Survivor of Norway Gun Massacre Running for Parliament

[pampango]

Anders Breivik set out to kill young, politically-minded people who supported a multicultural Norway. ... He carried out a mass shooting at a Labour Party youth camp on the Island of Utøya. One of the survivors of that attack was Vegard Grøslie Wennesland. He is now running for parliament in next week’s national elections.

Wennesland: Breivik targeted the camp because he wanted to kill young, politically-minded people who supported a multicultural Norway. Now, more than two years later, several of the young survivors of that attack are running for parliament in a national election next week. One of them is Vegard Grøslie Wennesland. I spoke with him earlier today, and he began by recalling the day of the shootings on Utøya.

... We were the target because of our political views. When someone tries to kill you for what you believe in, it kind of stirs up a feeling that you shouldn’t give up. You should continue and fight for what you believe, and those are the values that we are running for office for now, multicultural society, respect between different cultures, and trying to create a more fair and equal society. So I guess I was convinced that being involved and engaged in politics was the right thing to do.

... the far right in Norway have a view on immigration as something that threatens our society and our culture and our welfare state. And the Labour Party’s view and this government’s view is completely different. We view immigration as positive, we view it as necessary if we are to be able to meet the challenges we have in our society. It’s a positive view on immigration, it’s completely different from what conservative government will look like, and it’s a major difference in this election. I don’t want votes out of sympathy, I want votes because I believe that our ideas of organizing society are better than the conservatives’ ideas.

http://www.theworld.org/2013/09/survivor-norway-massacre-parliament/

"a positive view on immigration", "multicultural society, respect between different cultures, and trying to create a more fair and equal society" ... Sounds like classic liberalism. If Breivik can hear this in prison, that would be great. One can hope that Breivik and his friends on the far-right (with their "view on immigration as something that threatens society&quot will understand that his violence has not achieved the political goals he and they had hoped for.

[LeftishBrit]

1. k&r

[malaise]

2. Kick

and recommend

[pampango]

3. In a related story: Norway's anti-immigration party likely to enter government this week

Survivors of the Utøya island massacre in 2011, perpetrated by an anti-immigration extremist, are concerned this will lead to a rise in social hostility

Norway's anti-immigration (right wing) Progress party is likely to come to power for the first time as junior partner in a centre-right coalition, according to opinion polls about Monday's parliamentary

"It scares me that the Progress party could be in power," said 29-year-old Vegard Grøslie Wennesland, a survivor of the Utøya killings running on a Labour ticket. "Some of their prominent figures still use very strongly anti-immigrant rhetoric. And that sort of rhetoric will create a more hostile environment."

Progress has softened its image in recent years, dumping some of its more firebrand spokesmen and positioning itself as a mainstream party of the right. All parties have refrained from explicit mentions of Breivik's attacks to avoid being seen as using the tragedy for political gain. But it has emerged in coded language during discussions about national security and investment decisions.

The massacre on Utøya island, and a bombing that killed eight people in Oslo's government district hours earlier deeply shocked Norway and the world. At his trial, Breivik said he wanted to punish the Labour party for its liberal immigration policies and to start a "conservative" revolution.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/08/norway-anti-immigration-party-coalition-election

The right wing never gives up anywhere in the world.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Good luck, best wishes to Vegard Grøslie Wennesland.

Clearly his heart is in the right place, his mind is, as well.

Really looking forward with hope to hear he has won.

Thank you.