Kristallnacht in Bergen - Against racism and genocide

The Kristallnacht network have for many years wanted to have Zionists as speakers. New SOS Racism wants to spotlight the horrors of the Jewish people suffered during the Holocaust, and also put the spotlight on racism and genocide today. We can not accept Israel’s apartheid and racist policies against the Palestinian people. Some Zionists have been very angered by this. They say that this is anti-Semitism. Of course it is not. To criticize a state’s actions is not racism.

The event began with focusing on the Holocaust and Kristallnacht. An activist from “Female activists” held a speech about the Kristallnacht and the genocide of the Jews.

Excerpt:
“76 years back in time was the night of 10th November 1938. The Nazis was spreading in cities throughout Germany. 200 Jews was killed, 1,400 synagogues burned down, 7,500 shops was vandalized. Over 26,000 Jews was taken to concentration camps. The glass from the shattered shop windows forms as blankets in the snow, with the glow of street lamps lit up like crystals. The official start of the Holocaust was a fact. Kristallnacht and the Holocaust was the result of a terrible ideology. It was the result of Nazism. An anti-human ideology that believes that some people are born better than others.

How can anyone believe that? How can anyone be so cruel? That are the questions we ask ourselves. That are the questions we ask ourselves about the Second World War, the questions we asked ourselves about Utøya, and the questions we ask ourselves in all meetings with something we do not quite manage to understand, something that scares us. I want to make one thing clear: No one is born cruel. No background or genetics lays the basis for cruel acts. This is something created by the society around us.”

The event focused on that oppressed people have to stand together and show solidarity. Tasbih from “Palestinian society” held a speech about the oppression the Palestinian people are subjected to by Israel.

Excerpt:
“My dad had a factory in Jenin in the occupied Palestine. He had built up the factory along with my uncles, and this was their life’s work. The factory made the housing materials for building Palestinian homes. A home similar to the one I stayed in Jenin when the Intifada started when I was little.

Just as Jewish shops were broken 76 years ago, the Israeli army bombed my dad’s factory. The house I lived in with my mom, dad and my brothers were also bombed and we were forced out of our home. I was only four years old when it happened, but I remember well how my mom helped neighbors who were injured.

I remember very well that one of the neighbor ladies waved to me to tell me that everything was okay, and that Israeli soldiers shot her in the hand she waved with. I remember the father of a good friend who was driven away in an ambulance and everyone cried. We moved many times from home to home. We eventually found out that the safest place for us to be was in a barn for sheep. I came with my family to Norway in 2009. Many believe that Israel represents all Jews in the world. It is wrong! Less than 10 percent of the survivors of the Holocaust and their families went to Israel. Many of them have expressed great anger at what is happening in Palestine. Most Jews do not live in Israel. Nor is it so that all Jews agree with the policy of the State of Israel leads. The policy is inhumane, racist, and can not be viewed as anything other than a violent apartheid regime. "

Athithan from “Tamil network” talked about solidarity between the oppressed and the common struggle.

Excerpt:
“State repression and genocide does not happen in isolation. Imperialism is closely bound up in the oppression of nations in different parts of the world. Chauvinist states like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India and Turkey uses the Imperialist expertise and help to suppress Tamils, Baluch, the Sindh people, Kurds and other nationalities in India.

A state that is leading in the export of oppression is Israel. Israel’s sophisticated suppression methods that inflict the Palestinian people national oppression and genocide, has been used to advise the Sri Lankan government in the fight against the Tamil people.

Israeli oppression has led to the split of the Palestinian homeland in two, and colonization and militarization to crack the national existence of the Palestinian people. Sri Lanka who acted on the basis of advice given by Mossad and Shin Beth, and committed colonization, militarization and genocide of the Tamil people. This initiative is a start, a beginning towards a representative solidarity movement, where dare to condemn fascist states and forces that perform national oppression, genocide and occupation against the Kurds, Tamils and Palestinians. Without a strong and clear condemnation and a strong solidarity with the struggle of the oppressed, then solidarity activities is only an empty practice with little material effect. "

Åsmund from New SOS Racism held a speech on organizing against fascism.

Excerpt:
“We are gathered here to remember and commemorate. We should remember one of the most horrific and tragic events in Nazi history. Tonight we remember the anniversary of Kristallnacht . The night of 10. November 1938 was the start of history’s most well-known genocide, and Europe’s worst genocide in modern times. The Holocaust. Synagogues were set on fire, shops razed and Jewish men, women and children were deported, abused and killed. Again lay there just shattered glass, hence the name “Kristallnacht”.

The Jews was attacked harshly, but also Roma, gays, disabled people and communists were victims of Nazi terror. Some think that Nazism died with Hitler, and that fascism is a thing of the past. Unfortunately, it is not. Racism is like a three-headed troll, You have the everyday Racism, the governmental/institutional racism and the organized violence of racism/Nazism. Racism has multiple shapes and multiple expressions, but these are always interdependent and are reinforcing each other. Racism is alive and well in Norway, all three heads of the troll. Violence Racism, too, even if the groups are small. However, the reason they are small is the Norwegian anti-racists struggle against them since the war. We have actively sabotaged for them, and they hate us for it.

In a recent article in “Aftenposten”, it was revealed that the most common insults at secondary school is gay, whore and Jew. I remember when I was in secondary school, it was not unusual that when people walked in dog shit, they said, “Oh shit, I stepped into a Jew”. This is everyday racism in simplest form. Do not tolerate it! Confront your friends, family or colleagues with such attitudes. Tell them that it is not okay. In the 30’s the world community saw another way while Hitler started a race war against the Jews. Today we are forced to watch while the Nazis can frolic unfettered on the internet and in some communities with hate propaganda against Jews and Muslims.

We must continue the fight for a ban on Nazi organizations. After the war Norway committed to the UN to impose such a ban, “Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination”, but have not yet done so. These days, it seems further away than ever. It is popular to be for freedom of speech, no matter what form it takes. It is undemocratic, and one party brake when you do not want to throw in “free speech is all” train. When the goal of an utterance is a threat we can not hide behind freedom of speech. When the goal of the organization is violence and murder, then you no longer freedom of association apply. When your rights to express yourself and organize your, others are obliged to live in fear, I think you have used up your rights. About the rooting out racism under free speech umbrella is cool, so will be. That something is popular does not mean it is right.

A ban on Nazi organization will be a useful tool in the fight against Nazism. If it becomes difficult for the Nazis to go out on the streets and squares to spread their propaganda, that raises one threshold for people who sympathize with them and are interested in them to take the plunge and join. This event has been controversial this year, thanks to the slogan “Zionism is racism”. It is still controversial to criticize Israel, online Zionists have demonized our event here tonight and promoted that we are anti-Semites.

New SOS Racism is against all racism, be it minority youth in Norway, or Palestinians or Tamils who are oppressed by the states they live in. Racism is racism, and racism is not okay.

Some people, both pro-Palestinian and to the greatest extent, pro-Israelis are trying to put the equality sign between Jews as a group and Israel as a state. The logic is, a criticism of Israel, is a criticism of Jews. Collective guilt is illogical, but worst of all very dangerous. Conspiracy theories as for example the Jewish world power or that Muslims are a lot of primitive tribal people with an agenda to take over Europe does nothing more than to spread fear and uncertainty. The main fight against racism does not happen in Parliament. The majority of ordinary people must get involved, meet and confront racism everywhere in society. This is the only way we can combat Nazism entirely."