parliament building, with the Progress Party leader Siv Jensen scheduled to give a pro-Israel speech.[8] During Jensen's speech, anti-Israel activists started throwing rocks at the pro-Israel demonstrators, forcing Jensen to leave the podium.[9] The police used tear gas when rioters attacked a bus that tried to evacuate pro-Israeli activists from the area, which included a large number of elderly demonstrators.[9] A pro-Israel protester was attacked and injured by anti-Israel protesters shouting "take him, he's a Jew", "fucking Jew" and "allahu akbar".[10] Among other slogans, protesters shouted "Death to the Jews," "Kill the Jews" and "Slaughter the Jews" in Arabic.[4] An additional fifteen police officers from the Asker and Bærum police district were eventually brought in for assistance.[11] The final count reported forty shop windows to have been smashed in the riots, and several cars and buses damaged, including fifteen police cars.[12] At least six people were reported to have been injured, including five police officers.[13] Police said they had found several secret stashes of Molotov cocktails, club weapons and knifes throughout Oslo during the evening.[14] 37 anti-Israel rioters of several immigrant backgrounds were detained by the police,[13][15] of which fifteen were brought into custody, and nine charged with violence against the police.[16]

On 9 and 10 January new demonstrations were arranged by several organisations, including the Norwegian People's Aid, the Workers' Youth League (AUF), Red Party, Red Youth, Socialist Youth (SU), The Islamic Association, and other pro-Palestine and Muslim organisations.[13][17] Blitz stated openly that they supported the violent riots.[13] On 10 January several thousand demonstrators were joined by the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and Minister of Finance Kristin Halvorsen.[18] The protest soon erupted into new riots with fireworks and rocks thrown at the police and the Israeli embassy, and with several police officers struck by objects.[18] The violence spread throughout Oslo, and numerous shop windows were smashed and cars damaged.[19] Five McDonald's restaurants were destroyed in the riots because of a false rumor spread by text message that all the money McDonald's earned that day would go to support Israel.[19][20] Some of the youngest rioters reported to have been told by older youths to "hunt for Jews", with one group severely beating up a shop owner accused of being a Jew.[21] The Oslo Freemasonry Lodge, which hosted a children's Christmas party with 300 people, was attacked with fireworks almost causing a fire.[22][23] The police detained 160 rioters during the evening, charging eleven with property damage and violence against police.[19]

A total of 194 protesters were arrested during the riots.[24] The police stated that they would investigate all the arrested and that most of them would receive fines of 9,000 NOK (around 1,300 USD).[10][19] In the end, only ten rioters were prosecuted by the police,[25] and less than ten convicted.[26] The Oslo Trade Association called the small number of prosecutions by the police "unacceptable" and "deeply worrying".[25]

Aftermath

In his book The Anti-Jewish Riots in Oslo (2010), Norwegian author and editor Eirik Eiglad, himself a socialist who was present in Oslo during the riots, wrote:[4]

"As far as I can judge, these were the largest anti-Jewish riots in Norwegian history. Even before and during World War II, when anti-Semitic prejudices were strong, public policies were discriminatory, and the Nazified State Police efficiently confiscated Jewish property and deported Jews on that despicable slave ship SS Donau - even then, Norway had not seen anti-Jewish outbursts of this scale. This country had no previous history of wanton anti-Jewish mass violence."

Police investigators noted similarities in the modus operandi of the Oslo riots with earlier riots in Paris and in the Middle East.[27]

In cooperation with Norwegian education authorities, Islamic leaders in Norway initiated "dialogue meetings" with youths in mosques following the riots, with the aim of "using the Quran" to reach out to youths who had participated in the riots.[28] Tariq Ramadan later visited Oslo and held speeches in the Rabita Mosque.[26]

