A libertarian member of the Norwegian parliament has received death threats after attending a pro-Israel rally in Oslo.
The Local reports that Kristian Norheim, who is a secretary of the Freedom Party (Framstegspartiet) and admirer of Margaret Thatcher has said he received threats that his family were going to “go through the same as the civilians in Gaza”.
Norheim is a long standing and vocal supporter of Israel, and critic of Islamism. His tweets include condemnation of the boycott of Israeli goods, and praise for former United States President Ronald Reagan.
Although it is traditionally a Christian country with strong northern European Pagan traditions, Islam is now the second largest religion in the Nordic state. In Oslo, nearly one in ten now practice the faith. According to Statistics Norway, there are fewer than 800 Jews in the whole country. Norway has a long running and unfortunate history of anti-Semitism; during the German occupation and quisling government of 1940-45 more than a third of all Norwegian jews were deported to death camps.
Anti-Semitism aside, the recent sudden changes in Norwegian demographics has led to rising tensions in Norwegian society. 2011 brought the attacks by white supremacist Anders Breivik, who was dissatisfied with the Norwegian Labour Party’s policies towards immigration and integration. Norheim’s anti-immigration Progress Party is enjoying continued growth in support and is now in government as part of a coalition.
Although the threats directed at Norheim have been revealed to be a hoax, he is reported as having been in contact with the Norwegian security services over the matter.
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