“They say that all Jews should be killed, and use nicknames such as “Jewish pig” and “fucking Jew”. It’s blatant anti-Semitic harassment that escalates both verbally, and physically,” a mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, tells NRK. She says her son has been harassed for several years by fellow students with a Muslim background. A father of another boy says his son was stopped by a gang of older youths on the way home from school, and that were going to take him into the woods and hang him because he is Jewish. The boy managed to break free, but is still affected by what happened. His father goes on to say harassment by Muslim boys became so severe, they decided to move somewhere else.
But it appears as though some teachers are either indifferent, or unwilling to act on anti-Semitism in schools. “They say they can’t do anything about it. Neither the teachers nor the principals care about it at all. They don’t want to talk about the problem because it is too sensitive,” says the anonymous mother. She goes on to describe a teacher who said “this type of thing happens us all” when informed that her Jewish son had received death threats. Kari Helene Partapuoli, leader of the Norwegian Centre against Racism, alleges it’s a common problem. “Unfortunately, we also see that Norwegian schools often don’t take racism and anti-Semitism seriously. They’d rather look away when racism occurs. Even painting a Swastika on house walls isn’t treated with the seriousness it demands,” she tells NTB.
Anne Sender of the Mosaic Religious Community in Oslo says she believes part of the problem is schools’ lack of opposition to many Muslim youths’ prejudices. “It’s a specific problem, without wishing to stigmatise any particular group,” she says. Whilst Shoaib Sultan, Secretary General of Islamsk Råd – an umbrella organisation umbrella organisation for the Islamic religious community and organisations in Norway – tells NRK they’re shocked. “What is most interesting is to find out how we can combat this hatred,” he tells NRK. Sender has already contacted Kristin Halvorsen, the Centre Party’s (SV) Minister of Education, to discuss anti-Semitism in Norwegian schools. “The Norwegian authorities must map out both the problem and who it concerns,” she tells NTB.
Halvorsen says anti-Semitism in Norwegian schools is unacceptable, and was unaware of the extent of problem before NRK broke the story. Some Jewish children have yellow stars stuck to their backs. “It’s clear this has some additional dimensions that make some people reluctant, but teachers and principals have a responsibility to crack down on these types of attitudes. I don’t think most people realised it could have such a serious outcome,” the leader of one of the parties in the red-green coalition government tells NRK.
The Foreigner