The riots have been credited by sociologists for "awakening" young Norwegian Muslims politically.[26][29] Others have drawn connections to February 2010, when thousands of Oslo taxi drivers blocked the city centre, and 3,000 Muslims took part in demonstrations against newspaper Dagbladet for publishing a Muhammad cartoon in the context of a news story about an internet link (which the newspaper strongly criticised), during which one of the speakers, Mohyeldeen Mohammad "warned" of a 9/11 or 7/7 in Norway.[4][30] The riots have later been noted as an important shared experience and common denominator for many members of Profetens Ummah, and Norwegian jihadists in the Syrian Civil War.[31]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "- Tåregassen var i henhold til reglene". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 30 December 2008.
  2. 1 2 "Fire i arrest etter demonstrasjon mot Israel". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 30 December 2008.
  3. ↑ "- Skjøt nyttårsraketter mot politiet ved Israels ambassade". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 29 December 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Gerstenfeld, Dr. Manfred (Spring 2010). "2009: Norway's Most Violent Anti-Semitic Riots Ever". Jewish Political Studies Review (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) 22 (1-2).
  5. ↑ "- Som å komme til en krigssone". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 30 December 2008.
  6. ↑ "Bruker tåregass mot demonstranter utenfor Israels ambassade". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 4 January 2009.
  7. ↑ "Brukte tåregass på demonstranter" (in Norwegian). NRK. 4 January 2009.
  8. ↑ "Politiet frykter bråk under Israel-demonstrasjon". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 8 January 2008.
  9. 1 2 "Politiet bruker tåregass mot demonstranter". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 8 January 2009.
  10. 1 2 Klungtveit, Harald S. (9 January 2009). "Ta ham! Jævla jøde!". Dagbladet (in Norwegian).
  11. ↑ "- Ingenting med Gaza å gjøre". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 9 January 2009.
  12. ↑ "- Pøblene må stoppes nå". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 9 January 2009.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "Blitz hilser opprørerne velkommen" (in Norwegian). NRK/NTB. 9 January 2009.
  14. ↑ "Fant hemmelige våpenlagre i Oslo sentrum". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 9 January 2009.
  15. ↑ "Tar ikke avstand fra gatekampene i Oslo". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 10 January 2010.
  16. ↑ "Ni siktet for vold mot politiet" (in Norwegian). NRK. 9 January 2009.
  17. ↑ "Ny demonstrasjon: Politiet brukte tåregass - flere pågrepet". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 10 January 2009.
  18. 1 2 "160 personer innbrakt av politiet" (in Norwegian). NRK. 10 January 2009.
  19. 1 2 3 4 "Pågrepne demonstranter nekter for alt". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 11 January 2009.
  20. ↑ "Pøbler angriper McDonalds-restauranter etter Israel-rykter". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 10 January 2010.
  21. ↑ "- Vi ble bedt om å jakte jøder på Blindern, sier 12-åring". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 11 January 2009.
  22. ↑ "Her angriper de juletrefesten". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 10 January 2009.
  23. ↑ "Satte fyr på Frimurerlosjen - dømt til tre års fengsel". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 19 October 2011.
  24. ↑ "72 barn deltok i opptøyene" (in Norwegian). NRK. 21 January 2009.
  25. 1 2 "Slipper straff etter Oslo-opptøyer". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 25 March 2009.
  26. 1 2 3 "Opptøyene i Oslo vekket unge muslimer politisk" (in Norwegian). Forskning.no. 2 February 2013.
  27. ↑ "Ser likheter mellom opptøyene i Paris, Midtøsten og Oslo". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 11 January 2009.
  28. ↑ "Bråkmakere i moskeen" (in Norwegian). NRK. 15 January 2009.
  29. ↑ Jacobsen, Christine M.; Andersson, Mette (December 2012). "‘Gaza in Oslo’: Social imaginaries in the political engagement of Norwegian minority youth". Ethnicities 12 (6): 821–843. doi:10.1177/1468796812451097.
  30. ↑ "3000 i ulovlig Muhammed-demonstrasjon ved Oslo S" (in Norwegian). 12 February 2010.
  31. ↑ "Norske jihadister har endret landegrenser". Dagsavisen (in Norwegian). 1 December 2014.

External links

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